Archive for March, 2010
Starbucks Fans Can Become ‘Baristas’ on Foursquare
Source: Bits - New Your Times Beginning Thursday, latte addicts who visit Starbucks outlets can get more than just a caffeine fix. They will also be rewarded on Foursquare with a barista badge. Read the full post
Is Stumptown the New Starbucks — or Better?
Source: Time Coffee aficionados have been asking the question over and over again: Is Stumptown Coffee Roasters of Portland, Ore. — the most conspicuous exponent of coffee's "third wave" — the new Starbucks? Read the full article
Starbucks’ Farmers Discuss the Impact of Fairtrade
Source: Treehugger This TreeHugger was invited to a Starbucks tasting and informal discussion with coffee farmers and producers from Costa Rica and Tanzania. As a long-time anything-but-Starbucks coffee drinker, I attended with some trepidation. Especially when the "partners" started yelling out their descriptions of the taste of the Rwandan brew. But as the farmers talked about the impact of fairtrade on their lives, my certainty wavered... Read the full article on Treehugger
Kia Ora from Café Down Under
Having been here for a while now, I can start reflecting on the task ahead of keeping you informed on the State of Coffee in New Zealand and more specifically, Wellington. However, before I turn my focus on Wellington, I will want to start with my short stint in Auckland, the business capital of New Zealand. Now even before I landed in New Zealand, I had been told to expect to find plenty of places that serve good great coffee. My confirmation of this started right at the Auckland International Airport. As I was walking around the airport I realized that there were actually quite a few places to choose from. At that time I didn’t recognize any of the names of the coffee shops scattered around the airport although one did actually stand out. This was Espresso Bar by Atomic. After a bit of back and forth… aahhh… the ole’ paradox of choice!, I decided to get a latte flat white from ‘Café Down Under’ and the reason being that they had some really nice looking paper coffee cups! Since I [...]
Grounds for Burnt Offerings Has a New Home
I am pleased to announce that the 'Grounds for Burnt Offerings' blog is moving to its new home at GroundOfferings.com. Finally, a more 'legitimate' domain name for this blog! For the past year or so I have been hosting this blog under ahaikuaday.com and this has worked well enough for the blog in general, and yet, there has been a number of factors directly or indirectly related to this domain and the host which have caused me to take on this crucial next step. One of these restrictions is that the domain name does not really relate to the overall subject matter and theme of this blog. Coffee culture is not something that immediately comes to mind when one thinks of the AHaikuADay.com. Starting today, GFBO will now be found at http://groundofferings.com, its official home. Please update your bookmarks and pointers to the new site. And over this coming year a number of exciting things are in the works for the new site so stick around... it will be a bit messy as we continue to transition and [...]