"coffee drinks" news and stories

You know how Starbucks (and other coffee shops, pizza places and other food outlets) ask for your name when you order? Do you give them a real name or do you make one up?

Giving fake names seems to be a growing trend, especially at the coffee giant's many outlets. Instead of giving their real name, people are being pretty darn creative: Frankenstein, Ben Affleck, Bartholomew, even Darth Vader and Chewbacca have all been given as names from customers. Some girls go by the name "Bob" (hey!), and one man just goes by "The Man."

I usually give my real name at places like this, mainly because I don't want any screw up in my order, especially if they're busy. Though I do admit that one time at a restaurant I used the name "Larry Tate." That's Darrin's boss on Bewitched.

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Somewhere around 25% of coffee drinkers in the US now prefer their coffee with a flavor, such as hazelnut or vanilla, and at least that many use calorie-free sweeteners in place of sugar on a regular basis. Splenda's new Flavor Blends for Coffee combine those concepts. They are packets of sweetener flavored to taste like French Vanilla, Hazelnut and Mocha, allowing consumers to "customize hot beverages at home or on the go with no calories."

The Flavor Blends only launched this week, so they might not be in stores in your area yet, but for fans of Splenda, they sound very promising. They will be ideal for using at the office, rather than going out to Starbucks for a high-calorie (and relatively high-cost) mocha. Their small size also allows them be tucked into a purse or coat pocket when traveling, but they will work well for regular home use, too.

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"Big soda" has been blamed for the obesity epidemic, but now they are trying to launch an even more insidious plan on the public: they want people to stop brewing coffee at home and buy prepacked, ready-made coffee drinks instead. And by "they", I mean Pepsi, the company that partners with Starbucks to put out bottled frappuccinos. Tracey Doucette, who runs the branch of the company that handles the partnership, said that their plan "is about converting users from the coffee form they have today to a new form that is ready to drink."

Many consumers welcome such a change, remarking that it would be faster and "less work."

The worst part of this is that studies have shown that consumers do not want to buy black coffee in a can, or coffee with minimal added sugar and cream. They want sugary "treats" - and by trying to make that the standard for coffee in the country, the companies really do seem to be promoting poor nutrition, in addition to the eradication of coffee as we know it.

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I love most kinds of coffee and I love espresso. There is one misconception about it - whether you like the taste or not - that bugs me. It has to do with the caffeine content and I know otherwise sane adults who shudder at the very thought of having an espresso-based drink while happily downing cups of regular brew. They think that the strong flavor of espresso directly correlates with an exponentially high caffeine content.

Espresso has plenty of caffeine in it and, ounce for ounce, it has more caffeine in it than drip coffee. Here's the thing: one serving of espresso is 1-2 ounces, while a serving of drip coffee ranges from 6-12 ounces. To approximate, as the exact brewing method and quantity of beans used can affect caffeine content, one serving of drip coffee will have 100-200mg of caffeine (17mg/oz). A serving of espresso, which we'll say is 1.5 ounces here, has approximately 50 mg of caffeine (30mg/oz). So, if you only drink one ounce of coffee, you would get less caffeine than with one ounce of espresso. Otherwise, it is likely that you are drinking both more coffee and more caffeine with a regular drip than with a drink that uses one or two shots of espresso, like a latte.

The moral of this story? If you're that concerned with caffeine, order the smallest available size of a drink or ask for decaf. Otherwise, you can relax and enjoy your latte without having to worry that you'll be kept up for the next week.

[Photo by Nicole Weston]

Last summer, The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, a Los Angeles-based coffee shop chain and Starbucks number one international competitor, offered banana flavored drinks, including a Banana Caramel Ice blended - their signature cold drink. The drinks were made with a banana puree and the chain stopped selling the seasonal drink at the end of the summer. According to the New York Post, Starbucks is launching a very similar line of drinks this summer at its US stores. The banana-caramel and banana cream Frappuccinos are already being sold at stores in Australia and New Zealand. Though some people miss the Coffee Bean's banana offerings, it is safe to assume that the fact that they are no longer on the menu is an indication that they were not entirely popular. Only at the end of the summer will we be able to tell how the drinks did at Starbucks. The drinks are scheduled to be released in May.

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