Starbucks news and fair trade

Looking for a way to score some free Starbucks? According to the blog Wallet Pop, Starbucks is offering a free cup (size tall) to customers who fill out cards pledging to give five hours of their time as volunteers. This offer will be valid only for four days, January 21st-25th, and is inspired by the inauguration of our new president (who, we here at Latte.us believe, should get free Starbucks for LIFE for taking on our mess of a country). Although I do not see any mention of this offer on Starbucks official site, it was reported on Yahoo Finance and appears to be reputable! The pledge cards can be found at your local Starbucks. I for one will be checking that out today... Speaking of Starbucks, the coffee giant has begun importing beans from an unexpected source: China.  For several years, Starbucks has been working with coffee-growers in the southern province of Yunnan to develop a product worthy of the Starbucks name. No specific mention of whether or not this coffee is free trade... According to the blog BU Now, only 6% of Starbucks coffee is free trade, and this 6% is only whole beans to be purchased, not the coffee brewed in Starbucks' establishments. In contrast, this same blog claims that all Dunkin Donuts coffee is fair trade (yet still costs less than a cup of Starbucks, therefore invalidating Starbucks argument that switching to fair trade would skyrocket costs for customers. And as any good customer of Starbucks already knows, their drinks are already pricier than your average coffee stand). Does anyone have any more information about Starbucks' fair trade policies?

Green Mountain Coffee: Update

Several weeks ago, I declared unofficial war against Green Mountain Coffee, the Vermont company that had recently purchased the wholesale division of my beloved Seattle-based Tully's coffee. Yet after checking out Green Mountain's official blog, I must admit that while I still believe their beverages are a weak excuse for java, they score major points in the environmentalism department. Recently, Green Mountain's founder Bob Stiller was awarded a Corporate Social Responsibility honor in Washington DC, to reward the company's work with the Jane Goodall Institute to develop a coffee that helps protect Chimpanzee habitats in Africa. As the Green Daily blog writes, Dr Goodall gave Green Mountain Coffee her "Good for All" rating, meaning that the brew is beneficial to the environment, community, and animal life surrounding the area where it is grown. Furthermore, Green Mountain has been an advocate of using fair trade and organic coffee beans, and of promoting social responsibility and sustainablility. Again, even though I strongly maintain that their coffee tastes like water, I must admit that Green Mountain's very Vermont-esque "save the world" agenda is quite a refreshing departure from most corporate attitudes these days, even from (dare I say it!) the coffee giants in this Seattle-ite's own backyard. So I officially declare the unofficial war with Green Mountain Coffee over; the social and environmental conscious of their company overrides the inferior taste of their coffee. Plus, east coasters couldn't tell good coffee if its decadent, rich aroma hit them in the face, so Green Mountain Coffee will always have a market.

Latte Art

As barista-made coffee took over the United States, a new form of art developed along with thepopularity of lattes, espresso, and other coffee drinks. Latte art or coffee art refers to the designs created by baristas on the foam and cream tops of espresso based drinks. Most of the time, you'll see abstract designs, or, occasionally, flowers or butterflies, or bunnies or dogs . . . but some baristas are truly artists. You'll see images like the portrait of Bruce Lee above. Sometimes the art involves just coffee, with a layer of foam, but more often than not, the coffee has been sprinkled with cinnamon or chocolate, before the foam is poured, or after. There are two central techniques; first, pouring foamed milk from a pitcher (and the foam has to be the perfect consistency, no easy task), and second, using a stick to draw controlled lines through the layer of foamed milk and cream to the layer of cinnamon or chocolate below, creating lovely abstract patterns or even elaborate images like the ones you see in this post. You'll note some baristas are particularly adept at pouring the foamed milk, or even heavy cream, and creating a design that way. This is serious business for artistic baristas. Coffee Fest hosts the annual Millrock Latte Art Competition for this fragile and fleeting art form, with prizes ranging up to $500. There's a World Barista Championship that features latte art. Last year's contest was in Copenhagen, Denmark, and there's a nifty article about it here. Latte art really is a world-wide phenomenon. If you're a do-it-yourself sort of person, here's an instructional guide to latte art. Don't get discouraged, though. It takes a good deal of practice and a steady hand. And here's a gallery of latte art, and a few videos to inspire you.

Coffee and . . . ?

On a whim recently I bought a 2 lb. can of ground coffee imported from Vietnam. Now, before you start snickering, Vietnam is one of the world's largest coffee producers. It's known for very high quality coffee, and, though I didn't know it when I bought the can of Vietnamese coffee, for extremely poor quality mass-produced, robusta beans grown for bulk export. I was curious, and, honestly, the coffee was bargain priced at a discount grocery store, so I didn't expect much. But I had heard about how fanatic people get about the Vietnamese coffee known as Cafe Sua Da, often sold at tiny street corner shops, or carts, and made from Vietnam-grown robusta beans.

What I got was even less than I expected; to start with, it wasn't what most people think of as coffee. Oh sure, there were coffee beans used in the . . . blend. But there were other substances as well; the coffee was an odd reddish color, it had a nutty, almost cereal like taste that was sweeter than I'd expect from black coffee. But the real evidence that pointed to adulterated coffee was in the form of the coffee grounds, post brewing. They were sticky, and oddly soft, and almost impossible to remove from the re-usable mesh coffee filter. Moreover, they left what I can only describe as slime, so that I had to use a fair bit of elbow grease to clean the filter, and the coffee maker. I now know that those are all symptoms of coffee that's been adulterated with additives, ranging from chemicals, to sweeteners, to ground corn or wheat or soy. In other words, I bought what industry experts refer to as fake coffee.

I dumped the rest of the coffee, but paused to read the label.

There wasn't a label, really. Sure, there was the brand name in big letters, and the words ground coffee in slightly smaller type, but nothing about "100% Coffee," or any of the other nutritional information I'd expect—even on imported coffee.

I have since learned that Vietnamese coffee exporters are notorious for adulterating coffee, that most major American coffee packagers buy cheap, poor quality, bulk Vietnamese coffee, produced under growing conditions that are bad for the soil, destroy native woods, exploit workers, and result in bad coffee.

I'll be watching for fair trade coffee.

Starbucks sued for age discrimination

A 56-year-old Maine woman is suing Starbucks for discrimination, claiming her several applications to work as a barista were turned down due to her age. The plaintiff is asking for over $300,000 from the coffee giant. Unless a settlement is reached, the case will go to court in February. According to the woman's lawyer, the manager of the store who refused to hire her lied about why she wasn't hired and failed to hire any new employee over 30 during the period the plaintiff applied. For their own part, Starbucks claims that she wasn't hired for other reasons, including her unpleasant behavior and error-filled application. My guess would be that this woman was not hired simply because she isn't a good candidate (after all, Starbucks baristas are usually so pleasant!), and the lawsuit has no basis. I'm guessing the vast majority of starbucks applicants are under 30, which could probably help explain why that particular store only hired from that demographic. But what do you think? Is Starbucks ageist? Has anyone out there had a bad hiring experience with Starbucks?  

The war on Green Mountain coffee

As I'm sure most of you west-coast coffee drinkers have heard, Seattle-based Tully's coffee has sold its wholesale and distribution business to Vermont-based Green Mountain coffee Roasters. This does not affect the chain's retail businesses, which will be under the same ownership and management. However, as a Seattle resident and a lover of Tully's coffee, I have a few bones to pick with this development... I went to college in New Hampshire; all of our cafeterias but one brewed Green Mountain, and no matter where I was on campus I would treck to that one cafeteria because Green Mountain is like drinking hot water flavored with used paper coffee filters. Brewed Green Mountain has far more in common with instant coffee (I was going to say with bad instant coffee, but that would be redundant) than with the deep, rich flavor of Tully's drip (sorry to be a coffee snob, but I am a Seattle-ite!). New Englanders don't mind bad coffee; they all drink Dunkin Donuts, after all. But a friendly warning to Green Mountain--if you take over Tully's wholesale and try to sell your weakling blend under the Tully's name, there will be hell to pay. Which leads me to my second point... Green Mountain is taking over the Tully's roasting plant, in the former location of the Ranier Brewery. For anyone who feels warm and fuzzy inside (ok ok, that may just be all of the caffeine) at the giant "T" sign as you drive south on Interstate 5 through Seattle, this is a travesty. As a brewery and then a roasting plant this place is a Seattle landmark and has always been controlled by Seattle companies; even though I lived in New England for the majority of the last half decade, the thought of this iconic building under east coast ownership makes my blood boil! Green Mountain has apparently been seeking to gain a foothold in the west, and to this end has pursued and purchased Tully's wholesale division. This is like a Los Angeles chain attempting to sell cheese steaks in Philly. If you want a good Vermont product, try Ben & Jerry's or maple syrup. Don't unpack your bags in the northwest, Green Mountain. You won't be here long. The Latte Report has officially declared blog-war on Green Mountain coffee roasters, and will be following all subsequent developments closely.

Starbucks election day give-away

Blogworks.org has estimated the cost of Starbucks election day offer of a free tall drip coffee to anyone who voted at $170,000; undoubtably, a small price to pay for the coffee giant. However, this estimate assumes only those who typically drink drip took advantage of this offer, which I beg to disagree with; though usually a latte girl myself, I would definitely have taken advantage of the offer if I hadn't voted absentee (hmm, maybe they would have given me one anyway. I should have looked into it!). Also considering the grim economic times, I'm sure many who can't kick their Starbucks habit have cut out the more expensive drinks in favor of drip anyway, so the estimate of habitual drip drinkers is probably too low. And wonder if Obama got his free coffee?

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caffeine addicts unite! Welcome to the blog all about anything and everything coffee-related. Whether you drink your coffee straight or loaded with cream and sugar, whether you think Starbucks is the promised land or the dark side, whether you prefer highest-quality Italian espresso or simply a good old cup of Folger's, this is the place for you! check back often! The Latte Report is a brand-new Klat Talk site

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