Bikini Baristas are not typically known for their modesty, but the customers of the bikini baristas in Everett had a little extra incentive to tip largely at the stands.

After two months of what must have been intrepid police work, the detectives "uncovered" enough evidence to determine that some of the women at one stand were not only exposing a little more than advertised, they were allegedly "performing whip cream shows between two women", which was described in the Seattle Times as one barista "licking whipped cream off a co-worker's groin and breast". The police started their investigation after citizen complaints about lewd behavior and put in some "hard" time. In order to catch their prey, they had to pay $20 and witness the act firsthand.

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Greek coffee is intensely flavored, rich, dark coffee made in small batches, and served immediately in demitasse cups. The coffee is best sipped while it's almost too hot to bear (there's a reason Greek coffee is traditionally accompanied by a glass of cold water and a small plate of sweet cookies). In Greece, you will often see men, especially early in the morning, gathered in small groups by the local coffee shop, where they sip two or three cups of this amazing brew while discussing politics or soccer, before heading off to the boats or other work. Coffee and something to nibble is also often served after the mid-day break as well.

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coffee

It’s no wonder that coffee is the second-most popular drink in America. It’s delicious, it comes in as many unique flavors as you can think of, and it’s a very quick pick-me-up for tired souls. Why is it, then, that I feel so guilty when I indulge in a cup?

It’s probably because coffee’s got a bad rap. If you drink too much—say, three pots a day while never sleeping and studying all week—yeah, you should stop. Like, yesterday. High “doses” of coffee can make you dehydrated, raise your blood pressure (but only for a few minutes), and perhaps even contribute to more brittle bones. It’s also not a good idea for pregnant women.

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Call me old-fashioned, but I just like a regular cup of joe. If I’m in the mood for a latte, I like it sweet and French vanilla-y. I’m not into a lot of weird flavors in my coffee. (Take me to get a drink at Sonic during Happy Hour, now, there’s a different story.)

I always see seasonal latte flavors at the convenience store and the bookstore and I was wondering what the oddest flavors might be. Here’s what I came up with.

10. Eggnog: This flavor isn’t so weird on it’s own, but do we really need to make it into a latte flavor? Couldn’t you just, you know, heat up a glass of eggnog?

9. Tea Lattes: When Starbucks first started serving these, I was a bit skeptical; however, they’re quite delicious, and really nothing new. Red lattes with rooibos tea are common in South Africa.

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This is still one of the most common ways to make coffee as well as one of the least expensive in terms of equipment. Essentially, manual pour over coffee make Chemex Brewerconsists of a glass or plastic housing that contains a coffee filter, and a container to collect the brewed coffee. They come on both individual one-cup serving sizes, that perch over a mug, and larger sizes up to 12 cups. My very first coffee maker was a manual pour over. In my case, it was one of the plastic Melitta filter cones that I used with Melitta paper coffee filters. There are other brands besides Melitta—purists often favor the Chemex manual pour over coffee makers because the entire thing is made of high quality tempered glass. In my glass, I used a plastic Melitta filter cone, and a porcelain coffeepot, with an air tight lid that would keep the coffee hot.

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It's been so very very record-breaking hot OMG-I'm-melting here that I've been reluctant to generate even the little bit of heat that brewing fresh hot coffee in my electric drip coffee maker emits. I could brew the coffee at night when it's cooler, and put it in a bottle to make lovely ice coffee in the morning—if you make the coffee a bit stronger than usual, that works quite well on an unbearably hot summer morning.

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My mom grew up in the Depression era rural south, and her mom sometimes made Chicory coffee. Although we mostly associate Chicory coffee chicorywith New Orleans, beignets, and Café Du Monde, it began as an economic substitute for coffee when it was too expensive, or too difficult to import because of blockades and war. The people of Louisiana brought Chicory with them from France by way of Acadia, and popularized it as a coffee substitute during the Civil war. Chicory coffee is made from the roasted root of the Chicory plant (Cichorium intybus); you've seen Chicory, and probably thought it was a wildflower; it has fairly long stems, with a multi-petaled lavender-blue flower that looks, roughly, like a daisy. Chicory was imported in the eighteenth century by European colonists, who used the perennial for cattle feeding and home remedies, and ate it themselves; Chicory is a cousin of

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I will freely confess to spending my early adult years as a coffee barbarian; I not only voluntarily drank instant coffee, I thought Sanka was pretty good. Eventually, I discovered the true elixir that brewed coffee can be from partaking of breakfast at diners. Once converted to the one true way, I inquired about how people made coffee before instant coffee, and Mr. Coffee, or even stove-top percolators.

Some of what I heard seemed so odd, that I've spent a couple of weeks researching it. There are quite a lot of different ways to make coffee that don't require investing hundreds of dollars in fancy equipment. I'm going to be posting about several of the more interesting, and easy-to-use methods for making good coffee. Needless to say, these all assume that you're starting out with quality coffee.

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Irish coffee. One of the great beverages to be created by the formidable hands of talented mixologists and passed across the bar into the grasp of locals and tourists alike.

And if you want an Irish coffee made the right way, you go to the Buena Vista in San Francisco, right at the end of the streetcar line near Fisherman's Wharf.

First thing's first: What's an Irish coffee? Whiskey, coffee and heavy cream. 

And like I said, they make 'em like they're supposed to make 'em at the Buena Vista.

They have a great rundown on how Buena Vista became the spot to go here.

But here's the quick and dirty:

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