A sip of this deliciously creamy and smooth cup of coffee is sure to please even those non-coffee drinkers. Similar to the French cafe au lait and the Italian cappuccino, the Viennese melange is a combination of coffee with steamed milk and foam. Unlike cappuccino, this "Wiener Melange" is made with milder coffee and is traditionally served with a glass of water. The accompaniment of water allows the coffee to go down more easily without dehydration.

The experience of sitting in a plush Viennese café with a cup of Viennese coffee, a glass of water and a newspaper seems to awaken the intellect within you. It conjures up images of the Austrian intelligentsia in the early 20th century with characters like Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt.

While in Vienna, I visited several Viennese cafés, such as the famous Café Central, and tried several variations on this deep rich coffee. My favorite, Franziskaner, also called an "espresso con panna," is served with whipped cream instead of foam. I also tasted rich delicious café mocha served with whipped cream. The Viennese café culture dates as far back as the late 17th century.

The influence of the melange on American coffee can be seen in Starbucks and several smaller coffeeshops. One of the best places to try the classic melange is Café Sabarsky located on the first floor of the Neue Galerie in Manhattan.

• Take her to a local Farmers' Market on Sunday morning. You can buy her a cup of coffee or tea and the two of you can wander around, fondle the fresh produce and taste jams and honeys. If you get there early enough, you may be able to grab a dozen local, free range eggs (those babies sell out fast). Poached and served on top of a bed of tender baby greens and you won't (even for a minute) miss the hassle of the restaurant.
  
• Pack a picnic and head for a local park. Who says a celebratory meal has to be eaten in a restaurant? Gather up an assortment of sliced meats, a couple of good cheese, bread or some good crackers and quickly blanch a pound of asparagus. Strawberries or grapes can take care of dessert.
  
• If your mom is a chocolate lover, put together a chocolate tasting for her. Hit the candy aisle at your favorite natural or gourmet foods store (I've found that they have the best assortment of chocolate) and buy four or five good varieties. The two of you can munch on chocolate to your heart's content and when she figures out which one she likes the best, promise her that you'll get her a few more bars of it next time you go to the store.
  
• Even an outing to a local bakery or coffee shop can be a good way to celebrate your mom. Often, the thing she wants most is time alone with her children. This doesn't even have to happen on Mother's Day, if you can't sneak away, schedule a time to get together over coffee and a scone or muffin for some quality mother/child time.

• Open-face sandwiches, from Scrambled Egg and Smoked Salmon to Herring with Apple and Cucumber.
• Behind the scenes of the Bueno Queso Social Club.
• Couples like to go to culinary school.
• Kitchen tips and tricks, including ideas for baking blueberry pie and selecting fresh fish.
• What's your favorite Halloween candy?
• What's the hip new coffee place in Boston?
• Roasting a pig: forget the spit and get a box.
• This week's recipes: Pasta with Bell Peppers and Ham, Baked Beans, Big Blue Slaw, and Pears Poached in Red Wine.

When you stop into a Starbucks, do you stick with the standard whole milk in your drink or do you order low fat or skim milk instead? In some markets, Starbucks customers so overwhelmingly opt for lower fat options that the coffee chain has decided to test 2% low fat milk as the drink default in about 300 of their stores to see how consumers respond. The stores are located in four key markets: Orange County, California; Jacksonville, Florida; Oregon; and London, Ontario. Milk options other than low fat will still have to be added as a customization to your drink, including skim, whole and soy.

If the program is a success, the switch could be applied to all stores, which would alleviate some of the criticism about Starbucks' high-fat drinks, although it is unclear as to whether the regular Frappuccino drinks will change their recipes, as well.

Sex sells. Usually, it sells things like beer, various liquors and - of course - fatty fast food hamburger, but some Seattle area businesses are using it to sell something else entirely: coffee. Espresso joints with names like Natté Latté, Moka Girls Espresso, Cowgirls Espresso, The Sweet Spot and Bikini Espresso have decided to spice up their images with sexy outfits and flirtatious female baristas to try and attract business away from competitors.

At Cowgirls Espresso in Tukwila, WA, for example, barista Candice Law (pictured) says that she and the other baristas dress to different themes for different days. "Everybody's excited to see you," she said, as evidenced by the look on this customer's face on seeing his coffee served by a girl in a corset and thigh-high boots. At other establishments, "hot-pink hot pants and tight white tank tops," lingerie and "fetish" outfits are just part of the dress code.

Dubbed "sexpresso," the combination of sexy outfits and coffee is a relatively new concept and seems to be gaining in popularity as commutes get longer and consumers are more likely to take factors other than simple convenience into account when looking for coffee in the morning. As one (satisfied) customer said "If I'm going to pay $4 for a cup of coffee, I'm not going to get served by a guy." The employees - just about all women - seem to like it, too, citing the friendly customers and huge tips as great incentives.

Representatives from the dairy industry who support the use of the hormone say that it is only a matter of time before Starbucks passes increased costs onto consumers, but supporters of the switch say that more dairy farmers will stop using the hormone as consumers and businesses look for dairy produced without it, keeping prices under control. Starbucks has not said how this change has affected their operating costs, but will say that they are not planning to raise drink prices as a result of the switch.

Kopi luwak, also known as civet coffee, is the most expensive coffee in the world. The name "civet coffee" comes from the fact that the coffee berries are eaten by civets, which are mongoose-like critters, in Indonesia and the coffee beans are excreted by then after digestion. The beans are then cleaned and roasted to make the coffee.

A rare brew, this coffee is not available just everywhere, but Coffee & Tea LTD in Linden Hills, Minneapolis stocks it. The shop sells the coffee for $10 per 8-ounce cup, making it one of the most expensive cups of coffee in the country, if not the single most expensive. The owner, Jim Cone, buys green beans from Indonesia and roasts them to order in a vintage 1910 coffee roaster. He compares the coffee to fine wines, noting that it "might be too much to drink everyday" and describes the coffee as "having a rich and caramel-like taste."

Interestingly, Forbes has priced Kopi luwak at $160 per pound, while Coffee & Tea LTD sells it for $420 per pound. Granted, the coffee shop roasts its own beans on site, but it still seems like there would be a cheaper way to get your hands of a pound of the coffee than to pay retail there.

The Pumpkin Spice drinks might the most popular seasonal beverages - hot or cold - at Starbucks and there are more than a few people who mark their calendars with the release date every fall, but their two more Christmas-y drinks - the gingerbread and the eggnog lattes - deserve their time in the spotlight, too. Especially since those flavors are popping up at other coffee houses. The gingerbread latte is made with a spicy gingerbread syrup that is blended into a regular latte and topped, if desired, with whipped cream. The eggnog latte is a bit different and is made with real eggnog, which is mixed with a bit of regular milk (whole, nonfat, etc) and steamed as usual. You might not expect eggnog and coffee to go well together, but the combination is actually quite good. Especially if you know a barista that will a little something "extra" to the eggnog lattes on Christmas Eve (not that that would ever happen or anything...).

Gingerbread is my favorite, as the spices are both warming and satisfying. Which do you prefer - or do you skip those typically seasonal flavors in favor of the peppermint mocha?

"Starbucks is the best thing that ever happened to coffee", according to the owner of one small coffee shop in Seattle.

At first, such a remark seems strange, coming from someone who should be, by most popular accounts, concerned about being driven out of business by the coffee giant. Yet this is not the case, as he goes on to explain that Starbucks "pioneered the idea of paying up to $5 for a cup" of specialty coffee, a concept that would have run most coffee shops out of business years ago, as people were used to paying much less. The chain also raised general coffee awareness, which allowed smaller shops to thrive in even Starbucks-dense areas by promoting artisanal coffees and providing a neighborhood alternative, which many consumers appreciated. Indeed, at some coffee shops, almost all of the customers are "regulars."

Starbucks spokespeople say that they do nothing to discourage competitors, a position which is supported by the fact that many businesses thrive only doors down from the corporate cafes. The loss of some shops would indicate a process or natural selection, with interest in a perhaps low-quality product waning as the standards of the area increase. The shops that succeed make good coffee, often offer it at prices similar to Starbucks, and "a selling point of being small," something that they couldn't do without coffee giant.

Starbucks' seasonal Pumpkin Spice Latte, which returned to stores just a few weeks ago, is one of their most popular flavors. While it doesn't exactly taste like pumpkin, the flavors are undeniably reminiscent of fall and the upcoming holiday season. It's so popular, that other coffee chains are adding pumpkin drinks to their menus, too. The LA-based Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf has just introduced their Pumpkin Pie Latte and Pumpkin Pie Ice Blended drinks, which will be available only through November 1. Their drinks are flavored with a thick pumpkin spice sauce, which is sort of similar to the banana puree that they used to make their summery banana drinks - it's not like adding a scoop of pumpkin, so don't worry if you prefer your coffee without vegetables. Peet's Coffee and Tea, another west coast chain, is scheduled to release some pumpkin spiced drinks within the next couple of weeks, as well.

Dunkin' Donuts has been trying to change its image all year. Some say "if it's not broke, don't fix it." Others, like the firms that now own the company, don't really subscribe to that theory and concentrate of fixing things anyway. In this case, they're planning to add non-breakfast items to their menus. But consumers first have to adjust to the idea of Dunkin' Donuts as more of a fast food restaurant, and less of a coffee shop. To that end, the company is rolling out some breakfast sandwiches that look much like the ones available at other quick service restaurants.

The Sausage Supreme Omelet Sandwich is made with eggs, sausage and American cheese on a bagel and the Supreme Omelet has bacon, cheeses and eggs on a croissant. At least they didn't try to come up with a Dunkin' Donuts version of the Luther burger, which might have been a tempting choice since they are known for their donuts.

Has anyone tried these yet?

Espesso is here.

No, you're not reading incorrectly and I didn't make a typo. Espesso is a creation of El Bulli chef/alchemist Ferran Adria and it is solid coffee. It is not frozen, but is made by combining "espresso and an ingredient [Lavazza, the company offering the product,] won't divulge, combined in a pressurized canister and left to set for 12 hours." The product is then sprayed out into cups, where it is so thick that it can be turned upside down and needs to be eaten with a spoon, much like a mousse with a strong coffee aroma. It is available in espresso, espresso macchiato and cappuccino flavors and the latter two flavors use milk that is solidified in much the same way.

Espesso was introduced at some locations in Europe in 2002. For the moment, it is available in three Chicago-area coffee shops - the only stores that Lavazza runs in the US - but if it is successful, we could see it spread to other coffee shops around the country.

Update: Dominic Armato, one of our busiest commenters, said that he had a chance to try this already at one of his local coffee shops. He noted that the espresso flavor "was POTENT. It had sort of a dense, wet mousse consistency" and that the macciato version, made with half-milk, half-espresso, was the best of the three espessos he tasted. Take a look at his full report, with great pictures of the product.