The Caffeinated Blog

Awesomely Cool Latte Art

I Stumbled this today, and I just wanted to share it with you because I thought it just so cool:

Creative Coffee Art

Here's a sampling of my yummy favorites:

A Portable Espresso Machine?

Hi, my name is Kari, and I'm a StumbleUpon Addict.

Hi Kari.

Anyway, as I was Stumbling today, I came across this:
HandPresso Wild portable espresso maker

It's a portafiler-shaped, portable espresso maker.  No electricity required - just hot water and espresso pods.

Now I'm what you call an "espresso snob".  I like freshly ground coffee (preferably roasted within the last week), and a perfect shot of espresso crowned with dark, golden crema (see my profile pic above - that's what's called a "God shot").  Espresso pods are not my idea of freshly ground or roasted; however, this intrigued me.

I had to see it for myself:

This looks cool!  You can make a shot of espresso anywhere!

OK, I have to have one.  HandPresso - send me a free one and I'll try it out and review it right here on The Caffeinated Blog!

Does Starbucks Serve the Best Espresso in Your Neighborhood?

Many of you might have been unpleasantly surprised when you walked up to your local Starbucks yesterday evening and found they were closed for "barista training".  And if you were like me, you went to 3 different local Starbucks, only to find out later that all 7100 Starbucks stores in the US closed for emergency training.

It's no secret that even though Starbucks has a store on every corner of every street of every city in the here United States, their drinks are, well...kinda crappy.  They've slowly spiraled down the ol' mediocrity funnel ever since they replaced their semi-automatic espresso machines with fully automatic ones, basically making the barista's job so easy, a monkey could do it - just press a button, and there ya go.  So, Howard Schultz decided to "re-train" all the employees so they would know how to make a perfect shot, steam milk properly, etc.

They've also changed their focus - now they're trying to get back to their roots with a "Best Espresso in the Neighborhood" campaign.  I revisited my "local" again today to find the front doors plastered with these "Best Espresso" signs, the big specials board proclaiming "if your drink isn't perfect, let us know and we'll make it again...", and signage everywhere about the art of espresso, blah blah blah.

Now, I frequent real neighborhood coffee bars, locally owned and trained to the hilt on quality espresso and coffee-based drink-making, and no matter what Starbucks does to re-train its employees and gush on about the art of making perfect espresso, they'll never compare.  However, I also think that the vast masses of people who only go to Starbucks, day in and day out, won't be able to tell the difference.  They've gulped down so much Starbucks, their tastebuds have become de-sensitized. 

Although that's probably what Starbucks is counting on - if we tell you it's the best espresso in the neighborhood, you'll believe it.