Coffee Drinkers Have Lower Risk of Death

Posted on May 20, 2012 by bilrob

Coffee Drinkers Have Lower Risk of Death

ScienceDaily (May 19, 2012) Older adults who drank coffee — caffeinated or decaffeinated — had a lower risk of death overall than others who did not drink coffee, according a study by researchers from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and AARP.

Coffee drinkers were less likely to die from heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, injuries and accidents, diabetes, and infections, although the association was not seen for cancer. These results from a large study of older adults were observed after adjustment for the effects of other risk factors on mortality, such as smoking and alcohol consumption. Researchers caution, however, that they can’t be sure whether these associations mean that drinking coffee actually makes people live longer. The results of the study were published in the May 17, 2012 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Neal Freedman, Ph.D., Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, NCI, and his colleagues examined the association between coffee drinking and risk of death in 400,000 U.S. men and women ages 50 to 71 who participated in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study. Information about coffee intake was collected once by questionnaire at study entry in 1995-1996. The participants were followed until the date they died or Dec. 31, 2008, whichever came first.

The researchers found that the association between coffee and reduction in risk of death increased with the amount of coffee consumed. Relative to men and women who did not drink coffee, those who consumed three or more cups of coffee per day had approximately a 10 percent lower risk of death. Coffee drinking was not associated with cancer mortality among women, but there was a slight and only marginally statistically significant association of heavier coffee intake with increased risk of cancer death among men.

“Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in America, but the association between coffee consumption and risk of death has been unclear. We found coffee consumption to be associated with lower risk of death overall, and of death from a number of different causes,” said Freedman. “Although we cannot infer a causal relationship between coffee drinking and lower risk of death, we believe these results do provide some reassurance that coffee drinking does not adversely affect health.”

The investigators caution that coffee intake was assessed by self-report at a single time point and therefore might not reflect long-term patterns of intake. Also, information was not available on how the coffee was prepared (espresso, boiled, filtered, etc.); the researchers consider it possible that preparation methods may affect the levels of any protective components in coffee.

“The mechanism by which coffee protects against risk of death — if indeed the finding reflects a causal relationship — is not clear, because coffee contains more than 1,000 compounds that might potentially affect health,” said Freedman. “The most studied compound is caffeine, although our findings were similar in those who reported the majority of their coffee intake to be caffeinated or decaffeinated.”

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Green Coffee Bean Extract for Weight Loss Discussed on Dr. Oz

Posted on April 30, 2012 by bilrob

Green Coffee Bean Extract Can Help With Weight Loss

NEW YORK, NY - On a recent episode of the Dr. Oz show, View the video here, the benefits of green coffee bean extract were talked about. Dr. Lindsey Duncan discussed a recent study that made headlines when it claimed that the green coffee bean could help with weight loss. While there are many products out there that claim to help with losing weight, green coffee bean diet pills are being shown to help people burn fat fast.

In the recent study conducted at the University of Scranton, people took one of two doses of green coffee bean extract – or a placebo. On average, people lost an additional 17 pounds over a 12 week period – quite a bit more than those who took the placebo. While other studies are currently being conducted around the world, initial results for green coffee bean extract are looking good.

Green coffee bean extract is needed because the weight loss comes from “chlorogenic acid,” which is not produced with roasted coffee beans. Instead, an extract of green coffee beans must be used to get the full effect. Many different companies have flooded the market, offering products based around green coffee bean extract.

On the Dr. Oz show, two guests took a green coffee bean supplement – both with good effects. One lost 2 pounds over 5 days while the other lost a whopping six pounds in the same amount of time. While not a miracle drug by any means, it has been shown to help numerous people lose weight quickly and keep it from coming back.

Green coffee bean extract does this by increasing the metabolism and helping control glucose levels in the body. This double combination can really help people with burning fat fast. Studies are still being conducted, but early results are looking good. For those who have tried diet supplement pills in the past, it may be hard to try another, but many are recommending green coffee bean diet pills as a wonderful way to help with weight loss.

It is recommended that people read the ingredients of any dietary supplement carefully and discuss it with a health care professional. However, with the recent study showing that it helped with shedding pounds quickly, many are turning to this as a way to get a little help achieving their weight loss goals. Exercise and a healthy diet are still recommended, but green coffee bean extract may be a good way to get a little extra help.

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Dutch cannabis cafes fail to stop ban on sales to 'pot tourists'

Posted on April 29, 2012 by bilrob

Dutch cannabis cafes fail to stop ban on sales to ‘pot tourists’

AMSTERDAM — A Dutch court Friday upheld a law that would prevent foreigners from buying marijuana and hashish in coffee shops, potentially ending decades of “pot tourism” for which this and other cities became universally known.

A group of coffee shops had challenged the government plan, launched after southern cities complained of increased levels of drug-related crime. The decision means coffee shops in the south must stop selling cannabis to foreigners by Tuesday.

A so-called “weed pass” is allowed for Dutch citizens and permanent residents. The plan would roll out to other cities, including the popular tourist center of Amsterdam, by next year.

The Netherlands is moving toward tighter controls on its renowned liberal policy on the sale of cannabis even as the United States and other countries are engaging in increasingly heated debates over the legalization of “soft drugs.”

Lawyers for the Netherlands’ cannabis cafes — which number more than 650 nationwide, including 214 in Amsterdam — argued that forbidding sales to foreigners only was illegal under national anti-discrimination laws. They vowed to appeal the court decision.

A judge in The Hague ruled the law was legal because of increased criminality linked to the Dutch drug trade. The Dutch government said there would be no exceptions to the new rules.

Amsterdam argues that the reasons cannabis coffee shops were first tolerated decades ago are still relevant — they are well-regulated havens where people can buy soft drugs without coming into contact with dealers of hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine. Coffee shops also are banned from serving alcohol and from selling drugs to people younger than 18.

For many Amsterdam tourists, smoking cannabis in a canal-side coffee shop ranks high on their to-do lists, along with visiting such cultural highlights as the Van Gogh Museum and Anne Frank House. City spokeswoman Tahira Limon said 4 million to 5 million tourists visit the city each year and about 23 percent say they visit a coffee shop.

Worried tourism will take a hit, Amsterdam Mayor Eberhard van der Laan hopes to hammer out a compromise with the national government, which relies on municipalities and local police to enforce drug policies.

But the conservative government collapsed this week, and new elections are scheduled for September. It’s unclear whether the new administration would keep the new cannabis policy in place.

“We have tourists that just want to have a smoke,” said Michael Velig, 56, owner of the 420 Café in the city’s infamous red-light district and chairman of the Dutch Union of Cannabis Retailers. “If they’re not going to get it, they will ask Dutch people who actually have a pass for the coffee shop to buy it. Or they fall in hands of the illegal street sellers.”

Relaxing outside The Bulldog, a coffee shop in Amsterdam’s Leidseplein Square, Gavin Harrison of Northern Ireland said he hoped the city wouldn’t change.

“I think it’s going to be a shame for Amsterdam,” Harrison said. “I think it’s going to lose a lot of tourists.”

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Coffee berry plant is taking over tiny yard

Posted on April 23, 2012 by bilrob

Coffee berry plant is taking over tiny yard

We live on Bernal Hill, in San Francisco, where we planted a coffee berry some years ago. I knew the day would come when it would be a big plant, like the one we had admired at the Point Reyes visitor center.

That day has arrived and it is taking over our tiny yard. We need to prune it, but I’m a bit in a quandary about the best approach. I’ve been pruning roses for years, so I have an idea about shaping, etc., but would really appreciate some tips.

It also seems to have developed some sort of disease. At first I thought it was white paint splashed by a neighbor cleaning brushes, but it is increasingly covering the leaves. Could it be a powdery mildew like one sees on roses? What would be the best way to identify and treat it? Many thanks for your help!

California coffee berry (Rhamnus californica), which isn’t used for making coffee, grows to 10 feet tall and wide. Even if you had tried to keep it in check by pruning every year, as you do your roses, it would have been difficult to limit its size. It is best pruned in summer, when it’s most dormant and when dry weather reduces the chance of diseases entering pruning cuts.

One approach is moderate pruning. Cut any dead branches to the place they join another limb. Then start at the end of any extra-long branches, trace them back to where they join another limb, and remove them there. If branches are thick and tangled, remove some less vigorous (less leafy) branches in the same way.

A more drastic approach, called coppicing, is to cut all of the stems at 6 inches from the ground, making cuts at an angle, so water will run off of the cut ends. Kathy Crane, owner of Yerba Buena native plant nursery in Woodside (yerbabuenanursery.com, (650) 851-1668), told me the chance of coffee berry regrowth versus death is about fifty-fifty; however the one they coppiced in their demonstration garden regrew into a beautiful plant.

When you are considering any largish plant for a small garden, it’s always worthwhile to research if smaller varieties exist before you buy. If you lose this one and still like the species, consider the following varieties: ‘Eve Case’ (pictured) reaches 8 by 8 feet. ‘Mound San Bruno’ grows to only 6 by 6 feet, and Crane says it keeps a nice dense form at maturity. ‘Ed Holme’ could fit in most gardens, since it’s only 3 feet tall and 5 feet wide.

Steve Dreistadt, author of “Pests of Landscape Trees and Shrubs” (UC ANR Publication 3359), says that a powdery mildew disease has indeed been recorded on coffee berry. It’s Microsphaera penicillata, a different species from the ones that affect roses. Dreistadt says that gardeners often mistake white paint, bird or insect droppings for powdery mildew.

Because your white coating is spreading, I imagine it is not paint. But, to be sure which disease you have, you can take infected leaves (in a sealed bag) to a free UC-sponsored plant clinic. There is one from 9 a.m. to noon the first Saturday of each month at the UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley, 200 Centennial Drive. Another meets from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. first Sundays from January through October at the San Mateo Arboretum, 101 Ninth Ave.

Reduce susceptibility to disease by making sure your coffee berry gets no summer irrigation after the first year. If it is powdery mildew, spraying with summer oil or neem oil could help reduce its spread.

Q: I’d like to plant an attractive, largish, native bush that will eventually cover a west-facing fence and attract birds, especially waxwings and mockingbirds, to eat its berries. The plot is about 12 feet long, 2 feet wide. I hope you can give me some suggestions.

A: Because your bed is so narrow, you will have to espalier a shrub to fit, but some native shrubs with berries birds enjoy can be pruned this way. Yellow- or pink-flowered native currants (Ribes aureum gracillimum or R. sanguineum glutinosum) are good choices since they attract waxwings and mockingbirds. They lose their leaves in late summer to fall, then have late winter blossoms (attractive to hummingbirds) and summer berries.

Or consider an evergreen. Redberry (Rhamnus crocea) is closely related to coffee berry (see above), but easier to keep to a narrow form. Where summers are warm enough, toyon (Hetreromeles arbutifolia) will form red winter berries.

Birds also like California grape (Vitis californica), a vine that bears fruit in warm summers. Ask at a full-service nursery for help with final choices for your microclimate and advice on espaliering the shrubs.

Pam Peirce is the author of “Golden Gate Gardening” and “Wildly Successful Plants: Northern California.” Read her blog at goldengategarden.typepad.com. [email protected]

This article appeared on page M – 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle

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Coffee Bean Extract Linked to Weight Loss

Posted on March 29, 2012 by bilrob

Coffee Bean Extract Linked to Weight Loss

Unlike magic beans that make you grow, green coffee beans may make you lose weight — and fast.

A new study suggests taking green coffee bean extract, which is sold as a supplement in the United States, could be a safe and effective way to drop some pounds.

“Based on our results, taking multiple capsules of green coffee extract a day — while eating a low fat, healthful diet and exercising regularly — appears to be a safe, effective, inexpensive way to lose weight,” study author Joe Vinson, a chemist at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, said in a statement.

Researchers gave up to 1,050 milligrams of green coffee bean extract to 16 overweight adults in their 20s and monitored their diet, exercise regimen, weight, heart rate and blood pressure for 22 weeks. Without changing their diet or exercise, study subjects lost roughly 10.5 percent — an average of 17 pounds – in overall body weight. No harmful side effects were noted, according to the study presented today at the American Chemical Society national meeting in San Diego.

How green coffee bean extract contributes to weight loss is unclear. But Vinson theorizes a chemical in the unroasted bean called chlorogenic acid could be responsible. Other experts suspect the stimulant properties of caffeine could be the culprit.

“I’d be happier if the research included pure caffeine, in the same amount as is contained in the two doses of [green coffee bean extract],” said Keith Ayoob, a registered dietitian and associate professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. “Then you’d know if the effects are due solely to caffeine or to something else in the beans, or to some combination thereof.”

Although green coffee bean extract may be of some benefit for people seeking weight loss, experts say the small study should be interpreted with caution.

“It’s premature to recommend this approach,” said Dr. David Katz, director of Yale University’s Prevention Research Center. “The effects, if real, are likely to be modest and we don’t know if they last over time.”

“It’s a supplement, not a substitute,” Katz added. “The emphasis will always need to be on overall diet and physical activity.”

Dr. Turner is a family medicine resident at Scottsdale Health Care in Arizona.

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Coffee vs. Diabetes

Posted on March 28, 2012 by bilrob

Coffee vs. Diabetes

Sometimes the latest health news talks about some obscure supplement you’ve never heard of.

Or a health food that has all the appeal of freshly-cut grass.

But not this time. Because today, I am talking about a deep, dark elixir that delights people around the world. A potion that provides many Americans with their dose of antioxidants. And caffeine.

I’m talking about coffee, of course, the magic bean that wakes you up in the morning and sometimes keeps you up at night.

And judging from the impressive amount of research coming out about coffee from around the world, thoughts of this brew are keeping researchers plenty stimulated. From Brazil to Japan and many points in between, coffee is generating excitement for benefits for a wide range of conditions.

More Coffee Health Benefits

Here is some freshly ground research on coffee that hit me like a doppio espresso. Coffee can help fight diabetes.

The Harvard School of Public Health has been grinding out a series of studies that perked up my attention.

Coffee Improves Insulin Sensitivity

At Harvard and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, researchers looked at the Nurses’ Health Study of 982 diabetic and 1,058 nondiabetic women without cardiovascular disease. They wanted to see if the beneficial effects of coffee on metabolism were from changes in the hormone adiponectin.

Women who had four or more cups of coffee per day “had significantly higher adiponectin” than those who did not drink coffee regularly, they discovered. Adiponectin plays an important role inpromoting insulin sensitivity, which protects against Type 2 diabetes.

Too little adiponectin spells trouble for insulin resistance. In another study, researchers from the German Diabetes Center warn: “Hypoadiponectinemia is closely associated with insulin resistance and risk of Type 2 diabetes.”

Read Cut Your Risk of Diabetes

The Harvard researchers also confirmed earlier reports that coffee can help lower inflammation. Inflammation is one other key mechanism that contributes to the development of diabetes. They also noted that absorption of glucose after meals may be slowed by the phenolics in coffee.

Coffee and Inflammation

Coffee’s ability to reduce inflammation has also generated interest in Europe, where the average per capita consumption is five kilograms (about 11 pounds) per year. In the U.S., the per capita amount for 2009 was 4.1 kilograms (about nine pounds).

A study from Germany and Finland looked at the anti-inflammatory effect of coffee and how that could relate to diabetes. The Finns down the most coffee in the world, sipping over 11 kilograms (about 24.25 pounds) per year on average.

They note that coffee compounds have shown potent antioxidant properties in laboratory studies.

The European study also found a significant increase in adiponectin levels from coffee consumption, at the level of eight cups per day for habitual coffee drinkers in the study. They pointed out an interesting result from another study showing that drinking five cups of coffee for one week boosted the levels of the important antioxidant glutathione.

In conclusion, the German-Finnish research team said: “Coffee consumption appears to have favorable effects on some markers of subclinical inflammation and oxidative stress.”

Learn: Natural Anti- Inflammatory Foods and Supplements That Help Arthritis

Good stuff to know as I sip my morning espresso.

I’d like to hear from you:

Are you a coffee drinker?
What is your favorite type of coffee, and where do you get it?
Have you noticed any benefits?

Please let me know your thoughts by posting a comment below.

Jonathan Galland is a health writer who created over 100 recipes for the anti-inflammatory program developed with his father, Dr. Leo Galland, in their book The Fat Resistance Diet. Jonathan Galland is CEO of pilladvised.com, an extensive online resource for the healing concepts of integrated medicine.

For more by Jonathan Galland, click here.

For more on diet and nutrition, click here.

References and Further Reading:

Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 Apr;91(4):950-7. Epub 2010 Feb 24. “Effects of coffee consumption on subclinical inflammation and other risk factors for type 2 diabetes: a clinical trial.” Kempf K, Herder C, Erlund I, Kolb H, Martin S, Carstensen M, Koenig W, Sundvall J, Bidel S, Kuha S, Tuomilehto J. Institute of Clinical Diabetology, German Diabetes Center, Leibniz Center for Diabetes Research at Heinrich, Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.

Diabetes Care. 2008 Mar;31(3):504-7. Epub 2007 Dec 10. “Coffee consumption is associated with higher plasma adiponectin concentrations in women with or without type 2 diabetes: a prospective cohort study.” Williams CJ, Fargnoli JL, Hwang JJ, van Dam RM, Blackburn GL, Hu FB, Mantzoros CS. Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.

JAMA. 2005;294(1):97-104. doi: 10.1001/jama.294.1.97 “Coffee Consumption and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes A Systematic Review” Rob M. van Dam, PhD; Frank B. Hu, MD, PhD Author Affiliations: Department of Nutrition and Health, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands (Dr van Dam); Department of Nutrition (Drs van Dam and Hu) and Department of Epidemiology (Dr Hu), Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Mass; Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass (Dr Hu).

Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(22):2053-2063. “Coffee, Decaffeinated Coffee, and Tea Consumption in Relation to Incident Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus A Systematic Review With Meta-analysis” Rachel Huxley, DPhil; Crystal Man Ying Lee, PhD; Federica Barzi, PhD; Leif Timmermeister; Sebastien Czernichow, MD, PhD; Vlado Perkovic, MD, PhD; Diederick E. Grobbee, MD, PhD; David Batty, PhD; Mark Woodward, Author Affiliations: The George Institute for International Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia (Drs Huxley, Lee, Barzi, Czernichow, Perkovic, Batty, and Woodward and Mr Timmermeister); Department of Public Health, Avicenne Hospital, University of Paris 13, Paris, France (Dr Czernichow); The Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, Utrecht University Medical Center, Utrecht, the Netherlands (Dr Grobbee); Medical Research Council Social Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland (Dr Batty); and Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York (Dr Woodward).

Diabetes Care. 2006 Feb;29(2):398-403. “Coffee, caffeine, and risk of type 2 diabetes: a prospective cohort study in younger and middle-aged U.S. women.”van Dam RM, Willett WC, Manson JE, Hu FB. Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115, USA

Ann Intern Med. 2004 Jan 6;140(1):1-8. Coffee consumption and risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus. Salazar-Martinez E, Willett WC, Ascherio A, Manson JE, Leitzmann MF, Stampfer MJ, Hu FB. Harvard School of Public Health, Channing Laboratory, Harvard Medical School, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.

Businessweek, March 13, 2012″Coffee Buffs From Amazon to Rio Poise Brazil to Top U.S.”

Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis2006;16:69-77. “Coffee and type 2 diabetes: from beans to beta cells” van Dam RM

Medicina (Kaunas). 2009;45(1):61-7. “Coffee consumption and type 2 diabetes mellitus.” Radzeviciene L, Ostrauskas R. Institute of Endocrinology, Kaunas University of Medicine, Eiveniu 2, Kaunas, Lithuania.

Appl Physiol Nutr Metab 2008;33:1290-300. “Coffee, glucose homeostasis, and insulin resistance: physiological mechanisms and mediators. Tunnicliffe JM, Shearer J

This information is provided for general educational purposes only and is not intended to constitute (i) medical advice or counseling, (ii) the practice of medicine or the provision of health care diagnosis or treatment, (iii) or the creation of a physician–patient relationship. If you have or suspect that you have a medical problem, contact your doctor promptly.

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Irish :Toast St. Patrick without leaving home

Posted on March 16, 2012 by bilrob

Irish :Toast St. Patrick without leaving home

With St. Patrick’s Day falling on a Saturday this year, pubs, bars and taverns will be even more filled with revelers than normal.

For those who don’t want to fight the rowdy crowds, celebrating at home with the same Irish cocktails that the bars will be serving isn’t too difficult, even for an inexperienced bartender.

Irish coffee, the Nutty Irishman, and other festive drinks in shades of green are fun to make at home without the crowds or the worry of driving after imbibing.

Beer, particularly the Irish favorites Guinness Stout and Harp, will always be most popular on St. Patrick’s Day. But Melissa Urdiales, manager of Kevin O’Bryan’s Irish Pub in Akron, said favorite holiday cocktails are easy to mix up at home too.

Urdiales has been tending bar at O’Bryan’s, 1761 S. Main St., for the past 10 years and said Irish whiskey and Irish cream liqueur are the foundations for many holiday cocktails.

Like regular coffee, Irish coffee, which is spiked with Irish whiskey and topped with cream, can both start and end the day.

“We sell a lot of Irish coffee in the morning, because we open at 7 a.m. with free breakfast,” Urdiales said. Another morning favorite is the Irish Breakfast, which is a shot of Irish whiskey mixed with butterscotch schnapps and chased with orange juice, she said.

Irish coffee also works well as an after-dinner drink, as does coffee combined with Irish cream liqueur.

Cream liqueurs, such as Baileys or Carolans, are made from Irish whiskey combined with real cream. They can be enjoyed alone over ice, or mixed into a variety of other cocktails. Because of their creamy caramel flavor, they also work well in recipes for cakes, desserts or even breakfast food.

Many of the holiday drinks are made with flavored liqueurs such as schnapps or creme de menthe, which makes them lower in alcohol by volume — 20 percent or less — compared to traditional liquors which are in the range of 40 to 90 proof.

When it comes to mixing up St. Patrick’s Day cocktails, Jonah Swafford, bar manager at the Barley House in downtown Akron, said the best way to create one is to experiment with a variety of combinations until you come up with a drink you enjoy. Minty-flavored drinks with their green color always work for the holiday. Guinness, Irish whiskey and Irish cream can be combined into a variety of cocktails, including the Irish Car Bomb, a specialty drink at the Barley House. It’s a riff on the traditional shot-and-a-beer drink, the boilermaker, made with Irish ingredients, Swafford said.

When entertaining at home, Swafford said an Irish beer, Irish whiskey and Irish cream liqueur would be enough variety to create a number of drinks, including the classic Irish coffee, which can be made with traditional whiskey or Irish cream. Just don’t forget the whipped cream on top.

Here are some recipes for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in the comforts of home.

IRISH COFFEE

1 cup hot coffee

1 jigger (1.5 oz) Irish whiskey

1 tbsp. brown sugar

Whipped cream

Mix sugar, whiskey and coffee together until sugar dissolves. Float whipped cream on top.

Makes 1 drink.

DUBLIN APPLE

¼ oz. creme de menthe

1.5 oz. (1 jigger) Irish whiskey, such as Jameson

¼ oz. sour apple liqueur

Mix all three ingredients together with ice in a cocktail shaker. Strain into a martini/cocktail glass and serve.

Makes 1 drink.

— Kevin O’Bryan’s Irish Pub

NUTTY IRISHMAN

1 part hazelnut liqueur

1 part Irish cream liqueur

Mix together and serve over ice in a cocktail glass.

Makes 1 drink.

— Kevin O’Bryan’s Irish Pub

IRISH CAR BOMB

1 glass Guinness

¾ oz. Irish whiskey, such as Jameson

¼ oz. Irish cream liqueur

In a shot glass combine the whiskey and Irish cream.

Drop shot into glass of Guinness, as with a boilermaker, and drink.

Makes 1 drink.

— The Barley House

PEPPERMINT PADDY MARTINI

8 oz. Irish cream liqueur

2 oz. creme de cacao liqueur

2 oz. vanilla vodka

2 oz. heavy cream

¼ tsp. pure peppermint extract

Peppermint whipped cream, for garnish (recipe follows)

Fill cocktail shaker ? full with ice. Add first 5 ingredients; shake until well mixed and chilled. Strain into martini/cocktail glasses.

Top each with a dollop of peppermint whipped cream, if desired.

Makes 4 servings.

PEPPERMINT WHIPPED CREAM

1 cup heavy cream

¼ cup confectioners sugar

¼ tsp. pure peppermint extract

Beat all three ingredients in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form.

Makes about 2 cups.

— www.mccormick.com?;

BAILEYS FRENCH TOAST

1 loaf challah bread in 1-inch slices

2½ cups milk

5 eggs

3 tbsp. cinnamon (plus more for on top)

½ cup dark brown sugar (plus more for on top)

½ tsp. salt

5 tbsp. Baileys Original Irish Cream

Orange zest, almond slivers, pecans, raisins or other dried fruits (optional)

Generously grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with butter.

Arrange bread in two tightly packed layers in the pan, filling in any gaps with smaller pieces. If the bread is sliced very thin, you can do up to three layers. If you are layering any fillings of fruit or nuts, put them between the layers (or sprinkle over the top at the end).

Whisk together milk, eggs, cinnamon, sugar, salt and Baileys. Pour over the bread. Sprinkle with additional cinnamon and sugar.

Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. The bread will absorb all of the milk custard overnight.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until puffed and golden.

To serve, combine 2 tablespoons of butter, a splash of maple syrup and a splash of Baileys. Warm in the microwave, stirring between 30-second increments until butter is melted and mixture starts to bubble. Drizzle over the top of toast.

Makes 8 servings. (This recipe contains no more than 0.6 fluid ounces of alcohol per serving.)

— www.baileys.com

Lisa Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or at [email protected].

Bill & Sheila’s Wine
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Starbucks to sell single-serve coffee brewers

Posted on March 11, 2012 by bilrob

Starbucks to sell single-serve coffee brewers

Starbucks Corp said it will launch its own single-cup coffee and espresso drink machine later this year, putting it in direct competition with partner Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc , seller of the popular Keurig home brewers.

Shares of Green Mountain plunged as much as 24 percent in after-hours trade, but regained some ground after Starbucks said on a conference call that it would continue to supply Green Mountain with Starbucks-branded single-serve coffee pods called K-cups.

Starbucks shares rose 3 percent to $51.87.

“With Green Mountain’s patents expiring this fall, Starbucks’ entry is part of the competitive onslaught hitting Green Mountain,” said hedge fund manager David Einhorn, who has been one of the most outspoken critics of Green Mountain.

Green Mountain did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Starbucks announcement.

Single-portion coffee, known as cups, discs or pods, make up only 8 percent of total worldwide coffee sales, according to data supplied by Euromonitor International in January. Still, category bulls say that percentage should grow as more people take advantage of its convenience.

Joshua Brown, vice president of investments at investment advisory firm Fusion Analytics, said Starbucks’ move was inevitable.

“There was no way that Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts (DNKN.O) were going to see this niche coffee market take off and not want a bigger share of it,” Brown said.

“A lot of people thought Starbucks was going to play nice and just sell K-Cups through the Keurig. But Starbucks doesn’t do anything where they are going to be the No. 2 or the No. 3 player,” added Brown, whose firm has no position in either stock.

Single-serve brewers, which can range from about $50 to about $800, make fresh cups of coffee, or even barista-worthy espresso drinks, in seconds.

Starbucks said that the “Verismo system by Starbucks” will make both brewed coffee and espresso beverages such as lattes.

The system will be sold online at select Starbucks shops and at specialty retailers in the United States, Canada and some other international markets, it said.

Pricing on the machine will not be announced until closer to launch, Starbucks said.

“This is a positive for Starbucks, it gives them better penetration into the at-home market,” said Lazard Capital Markets analyst Matthew DiFrisco, adding that the move leverages Starbucks’ strength in the espresso and latte category.

SUPPORTING BOTH SYSTEMS

Green Mountain controls more than three-quarters of the U.S. market for single-cup coffee. That dominance has been fueled by the large network of coffee brands that provide coffee cups compatible with Keurig machines, including Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts (DNKN.O), Newman’s Own, Caribou Coffee Co (CBOU.O) and Folgers, made by J.M. Smucker (SJM.N).

Despite the introduction of Verismo, Starbucks plans to continue its partnership with Green Mountain.

“We will support both systems and we will continue to support and honor the relationship we have with Green Mountain,” Howard Schultz, Starbucks’ co-founder and chief executive, said on a conference call with analysts.

Single-serve coffee is most popular in Western Europe and the United States.

The global leader is Nestle SA (NESN.VX), whose Nespresso system holds a 35 percent share, according to Euromonitor.

Other popular single-cup brewing systems include Tassimo by Kraft Foods Inc (KFT.N), Senseo by Sara Lee (SLE.N), and Flavia by Mars. At the end of this month, Senseo will be discontinued in the United States, except on select websites.

A spokesmen for Sara Lee and Kraft declined to comment on Starbucks’ move. A spokeswoman for Nespresso was not immediately available.

Consumer Edge Research analyst Robert Dickerson has estimated that a cup of coffee made at home by a one-cup brewer costs on average about 5 times more than traditionally brewed coffee.

(Additional reporting by Martinne Geller and Jennider Ablan in New York, Mihir Dalal in Bangalore and Jessica Wohl in Chicago; Writing by Martinne Geller; Editing by Tim Dobbyn, Bernard Orr)

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Jamaica's famed coffee industry facing hard times

Posted on March 5, 2012 by bilrob

Jamaica’s famed coffee industry facing hard times

BRANDON HILL, Jamaica (AP) — A few years ago in this mist-shrouded mountain town, steep slopes were quilted with some of the world’s most valuable coffee trees. Farmers scrambled to increase acreage and pickers painstakingly filled wooden boxes with ripened berries at harvest time.

Today, much of the terrain is overgrown with underbrush and bamboo as a declining luxury market in Japan and a voracious beetle drive thousands of frustrated small farmers away from tiny plots of leased highlands.

Times are hard for the growers of Jamaica’s legendary coffee, especially those on isolated, low-tech farms such as the ones in Brandon Hill, a one-road enclave with no traffic lights.

“We used to make a living, but now we’re working hungry,” said Colin McLaren, standing in his sloping farm of flowering coffee trees in Jamaica’s wild eastern mountains, where his father grew the gourmet arabica beans before him. “It’s tough and getting tougher.”

Jamaica produces what connoisseurs rank as one of the world’s finest coffees, mostly grown on patches of a few acres between 2,000 to 5,000 feet (610 to 1,525 meters) above sea level. The moist, cool climate of the Blue Mountains lengthens the growing period from five to about 10 months, allowing sugars to develop in the beans that grow inside the berries. Many coffee lovers say the rich brew has a smooth, nutty flavor and a deep, intriguing aftertaste.

The roasted beans often sell for about $40 a pound in the United States, up to four times the price of other gourmet coffees. In Japan, the main market for Blue Mountain coffee, the beans fetch as much as $34 for a 100-gram (3.5-ounce) package.

But consumers are buying less because of the global economic slump. And that has brought declines in purchases by coffee dealers, as well as big drops in the prices paid to Jamaica’s growers. Like farmers everywhere, they get only a small fraction of the retail price after middlemen, processors, shippers, retailers and others take their slices of the pie.

Meanwhile, the cost of producing coffee has soared for Jamaicans as inflation has driven prices for fertilizer, insecticide and wages higher over the last decade and powerful storms damaged their trees. Between 2005 and 2009, the cost of tending an acre of coffee almost doubled, jumping from $3,400 to $7,070.

An increasing number of exasperated Jamaican farmers say they can’t even eke out a bare living growing the specialty crop.

The nation’s Coffee Industry Board says Jamaican farmers received an average of $50.57 for every 60-pound (27-kilogram) box of Blue Mountain coffee cherries they produced during the 2006-2007 season. Last year, they got $28.91.

Over the same period, the price of coffee elsewhere roughly doubled, according to the World Coffee Organization, as consumer demand has risen for mostly inexpensive commodity beans.

McLaren said the problem has gotten so bad that he would accept being paid in fertilizer instead of cash just so he can keep his coffee farm healthy and maintain his investment.

“That’s what it’s come to now,” he said, looking over his mountainside farm from a ledge. “Fertilizer here costs more than a box of our coffee.”

Demand for the island’s coffee has plunged in Japan, where coffee lovers have long paid top dollar for Jamaican beans. Japan used to buy nearly 90 percent of Jamaica’s crop and helped the island develop its brand. Now Japanese importers buy around 60 percent at depreciated prices and have stopped advance payments for green coffee, shifting the costs to Jamaican exporters.

Toyohide Nishino, executive director of the All Japan Coffee Association, said his country’s love affair with Blue Mountain coffee has dulled because even discriminating Japanese consumers are looking for cheaper products at a time of economic stagnation.

“Consumers really have to watch their budgets, and Blue Mountain coffee is an expensive brand,” Nishino said. “So instead of Blue Mountain, coffee from Colombia and Brazil is more popular these days.”

This year, Jamaica is projected to produce just 140,000 60-pound (27-kilogram) boxes of branded Blue Mountain coffee, far below the record crop of 529,704 boxes in 2003. Even in 2004, when Jamaica’s coffee business was ravaged by Category 4 Hurricane Ivan, it managed to produce 236,405 boxes of Blue Mountain coffee.

As some farmers gave up in the lush Blue Mountains that tower over eastern Jamaica, their untended fields exacerbated a problem for those who remained by creating a breeding ground for the coffee berry borer, an invasive pest originally from Central Africa that is a headache for coffee growers around the world.

Officials say some Jamaican farmers could lose as much as half of their coffee crop this year due to the borer, an opportunistic bug smaller than a sesame seed that flourishes in abandoned fields and then spreads to working farms, further diminishing supply.

Industry leaders are distributing about 50,000 sticky traps containing a dab of pheromone that lures the tiny beetles inside, and they’re trying to educate farmers about how to get rid of the pests by hand. The government, meanwhile, is distributing small aid payments to help with fertilizer purchases.

Gusland McCook, advisory officer with Jamaica’s Coffee Industry Board, said the island has to get the borer population down or else its “going to be catastrophic.” And the fall in prices for Blue Mountain beans makes that tougher.

“A true, faithful coffee farmer can deal with the borer, (and) with more storms. But if the big man makes it so he can’t make a living, well, that’s another story,” said Danavan Edwards, a 29-year-old farmer with a plot near McLaren’s land.

Derrick Simon, president of the All Island Jamaica Coffee Growers’ Association, argues that the industry is in trouble largely because it foolishly relied on Japan almost exclusively for years and failed to diversify its markets.

McCook agrees that Jamaica needs to push into new markets. “I don’t believe we should be looking back with much regret, but we should have been looking forward in a better way. You could say we have been slow to react and look forward and make adjustments.”

Jamaica has been trying to expand the market for Blue Mountain coffee in Europe and the U.S., where adventurous coffee lovers can order it online from several sellers. The Coffee Industry Board also is looking for a toehold in China, where analysts predict coffee consumption will grow.

Prices have edged back up, although they’re still far below what growers used to get. Mavis Bank Coffee Factory Ltd., a major Jamaican processor and exporter, just promised growers a final price of $35.75 for each box they produce.

Not all Jamaican growers face the same hardships. Farmers with a do-it-yourself approach at higher, cooler elevations find they don’t need to spray often for the damaging beetle, which is far more common at lower altitudes.

David Twyman of the Old Tavern Coffee Estate brand cultivates and roasts coffee at his family’s 150-acre property and relies largely on mail order customers in the U.S., Canada and Taiwan who come back year after year.

“We’ve found that once we get people to try our coffee, they will be back,” Twyman said at his lush farm perched high in the mountains perch where he gives tours and steaming cups of black coffee to tourists and other visitors. “Our customers want a more personal connection.”

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Coffee drinking not linked to chronic illness

Posted on March 2, 2012 by bilrob

Coffee drinking not linked to chronic illness

Coffee drinkers have no more risk of getting illnesses such as heart disease or cancer, and are less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, according to a German study involving more than 40,000 people over nearly a decade.

The findings, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, came in the wake of many previous studies that produced conflicting results, with some tying coffee drinking to an increase in heart disease, cancer, stroke and more.

“Our results suggest that coffee consumption is not harmful for healthy adults in respect of risk of major chronic disease,” said Anna Floegel, lead author of the study and an epidemiologist at the German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke.

The researchers collected information at the beginning of the study on coffee drinking habits, diet, exercise and health from more than 42,000 German adults without any chronic conditions.

For the next nine years, the team followed up on the participants every two or three years to see whether they developed any health problems, particularly cardiovascular disease, stroke, heart attack, diabetes and cancer.

They found that coffee drinkers and non-drinkers were similarly likely to develop one of those illnesses.

For instance, 871 out of 8,689 non-drinkers developed a chronic disease, compared to 1,124 out of 12,137 people who drank more than four cups of caffeinated coffee a day — about 10 percent in both groups.

On the other hand, the researchers found that coffee drinkers were less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, the form that does not need insulin and is linked with obesity, than those who didn’t drink coffee.

Among those who drank four cups a day, 3.2 percent later reported that they had type 2 diabetes, compared to 3.6 percent of people who drank no coffee.

After taking into account factors that could influence diabetes, such as weight and smoking, the researchers determined that frequent coffee drinkers were 23 percent less likely to develop diabetes, a result that squares with other studies.

That doesn’t mean that coffee is responsible for preventing type 2 diabetes, but experiments in animals have hinted that certain chemicals found within coffee could positively affect metabolism.

“We do not encourage people to start drinking coffee if they do not enjoy this, but the overall evidence on coffee and health suggests that there is no reason for persons without specific health conditions to reduce their coffee consumption in order to reduce their risk of chronic diseases,” said Rob van Damn, a professor at National University of Singapore, who was not involved in the study.

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