Well, it seemed like we may as well get the obvious punchline over with right at the beginning. Mocha, a UK company with a eccentric home gadget line--specializing in items like Swarovski crystal egg crackers and mugs with built-in cookie holders--now offers these tres barbarique drink coolers. The Nordic Rock stone ice cubes are genuine chunks of "pollution-free base rock" mined in Sweden--who else would invent this but some kind of Viking?

Just pop the Nordic Rocks (in their charming leather pouch) into your freezer (or igloo) for an hour, then drop two or three into your cocktail. On the practical end, they help conserve water and prevent your precious booze from being diluted. Impractically, you get to walk around drinking from a glass full of rocks--whether you use the opportunity to play practical jokes or share your best Hagar the Horrible/Kirk Douglas in The Vikings impersonation is up to you.

This recent post about Starbucks - as with most posts about Starbucks - caused the typical coffee cacophony over price and quality. Although I happen to like Starbucks just fine, I certainly appreciate a good homemade cup. Unfortunately, quality espresso machines are pricey and people rarely use them enough to meet their ROI ('Fess up: How many of you have a schmancy DeLonghi at home, but still go to Starbucks every day?). As a veteran barista (of both indie and corporate coffeehouses), I've come up with a stock of supplies to help make gourmet coffee at home.

Espresso drinks:

• Moka pot (like this one from Bialetti): Many Italians still brew their espresso the old-fashioned way -- on the stovetop. The pot steeps espresso grounds in boiling water until the bubbles force the creamy coffee into the top of the Moka. Pour it out, and there's your shot.
  
• Milk Frother (like this one from Aerolatte): This bad boy has a high-speed whisker that whips any kind of milk into foamy shape. (For a cappuccino, use half steamed milk/half foam; for a latte, use mainly steamed milk, with a layer of foam on top).
  

So, I've gotta hand it to Starbucks. Its new site, My Starbucks Idea, is actually...well, a good idea. You sign up and simply type in a suggestion that you think the coffee chain should adopt, and post it to the site. You can also view others' advice, and vote on ones you think are worthwhile.

Then - and this is the kicker - someone from the corporation actually reads the ideas and even puts some of them into practice. Several of the ideas on the site are currently "under review," like the suggestions for implementing frequent buyer punch cards, or for implementing free Wifi access in every store (obviously, many city locations already have WiFi service).

I'm also surprised at the quality of the suggestions. Though I'd imagine that the site is highly monitored to eliminate the crazies (or, for that matter, Starbucks haters), many of the responses are actually decent and well thought-out. And some, on the other hand, are flat-out hilarious: one poster calls Starbucks' music "pseudo-intellectual," "over-produced" and "noisy garbage," while another requests that the music in his local store be turned down, so that when he's "making a business call, it doesn't sound like I'm calling from a public place." Um...isn't that what your home and office are for?

Hmm...so I guess suggesting "STOP EXPANDING YOUR CHAIN!" would probably get flagged, huh? Just a thought.

That's the claim by an anonymous Starbucks barista in a rant posted over at Jim Romenesko's Starbuck's Gossip Blog. It was originally posted on the Chicago Craigslist, but was removed.

While the barista really isn't saying anything new here, it's actually a good one-stop summary for everyone who doesn't like the coffee shop chain, and a funny, revealing rant for people who do like the chain. A few tidbits from the article after the jump!

Starbucks is the latest chain to try to jump on the no-trans fats bandwagon, trying to demonstrate to customers how much they care about health and nutrition. Starting this week, approximately half of the stores in the US, including those in Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Portland, Oregon, will have zero trans fats on their menus.

The company says that they have been planning the switch for two years now and that their nationally distributed pastries, primarily seasonal items like the Gingerbread loaf cake, are already trans-fat free. The rest of their pastries are baked by regional bakeries, which Starbucks contracts to provide pastries for their stores. These pastries vary from region to region, as do the recipes for them, so not every supplier has yet made a switch, but Starbucks seems to anticipate that it will not be long before they do.

So, if you're not located in one of the aforementioned areas of the country, does that mean you need to worry about trans fats at Starbucks? Not where drinks are concerned. According to the nutritional information on their website, very few of their drink products contain trans fats and those that do have only a very minimal amount. The pastries, on the other hand, vary widely by region, but judging from a random sampling of regional nutritional data (offered by zip code on the Starbucks website) your best bet will be a muffin or loaf cake if you want to minimize your trans-fat intake without cutting out pastries all together, at least until your area is declared trans-fat free, too.

I know, I know, I know, many of you are going to say in the comments, "when was it ever cool?"

Writer Douglas Brown at The Denver Post has a story about the incredible expansion the coffee shop chain is going through, with a goal of 40,000 stores (they have 20,000 right now). He calls it the "Growth-Into-Plague," the Krispy Kreme model, where they open so many stores that they are everywhere and they are overexposed and become, as Brown says, "uncool" and "repugnant."

I understand what he's saying. Businesses seem to want to push their dominance to the extreme, and I wonder if customers - even if they are diehard fans - will just get sick of it. I'm not a hardcore Starbucks fan. When I lived in the city and I had a Starbucks a two minute walk away, I did go there a lot (I was addicted to the mocha frappuccinos), but now that I have to drive to go to one, I don't seek it out, even if I do drive past one on my way to Borders.

Readers?

[via Starbucks Gossip]

A bicerin is the traditional drink of Turin, Italy. It has been made there since the mid 1700s, essentially unchanged over the past nearly 250 years. It is a mixture of milk and chocolate (locally produced in Italy), coffee and whipped cream. As you can see in the photo of David Lebovitz's lovely rendition of the drink, it is possible to see all three layers, the bottom layer being rich with milk and chocolate. As you might imagine, it is quite rich and it should be served in a small glass (called a bicerin, hence the name). His recipe makes it possible for you to whip up a batch of this decadent drink at home, to enjoy as you cheer on your favorite athletes at the Winter Olympic Games.

A well made piece of latte art is a beautiful thing, but when it's combined with chocolate, it enters a whole new level. Dessert Comes First encountered this divine drink at a coffee shop in Singapore called Bali Blends. Not only do they clearly specialize in the art of coffee making, they carry a variety of bean blends from Indonesia and, in particular, from Bali. Balinese coffee was, until recently, only exported to Japan, but it is now appearing in new markets. The coffee is supposed to have a deep, earthy tone to it, so it is easy to see how it would pair exceptionally will with chocolate.

Angel food cakes are considered by some to be diet food. They are, after all, fat free. On the other hand, they're loaded with sugar, which keeps the cakes moist and fluffy after baking. Sugar and fat always seem to be a tradeoff when it comes to "healthier" desserts, and I , for one, will take the sugar every time.

A good angel food cake should be moist, not overly sweet and very tender, not to mention that it must have a good flavor. Culinary in the Desert's Mocha Angel Food Cake has all these properties,  in addition to being a beautiful chocolate color and having both cocoa and coffee in the cake.

Let’s face it: eggnog is not quite the same without a little something to warm you up. And when you’re making big batches of punch laced with bottled holiday cheer, you don’t always stop to consider all the options for non-drinking guests. Whether you have kids, are the designated driver or simply choose not to drink, you may have to come up with some nonalcoholic options during the holidays. The familiar, but excellent, standby is definitely Martinelli’s Sparkling Cider, which is always a hit in any crowd with its bright, sweet taste and pleasant fizz. Other sparkling fruit juices, like Cranberry and Pear are good alternatives.

Moving away from the champagne-like drinks, “mocktails” can be a good option at the bar. Try mixing Sprite or lemonade with a splash of grenadine for a Shirley Temple or tomato juice, Worcestershire and Tabasco for a Virgin Mary. Hot drinks are also nice on cold nights and holiday classics like Hot Cocoa and Mulled Cider, or coffee drinks like a Pumpkin Spiced Mocha.