Featured Blend Archives
CLEO'S KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL: An Interview with an Exec. Chef
Posted August 23, 2008
CLEO'S
KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL:
Cleo's interview
with Executive Chef
Andrew Bales.
Article is posted above
on the Home Page.
C O F F E E
O R I G I N S
In the movie Sideways,when one of the characters opens a bottle of wine, she finds herself considering the origins of that bottle—where the grapes were grown, who harvested them, what the weather was like on the day they were picked. Was the sun shining? Was it raining?
Here's the thing...I like to approach my coffee-drinking the same way. I marvel at how the beans can arrive at my doorstep from half a world away; how they can be grown by people of vastly different cultures, speaking different languages, living a completely different way of life.
When I learn about the coffee beans, I also learn about the people who grew them, about their world, 
about the care they took to cultivate the coffee I drink.
Scroll along the right column of this Home Page to read bout my past "Coffee Picks" or click on links in my archives below...
Click here
more about this quirky,
award-winning film.
(Not for everyone,
but I loved it!)
Posted July 10, 2008
CLEO'S JULY - AUGUST
COFFEE PICK:
Solar Roast Coffee
Pueblo, Colorado
Article is posted above
on the Home Page.
Posted May 24, 2008
CLEO'S MAY - JUNE
COFFEE PICK:
Papua New Guinea
"Jamaica Blue Mountain"
of the South Pacific
Click here to read
about this coffee
in Cleo's article archives.
Posted April 20, 2008
CLEO'S APRIL
COFFEE PICK WAS:
PURPLE
PRINCESS
This coffee, grown in Honduras,
was featured in my
Coffeehouse Mystery:
French Pressed.
Click here to read
about this coffee
in Cleo's article archives...
You can read
more about Cleo's previous
Coffee Picks
by clicking on the articles
archived below...
JULY - AUGUST '08 COFFEE PICK: Solar Roast Coffee
Posted July 10, 2008
CLEO'S JULY - AUGUST
COFFEE PICK:
Solar Roast Coffee
Pueblo, Colorado
Article now posting at top of home page.
MAY- JUNE '08 Coffee Pick: Papua New Guinea
Posted May 24, 2008
CLEO'S MAY - JUNE
COFFEE PICK:
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
"Jamaica Blue Mountain"
of the South Pacific
As usual, my article below
includes a link for purchasing
this coffee online...
Click here to see more PNG images.
For those of you frustrated with the high cost and limited availability of Jamaica Blue Mountain,
the coffees of Papua New Guinea should interest you! This tiny Indonesian island is a great source
for the very same Blue Mountain varietal...
My coffee pick this month is grown by the Agoga plantations, which are located in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, west of the rural township of Kainantu.
Agoga is composed of 2,000 family, clan and village members. Each member has been involved with the production of coffee his or her whole life. But let's backtrack a moment...
Where exactly is
Papua New Guinea?
Papua New Guinea (PNG) is located on an island north of Australia. It's a diverse country with an ancient people who've developed unique cultural traditions (in art, dance, costumes, music) and speak over 800 languages.
Most of Papua New Guinea's population live in traditional villages and communities and practice subsistence-based agriculture. Over 70% of this countries' coffee crop comes not from huge corporately-owned farms but from tens of thousands of small village coffee gardens that range in size from 20 trees to 500 or 600.
(By the way, one coffee tree will yield about one pound of coffee during a growing season. So when you drink a pound of coffee, you're essentially drinking an entire tree's worth!)
Much of the seed stock on Papua New Guinea is planted from the Jamaican Blue Mountain varietal, so it's no big surprise that many of the coffees offered from PNG share the same unique flavor characteristics as Blue Mountain: a mild, medium body with fruity undertones.
The harvesting of coffee in Papua New Guinea begins in April and peaks in July and August. So now is a good time to purchase this coffee if you're interested in trying it.
My interest in the Agoga plantations coffee came about because of their fantastic showing in this year's SCAA competition for the world's best coffee. (SCAA is the Specialty Coffee Association of America - the world's largest coffee trade association). More than 30 SCAA judges ranked Papua New Guinea's Agoga Plantation Limited submission as the 7th best in the world (over 100 coffees were judged).
I was eager to try the coffee grown by Agoga, so I searched for a vendor or roaster online who would sell their coffee to me retail (one 12-oz bag at a time as opposed to giant lots of it). Lucikly I found one: Williamsburg Coffee & Tea. Click here and scroll down to the PAPUA NEW GUINEA selection on the Williamsburg Coffee & Tea website. It's organically grown and fairly traded, and I was pleased with my experience ordering from WCT, which is based in Williamsburg, VA. My order was confirmed by e-mail and came quickly by post, freshly roasted.
I was extremely pleased with the coffee, as well. My husband and I both tasted the Agoga plantations coffee. Here are our impressions:
"Fruity-citrus-lemony notes balanced with an earthy-woody favor and a slight chocolaty/spicy finish...
Like a cross between an African coffee and one from Sumatra – lighter than a Sumatra yet still substantial in body and flavor. Hard to believe this is not a blend! High notes and low notes, like a wonderful blend, yet it’s single origin. Remarkable amount of flavor...brightness without bitterness..."
The Agoga plantations grow the Blue Mountain varietel at altitudes of 4,500 to 5, 000 feet. "High grown is high quality," as Clare Cosi would say!
Congrats to "Kristen" from Huntsville, Alabama, who won a free package of the Papua New Guinea coffee during my last Free Coffee drawing. My next drawing will take place June 22. Good luck!
Until next time,
–Cleo Coyle
A Conversation with Founder of CozyLibrary.com - Diana Vickery
A CONVERSATION
WITH
DIANA VICKERY
Founder and "Head Librarian" of
Cozy Library
Have you ever wanted to review cozy mystery books for a review site? Have you ever wanted to start your own Web community? Well, read on, because his month, I am delighted to welcome a very special 
guest to my virtual Village Blend—Diana Vickery, founder and "head librarian" of the very popular Cozy Library website.
Diana Vickery
in 1954!
If you’ve never dropped by the Cozy Library, you should! It’s an impressive community of Cozy Mystery fans and writers, boasting over 500 pages of content, dozens of author interviews, 275 author website links, and reviews of over 300 cozy author books, with new reviews filed every month, including a regular newsletter.
Diana provides a real service. Her review "librarians" introduce readers looking for good reads to authors looking for new readers. Most of all, Diana’s story is a true inspiration, showing us that retirement from a full-time job isn’t the end of anything, but the beginning of finally being able to pursue a long-held passion. Below is my recent conversation with her...
CLEO: Welcome to my virtual Village Blend, Diana! First of all, tell us your favorite coffeehouse drink and snack, I’ll (virtually) get it for you! Secondly, tell us a little bit about yourself. Where did you grow up? Where do you live now? And what did you do before you retired?
DIANA: I’m certain you’ll be disappointed, Cleo, but I usually get my coffee at McDonald’s at the mall where I walk every morning. My “senior decaf with one cream” sets me back a whopping 54 cents. When I’m at my favorite (real) coffeehouse, Grinders in Grayslake, Illinois, I order a small decaf breakfast blend and an Orange Blossom muffin. Not very adventurous, I’m afraid. 
(Although, after reading French Pressed, I think I should expand my coffee horizons!)
I was born and raised in northern Illinois and have spent all but one year of my life within about 60 miles of where I was born. I live in Gurnee, Illinois (one of Chicago’s far north suburbs), with hubby of 37 years, Ray.
Most of my working life was spent doing public relations. I was PR director at three different community colleges; then I spent 15 years running my own small PR agency. After that, I spent eleven years “semi-retired,” working for a Fortune 500 company, where I edited two monthly employee newsletters, one national, one regional. I began the Cozy Library in February 2006 and fully retired in June of that year.
CLEO: So, after you retired from your full-time job, what led to your creation of the Cozy Library site and what did it entail?
DIANA: Writing has always been a part of my life and I knew when I retired that I’d want to continue writing. The only questions were what I’d write about and for whom. At that time, I’d been reviewing cozies for Mystery News (www.blackravenpress.com) for several years and thought doing more of that would be fun. Plus, I thought it would be a kick to help match readers with new authors and to write a newsletter for kindred spirits.
The idea for the Cozy Library came to me at about 3:00 one morning.
In December 2005 I called my friend Kim Washetas (www.scoutcr.com), a website developer, at about 7 a.m. and asked her to get secure the domain name www.cozylibrary.com. Kim, an avid reader herself, immediately said, “I can see it now.”
That day, while my husband was at work, I put everything down on paper: what the site would be, the kind of content I envisioned and the cost. After dinner that night, I gave my pitch to Ray, a very practical guy. He gave it about 30 seconds of thought and said, “I think you should do it.” Kim and I scurried to come up with a design and content and the site was up and running by mid-February 2006.
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CLEO: In his Encyclopedia of Murder and Mystery, Bruce F. Murphy includes an entry on the “cozy” mystery. He says, “If the noir writer is a pessimist, the cozy writer is an optimist.” Would you agree with that? And if so, is that the reason you love cozies so much?
(Click here
DIANA: I definitely agree that cozy readers are optimists – we always look for that happy ending.
When I read for pleasure, I want to enter a world I wouldn’t mind being in. Not in a forensic laboratory. Not an interrogation room with a serial killer. Not where coarse language is the norm. My real life is pretty doggone cozy -- and I believe that’s 
why I like to read cozy mysteries and gentle fiction.
BTW: I covered the topic of why I read cozy more fully in my guest blog for Clea Simon earlier this month. It’s here: http://cleasimon.blogspot.com/
CLEO: If anyone reading this is inspired by your story and thinking about pursing his or her own passion of creating a community on the Internet, what would you advise them? Any suggestions are welcome.
DIANA: I was very fortunate in having a good friend who knew so much about putting together a website. My best advice is to find an expert, negotiate a price you can afford, and take that expert’s advice. A blog may be an easier (and less expensive) way to do much the same thing and there are many options.
CLEO: Here’s a challenge for you. For Cleo Coyle’s fans, what three cozy mystery (or not-quite-cozy mystery) authors or books would you suggest they try between Cleo’s books? Ditto for Alice Kimberly’s fans?
DIANA: For Cleo’s fans—three books whose authors, like Cleo, have a knack for integrating their protagonist’s profession with the mystery. I know cozy fans like to get in on the ground floor, so here are three first books in new series.
Julie Hyzy’s State of the Onion (White House chef)
Lorna Barrett’s Murder is Binding (“Booktown”)
Sarah Atwell’s Through a Glass, Deadly (Glassblowing)
Few mysteries compare to Alice’s, so I’m going to recommend three non-mystery novels with elements of fantasy for her fans.
Earthly Pleasures by Karen Neches (angels)
A Shortcut in Time by Charles Dickinson (time travel)
Passage by Connie Willis (near-death experiences)
CLEO: Those are wonderful suggestions, thank you! Now, if anyone reading this is interested in reviewing books for Cozy Library, what should they know and what should they do?
DIANA: When I started reviewing for Mystery News, the editor gave me a “tryout” before taking me on as a regular reviewer -- she sent me a book and I sent her a review. That’s what I like to do, too.
Anyone interested in being a
(volunteer) reviewer for Cozy Library
should send me an e-mail at
or
I’ll mail a book we agree on and we can go from there. Reviewers need to have read quite a lot of cozy books (mystery or general fiction) and have some experience writing for publication.
CLEO: Finally, I suspect someone with your energy and imagination has other passions. What do you do when you’re not reading or writing reviews?
DIANA: My husband and I enjoy taking road trips, hiking and enjoying the great outdoors. My favorite hobby right now is genealogy – in fact, much of our travel lately has been in pursuit of my husband’s Vickery and Fuller family histories. That has led us to discover, in addition to dead ancestors, some living relatives. We’re planning to attend reunions this spring and summer – and meeting face-to-face with new cousins we’ve found. Genealogy has led us down some strange and wonderful paths.
CLEO: Many of my readers are real foodies. More to the point, they really see the connection between food, family, memory, and love. Would you like to share a special foodie memory with us (a recipe or a link to a recipe is most welcome, too!)?
DIANA: Christmas dinners in my childhood didn’t feature turkey, ham or prime rib...
For breakfast, lunch and dinner, my sisters, cousins and I spread cold pork pâte on doughy, white Rainbo-brand bread and topped it with salt and pepper. Accompaniments included Jay’s potato chips and a tall glass of .jpg)
cold milk from Pike’s Dairy in Aurora, Illinois, where my dad worked.
Click here for a link to our
family’s recipe for Creton.
It was published in
Ancestry.com’s
online newsletter.
I also have a coffee-related memory to share. While in high school, I worked at a drug-store soda fountain. Each summer, one of our specials was a coffee soda. It was made with coffee ice cream and carbonated water, along with coffee syrup we made up using sugar, ground coffee and boiling water in a drip coffee pot.
Unfortunately, I can’t tell you what it tasted like because I wasn’t a coffee drinker at the time. But it was very popular with our customers. (My favorite soda fountain concoction was peppermint ice cream topped with hot fudge, marshmallow sauce and whipped cream.)
CLEO: Thank you, Diana, for taking the time to visit with us here at the virtual Village Blend. To visit with Diana and her librarians at Cozy Library click here.
To find out more about Grinders,
Diana's favorite coffeehouse click on their logo.
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Grinders is located at
82 Center St.
Grayslake, IL 60030
Memorial Day 2008 - Patriot Guard Ride by Jim Kerick
MEMORIAL DAY Military veteran Jim Kerick I've never witnessed a fallen soldier being escorted home again. Jim's detailed account paints a clear picture. Thank you, Jim, for reminding us —Cleo A DAY WITH THE PATRIOT GUARD RIDERS by Jim Kerick Twenty-five-year-old Sergeant Lance Eakes died in Iraq while riding in a Humvee. An IED went off, killing him and injuring another. This was my experience riding with the Patriot Guard Riders, escorting Sergeant Eakes' coffin from the airport to the funeral home in his hometown of Apex, North Carolina. § Lance Oliver Eakes In memoriam The twin engine plane pulled into the hanger and shut down its engines. A few moments later, the hanger doors closed. The Army honor guard, in their formal dress blues, lined up near the hearse. The hatch on the left side of the airplane slowly opened. A step lowered, the pilot and co-pilot debarked followed by the escort, a young sergeant in Class A uniform. The plane crew quietly brought ramps out of the plane and prepared an electric lift draped in black. The coffin containing the body of SGT Lance Eakes was removed from the plane interior. The coffin was brown wood. It was draped in an American flag. While the coffin was moving, a small contingent of Army personnel, standing at attention in Class A and Battle Dress uniforms, rendered a hand salute. I stood with my fellow Patriot Guard Riders. We, along with the Wake County Deputies, RDU police, and all others present, placed our hands over our hearts. Both the pilot and co-pilot of the plane were men. Each wore a black suit with rings on the bottom of their sleeves, indicating rank. The elder of the pair had a head full of gray, while the younger looked as if he was still under 35. As they stood near the plane, one tripped the switch that lowered the hatch. It closed quietly. Four chairs were moved forward and aligned. A Lieutenant Colonel, the Chaplain, and two other Soldiers stepped out to collect the family. No one approached the coffin. No one moved. No one made a noise. The door to the lounge opened, and the family entered. An infantry Captain lead the way, walking very slowly. The mother and father clung to each other. Sergeant Eakes’ father was using a cane in his left hand. His wife held onto his right arm. Another woman held onto the mother’s right arm. They appeared to be keeping her from collapse. Her sobs increased in volume with each yard covered towards An older women, using a walker, tried to see over the people in front of her. The sobs of the mother cut through everyone. A woman from the USO was holding a box of tissues. She pressed one into a family member’s hand. Her eyes were wet. With halting steps, the family approached the coffin and touched the flag. The few moments felt like a lifetime, and then they backed away and the military honor guard moved forward. With commands that appeared totally silent, six soldiers approached and stood three per side. The Staff Sergeant in charge of the details took his place by the blue field of stars. Slowly, with deliberate moves, they lifted Sergeant Eakes and turned towards the hearse, on slow step at a time, they began to take him on his final journey. The only sounds in the large hangar were the sobs of Lance Eakes’ mother. As the coffin was set on rails and eased into the hearse, she clung to her husband and another relative. The honor guard moved away from the hearse. Their movements were coordinated by very low spoken commands. We filed out quietly to get our motorcycles in place for the trip. We lined up behind the hearse, in front of the terminal, awaiting the family’s exit. All talking ceased as the family walked towards their cars. One male member of the family gave us a small wave as he got into a black Suburban. The police escort moved forward, the hearse, the family and then our motorcycles. There were about 40 bikes in the procession. Some were carrying full size flags. A photo of a Patriot Guard Riders escort that took place in Kansas. Click on photo to see large version. A s we left the general aviation terminal, the Airport Police stopped traffic. We entered I540, heading towards Apex, and the Wake Deputies held up traffic and waved us through intersections and red lights. Traffic was held on the highway for the funeral procession, and we proceeded down the road, moving through an otherwise glorious spring morning. The sky was blue and beautiful, the sun bright, illuminating the budding leaves and growing grass. We exited I540 and rode down 55 south. Now the Apex police were blocking the roads for us, allowing the hearse and procession to move through without pause. The officers saluted as we passed. As we entered the small town of Apex, a few people stood by the side of the road holding American flags. The closer we got to the funeral home, the more flags and people I saw. A couple of signs were held up, saying Lance was a fallen hero. Adults and teens were somber. As we arrived at the funeral home, a group of Soldiers stood on the side of the road. After parking my bike, I joined the crowd at the end of the funeral home to wait for the coffin to be unloaded. A news chopper flew above us. A photographer took pictures of the family as they stood in the shade of the overhang. The hearse door opened and quiet descended. The honor guard moved forward. Three Soldiers per side. The Staff SGT at the head. They stopped and faced each other, separated by the space for the coffin. Slowly, they pulled it out. A member of the Soldiers called out: “Order Arms!” By reflex my hand, along with many others in the Patriot Riders raised up. Once more, I heard the cries of Lance’s mother. Deliberate motions were used to grasp and move the coffin. Finally, the honor guard faced forward and moved into the funeral home. “Ready To!” sounded out and my hand snapped back to my side. “At ease” was called and I found myself reflexively moving to the proper position. The crowd stood quietly, unsure what to do. A man in a blue sport coat stepped forward. On behalf of the family he thanked us all for coming and said that the family was grateful for the support. He asked that we all remember the family in our prayers. Moving back towards my bike, one woman approached the gentleman walking to my left and —Jim Kerick Jim Kerick served in On this Memorial Day, may God bless our soldiers, —Cleo Click here to read a news story of this event. Click here to visit the Patriot Guard Riders site.
sent me the following email. I asked permission to post it on Memorial Day weekend. He agreed.
all why the United States has
a national Memorial Day.
—Jim
the plane. As they rounded the nose and stepped towards the coffin, the gathering stopped.
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In the arms of her father, a small girl, no more than two years old, waved the flag as if she were watching a parade. Her face seemed angelic to me, she was happy, not really understanding, simply enjoying something not part of her normal morning routine.
asked if the Patriot Riders were all veterans. He answered that we were not all veterans. I rode my bike away, thinking about my own service and thanking God I had a chance to show some respect for a fallen comrade.
Desert Storm in the US Navy
and Operations Iraqi Freedom
in the NC Army National Guard.
past and present, living and dead.
Thank you, Jim, for your service, too.
The Return of Java the Cat!
THE RETURN OF These candid photos reveal the scandalous truth: My cat, Mr. Felloes, is actually my in-house editor. Late last year, when I was writing my latest Coffeehouse Mystery, French Pressed, Mr. Felloes pointed out to me that Clare's cat Java seemed to have disappeared from the Coffeehouse Mystery series. § From Coffee Talk Message Board Post 9/11/07... Clare's Cat One question about a character in On What Grounds. What happened to Java? Those of us with pets, especially cats, think of them as one of the family. I sadly have more pictures of my cats than of my grandchildren. Shouldn't Java be around a little more?... From Message Board Post 10/8/07... Coffee Loving Pets I just read the post from Charlie-Rourke O'Brien. Loved it. My adoption mom & her daughter make Lattes & make some froth (flavored) for me. I also still want to know what happened to Java. —Smokie Lane of Amarillo And, finally, I received this post in March: From Board Post 3/5/08... Luv your books. But where did the cat - Java- go? I luv your coffee books! I started in the middle of the series with LATTE TROUBLE and went forward with books 4 and 5. I am just now reading ON WHAT GROUNDS and WOW-there is Clare's cat, Java. I'm not to the end yet, but...where is Java in the rest of the series? I loved your books before I knew of Java, but luved them more after the little coffee beaned colored tabby appeared. Have a java, jazzy day! —Roxy from Georgetown, TN § So where exactly is Java's big scene in French Pressed? Well, turn to page 37 in your mass market paperback editon and read through page 45. Cover of the On What Grounds Java enjoying a delish cookie with her coffee... U.S. version Published in Japan Cover of the Through the Grinder Java grinding beans U.S. version Published in Japan Cover of the Latte Trouble Java reading a "New Fashion" mag with a bottle of "Latte" in her arm. U.S. version Published in Japan 
JAVA THE CAT!
"This manuscript is putting me to sleep," Mr. Felloes complained. "Put Java the cat in a scene and I'll give a crap!"
Ack! Hairball!
Of course, I ignored Mr. Felloes' notes on the manuscript (as well as his drool and claw marks), but then my CM readers spoke up!
No kidding. While I was working on French Pressed, the following posts appeared on my Coffee Talk Chalkboard (just click on the green board in the right column to post your own message), and their heartfelt content really did persuade me to add Java to the very next Coffeehouse Mystery, which happened to be French Pressed (more on the scene I wrote, below these "Where's Java?!" posts)...
(Yes, French Pressed was on its way to being printed by then, but this post made me realize that Mr. Felloes was right, all along!)
Also, I luv all of the splendid caffeine-charged info and recipes that are in your very well-done mysteries. I am an avid reader of everything, especially mysteries. Your series is a java junkie gem! My coffee-crazed friends are loving my new coffee facts that I am quoting from your books. really!...
I originally conceived this scene as taking place between Clare and Mike in the kitchen of Clare's duplex apartment. In the scene, Clare is fixing coffee for Mike, something she usually does downstairs in the espresso bar. Now that they're seeing each other, however, she invites him up to her place.
At first, the addition of Java to this scene between Clare and Mike was just for fun, but as I wrote, I realized Java was actually playing a pretty significant role in the little give-and-take between the two humans.
You'll notice as Mike throws Pounce treats to Java, he also throws little pieces of information out to Clare on the case he's been working in the area nightclubs. They are playing the kind of guessing game that they usually play, but with Java added to the scene, the humor becomes a little more telling: Clare enjoys this interaction as much as Java enjoys those little cat treats. Clare's addicted, you see...not just to coffee, but to sleuthing. In more than one way, Mike is catnip to her. Funny stuff. And lots of fun to play with, thanks to my CM readers who reminded me not to diss the cat!
Adding unexpected elements to the writing process is always great fun and a good challenge for any writer of popular fiction. I'm all for having "notes" come to me in karmic ways as well as traditional one. And, actually, it's not a bad life lesson, either.
In my experience, notes from the universe always lead me down surprising roads—and, this time around, anyway, I'm very glad to have the chance to take you down those roads with me.
Thanks very much to those of you who posted about Java. From now on, I'll try harder to remember to include her in Clare's adventures. I know my Japanese publisher, Random House Kondansha would agree...
Here are some of the Japanese covers for my Coffeehouse Mystery series (you'll notice that even though Java isn't exactly featured in every books, she's become the star of the Japanese cover art...)
Japanese edition
by Random House
Kodansha
Japanese edition
and frowning at mice stealing sack of coffee 
by Random House
Kodansha 
Japanese edition
by Random House
Kodansha
§
(Scroll down for more archived articles...)
OH, SNAP! Rachael Ray Makes Gaffe Over...Coffee?
Oh Snap!
If this is coffee, please bring me
some tea; but if this is tea,
please bring me some coffee.
—Abraham Lincoln
Rachael Ray Makes Gaffe
So there's this daily blog written by New York magazine called "Grub Street," which has the inside track on New York's foodie scene. The editors recently reported a hilarious story that caught my attention merely because it's about coffee.Click here to read about Rachael Ray's apparent gaffe on the set of her show (off camera), calling Dunkin' Donuts coffee, well, merde and asking for "MY" coffee, which was, apparently...(oops!) Starbucks.
Yeah, I know, this wouldn't be a big deal at all if she wasn't promoting Dunkin' Donuts. But then I can't blame her. I myself have given up on the Dunkin' Donuts coffee at the stores near me.
But, hey, maybe it's just the New York City Dunkin' Donuts. Maybe franchise owners in other parts of the country actually care about quality (one would hope so for the chain's sake). I gotta say it, though...if Dunkin' Donuts invested the money paid for celeb endorsements into their coffee beans, there'd be no stopping the stampede for their java...
Scroll down these archived articles to read about some great African coffees grown by artisan farmers. (Pictured left.)
By the way, everyone, I really like Rachael Ray! She's obviously worked her rear end off to get where she is (and I honestly have to like any chick who makes an Italian rear fashionable again, thank you VERY much since I have one, too!).
I actually love Tony, too. C'mon, his sexy arrogance, hidden under too-cool-for-school hipness, actually inspired me to create my very own chef character in my latest Coffeehouse Mystery, French Pressed , so how could I not admire the cat?
Chain-smoking, formerly drug addicted,
heavy drinking Tony Bourdain
smacked down Rachael Ray
last October for peddling donuts,
which are (gasp) bad for your health.
Right.
If you missed the Bourdain
smackdown, click here!
It's a riot.
Post Subject: DUNKIN' DONUTS COFFEE FAN!
by: Sister of the Queen of Beans
Cleo:
When my sister turned 50, and being well known as a coffee bean Queen, it was only natural to give her a big party!! She goes to Dunkin Donuts daily (by the way, here in Massachusetts its good)! So I decorated the room in orange/pink colors, and baloons too. I sprinkled real coffee beans on each table, the centerpiece was cans of coffee with flowers. I made her a lovely pair of coffee bean earrings, necklace, bracelet to match. We gave out the ceramic coffee mugs from DD to all the guests. We had a blast, and everyone was really "hyped up" all night!!
Cleo's reply:
HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY,
QUEEN OF BEANS!
Here's a virtual doughnut to you for stopping by and letting me know about your hilarious DD birthday bash! Thanks for sharing. I LOVE all the clever coffee-themed kitsch that you thought of doing for her, too. What a great sis you are!
Java joy to you and your java-loving sister.
And from one Queen of coffee beans to another: Happy Birthday, girl!
—Cleo Coyle
APRIL '08 Coffee Pick: Purple Princess
CLEO'S APRIL
COFFEE PICK:
PURPLE
PRINCESS
also known as...
"Finca El Puente,"
from the country of Honduras
Pictured above is Marysabel, the owner of the farm
that produces this amazing coffee
If you've read even one of my Coffeehouse Mysteries, then you know what an important role coffee plays in each story. In French Pressed, coffeehouse manager and barista Clare Cosi must stage a coffee tasting for the demanding exective chef of a top New York 
restaurant.
"So, okay," I said to myself, "if Clare has got to impress someone as hard to please as Chef Tommy Keitel, then I've got to find some really excellent coffees out there for her to serve the man..."
Coffee beans grown in Kenya are among the finest in the world, which is why I put Kenyan coffee on Clare's short list. (Kenya was also my March Coffee Pick, and you can scroll down to read more about this wonderful coffee)...But I knew Kenya alone wouldn't be enough to persuade Chef Tommy Keitel to include Clare's 
coffees on his precious restaurant menu. I needed something really different, a coffee with a flavor profile that would get the attention of a world-class chef. That coffee was actually easy for me to choose: It's a coffee grown in Honduras, on the farm of Finca El Puente—a coffee nicknamed the "Purple Princess." Everything I write about the Purple Princess in French Pressed is true (see page 100 of your mass market edition). It's an elegant, award-winning coffee that's greatly desired at 
coffee auctions. How does it taste? Silky smooth with floral and fruity notes of lavender, plum, and grape. These "purple" fruits along with the "regal" elegance of the silky body is what led Peter Giuliano, coffee director of the boutique roaster, Counter Culture Coffee, to nickname this amazing offering "Purple Princess" —a name now widely used to refer to this superb coffee.
Another wonderful thing I discovered while researching this coffee was that the farm on which the Purple Princess is grown is owned by a woman: Marysabel Caballero Garcia.
Pictured above is Marysabel, owner of the farm that produces the excellent "Purple Princess" coffee. Click here or on the photo to go to the Counter Culture Coffee Web site and read what Marysabel's says about running her coffee farm. You can also order "Purple Princess" coffee from Counter Culture. The company delivers freshly roasted whole beans via UPS. Click here to order the coffee for yourself.
Marysabel was also recently profiled as one of "Ten Incredible Women in Coffee" in the April-May issue of Barista Magazine, a great magazine to read if you work in the coffeehouse trade. (Click here to learn more about Barista Magazine.)
Marysabel inherited her farm from her father. And, like many women who must prove themselves where men have gone before, it wasn't easy...
"At the beginning," she told Barista Magazine, "it was difficult to take over my father's role as the head of the farms; the employees refused to obey my instructions because they couldn't accept that a woman could be in charge in this work. But little by little, I gained their trust...Over the course of a few months, we became a good team and in addition to respecting me, they all came to care about me, as well..."
Even though 70% of the world's coffee is grown in South and Central America, Honduras is not a country known for its coffee, but there's a great story behind 
that, too...a love story.
Marysabel credits her husband, Ezri Moises Herrera, for figuring out that the area where they ended up cultivating the Purple Princess coffee had the conditions similar to excellent coffee-growing regions in his native Guatemala, a country well known for many excellent estate and cooperative coffees.
Ezri and Marysabel married in 1996 and together began planting and cultivating their award-winning crop.
Above is a map of Central America. As you can see, Honduras—the country where the Purple Princess is grown—is bordered by Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, three countries far better celebrated than Honduas for exporting superior coffee. The Purple Princess is a great exception to that!
If you'd like to try this coffee for yourself, it's imported and sold through two excellent coffee 
roasters. Click here to purchase it from Counter Culture Coffee of Durham, North Carolina (that's where I get mine because I live on the East Coast).
The other excellent roaster where you can purchase Finca El Puente is Stumptown Coffee of Portland, Oregon. At this time, Stumptown is not offering Fince El Puente for sale, but this boutique roaster is a top one, so if you're curious to take a look at their other coffees, just click here.
Till next time,
—Cleo Coyle
MARCH '08 COFFEE PICK: Kenyan
CLEO'S MARCH
COFFEE PICK:
KENYA
One of the coffees featured in
my 6th Coffeehouse Mystery:
French Pressed
Click here to read about
Kenyan coffee farm tours.
Africa is it, folks, the continent where the first coffee plant sprang from the earth. That’s one reason why I chose to begin Cleo’s 2008 World Coffee Tour in January with Ethiopia, 
where coffee was first discovered.
(Scroll down to read about my picks for January - Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, and February - Rwandan Village Blend.)
For this month’s coffee pick, I’m pleased to take us to another African nation: Kenya.
Kenya has wonderful growing conditions for coffee, especially the slopes around Mount Kenya (remember high grown is high quality). Mount Kenya is located about 95 miles northeast of Nairobi, Kenya's largest city. The mountain is actually a dead volcano 
(it last erupted around 3 million years ago), so the soil is rich in its foothills and the rainfall is good, providing great conditions for growing Joe. Despite Ethiopia's location just to the north—where the coffee plant was originally discovered around 1,400 years ago and still grows wild—the coffee farmed in Kenya came to the country only a few hundred years ago via missionaries who hoped to create a cash crop for the country.
These "Bourbon" coffee plants (mutated versions of the Ethiopian plant) were then cultivated by the Kenyan farmers into a crop that's become one of finest and most respected in the world.
March and April is the time when Kenya's top grade lots come to auction—this is another aspect of the country's coffee farming that's unique, the trading of the coffee itself. You see, in Kenya, the farms are small. The farmers form cooperatives to market their crops. By law, these cooperatives must sell their coffee through the auctions held at the Nairobi Coffee 
Exchange.
Click here or on the picture to see more photos of the NCE.
Coffee buyers request samples, evaluate them, and bid on them through a licensed bidder. Most of these lots are bought by exporters, who mix this higher quality Kenyan coffee into blends with lesser varieties. However, savvy buyers like Counter Culture Coffee roasters of Durham, NC, and Peet's Coffee and Tea of San Francisco, CA, are very particular about bidding on pure, uncut lots.
The late Alfred Peet (2nd from right)
cupping coffee in Nairobi in 1985
Here's how Peet's describes its buying process...
"...we narrow down hundreds of offerings to the few we bid on. It’s a frenzied and exciting time, with intense competition to secure the most sublime lots. We’re sent samples direct from the auction, and have just a day to taste, debate, compare and then finally make our bids. Only a few select lots meet our standard for Kenya perfection: wonderfully aromatic, juicy, lively, with complex flavors hinting of citrus and blackberry."
I haven't tried the Peet's Kenyan yet, but I trust the company's quality and have no problem linking to it. Click here to read more about Peet's Kenyan.
I have tried Counter Culture Coffee's Kenyan and loved it. What I especially like about Counter Culture is their offering the coffee in a lighter or darker roast.
When I was writing French Pressed, I knew I wanted to use a Kenyan coffee for the scene in which Clare must persuade a top New York chef to serve her coffees in his restaurant. I specifically ordered the Counter Culture French roast Kenyan to sample for this–and it was one delicious cup!
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The hints of spice in the Kenya make it a great coffee to pair with my Banana Crunch Muffins, a bonus recipe I'll be sending to my newsletter subscribers before the end of March.
Counter Culture's Kenyan lot has wonderful body, and a clean, bright finish with notes of spice, clove, raisin, and sweet lime. Ah, but this is the lighter roast. So what happens when you French roast these same beans? It's like covering sweet cherries with 
chocolate. The depth of the dark roast is there but so is the fruitiness of the African bean. Yum.
(As Counter Culture warns, beware of roasters who don't know how to handle these beans, then you'll just get an overpowerig carmelized smokiness without the subtler flavors.)
If you'd like to read more about Counter Culture's Kenyan coffee or puchase it for yourself, click here for the lighter roast and click here for the French roast. FYI: My March free coffee drawing winner—"Pat" from Cordova, Tennessee—chose the French roast.
Finally, Kenya is also the country where Danish author Karen Blixen, who wrote 
under the pen name Isak Dinesen, owned and ran a coffee plantation in the early 1900s, near the final years of European colonialism in the country. If you've never heard of her, I highly recommend the film based on her life and memoir of the same name: Out of Africa. To learn more about the film, click here
Till Next time
—Cleo Coyle
How Cleo Spent St. Patrick's Day '08 - NY Parade Pics!
How I Spent
Saint Patrick's Day 2008
New York's St. Patrick's Day Parade is the largest in the world with 150,000 marchers and 2 million spectators lining Fifth Avenue. Here are some of my pics from the celebration...
The weather was glorious on March 17,
chilly enough for sipping hot Irish coffee but with a cloudless blue sky above and a bright contrast of sun 
and shadow on the city's sidewalks and streets.
Click here for a history
of Irish coffee
and a great recipe.
My husband and I took a subway from our home in Queens and watched the parade from the corner of Fifth Avenue and 77th Street, across from Central Park. Below is the banner for the NYPD's Emerald Society. There are over 35,000 police in New York City, of all races and creeds, but the Irish cop is an institution that's been around well over one-hundred years.
The NYPD and all of its divisions are always well represented in the St. Patrick's Day parade. Even detectives marched in plain clothes with their tres cool gold shields hanging around their necks.
NY police department band.
The NYPD's pipes and drums.
No, ma'am. Do NOT ask me to smile—and that better be coffee in that cup.
New York's Finest...
...and cutest!
(Yes, I'm very happily married, I'm just sayin'!)
Brooklyn North Detectives pipes and drums
Bad guys beware- a Brooklyn detective with rhythm
U.S. Marines - Semper Fi, dudes!
U.S. Coast Guard - Semper Paratus, dudes!
(motto translation - always ready!)
Excuse us, is this the set for John Adams?
Woops! Right country, wrong era. These guys are Civil War reenactors.
Fiddle-dee-dee, I'll think about the 21st Century tomorrow!
Yes, the wearing o' the green is just as important among the parade spectators!
After many hours of watching the parade, my husband and I headed down to Greenwich Village for the best fish and chips in New York at a little shop with chefs from the UK called
"A Salt and Battery"
Click here for info and location on A Salt and Battery.
It's a great place to grab a delish bite when you're touring around the Village. It's cheap and fast, no sit down service, just walk up to the fryer and place your order. A few cozy seats in the shop and a bench out front. Friendly peeps and very UK. Even the radio on the speaker is tuned to the BBC.
(Click here for a great recipe for Fish 'n' Chips!)
Since we were in the West Village, we stopped by the 6th Precinct (home of Detective Mike Quinn) to take a look at the Police Museum (uniforms and badges from all over the country and the world, including Italy, where my grandfather was a mounted policeman.)
Finally, we stopped by the 6th's Wall of Honor, a tribute to the officers of the precinct who died in the line of duty, including the heroes of 9/11.
And that was my Saint Patrick's Day for 2008!
I hope you had a good one, too!
—Cleo Coyle
FEBRUARY '08 COFFEE PICK: Rwanda's Village Blend
CLEO'S FEBRUARY
COFFEE PICK:
Rwanda's
Village Blend
Our coffee world tour continues! As I mentioned with last month's Yirgacheffee pick, Africa is where coffee was born – every variety of coffee plant throughout the world’s coffee belt is some form of hybrid that originated on that continent.
Like Ethiopia and Kenya, the Republic of Rwanda grows some of the finest coffee in the world. It has great conditions for it – good rainfall, volcanic soil, and high altitude mountains. But just over ten years ago, the country was scarred with one of history’s worst genocides. Over one million people were slaughtered in under 100 days.
These days, the Rwandans are working hard to rebuild their country. 30,000 independent coffee growers still climb the hills, tend the soil, and carry the beans on their shoulders down to cooperative village wash stations.
When Bill Gates’s recent grant put the Rwandan struggle in the news again (click here to read more about the grant), I thought it would be great to support the farmers and buy some Rwandan coffee. Around the same time, I learned about Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee Co. from a reader’s post on my Coffee Talk message board (Karen from Deland, Florida. Thanks, Karen!). 
I went to the site and saw that they offered a coffee called Akadugudu Blend. As soon as I learned that "Aka-dugu-du" is the Kinya-rwanda word for "Village," I knew I just had to feature this amazing coffee.
(As you know, if you are a reader of my Coffeehouse Mysteries, the stories are set in the fictional landmark coffeehouse called the Village Blend in Greenwich Village, New York.)
I give high marks to Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee Co. for confirming my order fast via e-mail. I chose to have my coffee sent in their foil bag, and it came to me very freshly roasted with paperwork that included information about the coffee and even the DATE on which my coffee was roasted.
I opened up the package and was immediately impressed with the freshness of the beans. When brewed this blend of medium and 
dark roasts combines the best of both worlds - the brightness of a medium roasted African bean, including some hints of the trademark floral and citrus notes you'd find in a good Yirg; yet it also has the full body and base spicy and chocolate notes of a darker roast. This blend produces a really good cuppa joe with good body, a clean finish, and not a trace of bitterness!
This was also literally good to the last drop. Sometimes even good coffees don't make it to the end. But this one's flavor and smoothness held up through the cooling process. Even as it sat in the cup, it maintained its flavor. My compliments to the roaster - and, of course, the Rwandan farmers!
DRINK COFFEE
DO GOOD
I was also extremely pleased to learn that when you purchase this coffee, you are also helping a group of over 150 women from the Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa ethnic groups. A portion of the money from each bag is donated to a fund that provides the widows with micro-financing loans to start small businesses.
That’s why, on this Saint Valentine’s month, my coffee pick is the Rwandan coffee "Village Blend" from Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee Co. Just a little but heartfelt valentine to the widows of Inyakurama.
If you would like to learn more about ths coffee and coffee roaster, click here and look for the coffee labeled Rwandan Blend: Akadugudu. This page also has the medium roast and dark roast coffees available unblended. I'm going to be purchasing these in the future, too!
Till Next time
—Cleo Coyle
P.S. Here is Karen's original post that told me about the site. Thanks again, Karen! I'll keep my eye out for those chocolate-covered espresso beans on the site, too!
Posted: January 16, 2008
Coffee Talk Message Board
(green board in right column)
Dear Cleo,
I'm addicted to coffee and mysteries so your wonderful series is perfect for me— I love visiting Clare's world. Thank you for creating it! I know of a company that sells phenomenal Rwandan coffee. Twice a year, they also sell dark chocolate with ground espresso beans that is simply to die for. Warning: if you prefer milk chocolate this probably is not the candy for you. Sadly, it's only been available prior to Easter and Christmas. The website is www.DrinkCoffeeDoGood.com
Take care,
Karen
DeLand, FL
Keeping Coffee HOT in Winter
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Keeping
Coffee
HOT
in Winter
Cold coffee certainly has its place. It's a pleasure, for instance, to have an icy coffee frappe in the sweltering heat of a New York summer.
It is NOT a pleasure to reach for your coffee on an 18 degree morning and find it's gone from delightfully steamy to colder than the heart of a snarky restaurant critic.
Brrrrrrrrr!
While I have no remedy for the snarky critic, I do have one for the cold coffee.
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Behold the electric coffee warmer!
Click here to read consumer reviews or purchase the model pictured.
I have this kind of small electric warmer sitting beside my computer, and I use it every day. There are a lot of brands out there, and this one has good ratings from consumers. The truth is, however, I don't have this exact one. I still use the Bodum beverage warmer I purchased five years ago, but they've been discontinued by Bodum! So how can I recommend it? Ack!
If the cup warmer above seems too expensive ($14), I can also suggest going into a craft store (like Michael's) and checking out the "candle warmers" for $4 and $5.
My husband uses the Michael's candle warmer to warm his coffee cup. I've used it, too, and I find it works just as well as the Bodum beverage warmer.
So what about your car? How do you keep coffee warm on those long, chilly commutes?
Behold the Athena car beverage warmer.
Click here to see possible places to purchase.
I haven't tried this product yet, but Micki Bare, a writer for the Arkansas News Bureau, has one of these kinds of warmers for her car. She writes...
"I have a new travel coffee mug. In order to keep my caffeine nice and scalding hot, it has a power cord that fits the car auxiliary outlet. It was a great gift..."
Click here to read more about Micki Bare's hilarious adventures trying to keep coffee warm in her car while her kids are crying for her to recharge their MP3 players. LOL!
—Till next time,
Cleo Coyle
The Skinny at Starbucks
THE "SKINNY"
AT
STARBUCKS
Starbucks recently released a new directive to employees to use the coffeehouse term "skinny."
So what is a skinny exactly? It's a latte made with sugar-free syrup, non-fat milk, and no whipped cream.
Skinny is NOT a new term for coffeehouse slang. My characters use it in the Coffeehouse Mysteries. What got my attention was Starbuck's announcement that it was introducing a sugar-free MOCHA syrup. Until now the lower calorie 
syrups were limited to hazelnut, caramel, cinnamon dolce and vanilla—
still the best-tasting of all the skinny syrups, including the new mocha, which I'm not entirely thrilled with now that I've sampled it.
Ah, but not everyone is happy about the "skinny" at Starbucks. The very idea has set off some lively debate on the Worldwide Web .
Click here to read a posted letter in which a Starbucks barista opens up a can of whup-ass on her company for the directive to use the new term.
Since I believe in freedom of speech, I say, "You-go, girl!"
However, as to the woman's argument that customers will be confused, I really do think she should give us a little credit! After all, we figured out Tall means small on Planet Starbucks; Grande means medium; and Venti large, didn't we? (Well, most of us did, anyway!)
Anyway, I DO respect and applaud this woman and any employee who goes to this much trouble to articulate a passionately held belief to make her store function as well as possible!
Her letter to the Starbucks corporate office certainly gives a sharp picture of how much there is to consider as a barista in a busy store. AND the website itself is fascinating. It's called "Starbucks Gossip."
To read more about Starbucks and their skinny plan, Click here.
—Till next time,
Cleo
MOVIE REVIEW: What is Cloverfied?
Posted 1-18-08
W H A T I S
C L O V E R F I E L D?