Perfect Coffees.com :: Perfect_CoffeesCom_Newsletter-newsletter2

Perfect Coffees.Com Newsletter Issue #2

We really appreciate you taking the time to subscribe to our newsletter. We hope you get as much enjoyment out of it as we get from writing it.

March 01, 2004

____________
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
IN THIS ISSUE
____________
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
=> Brewing Tips For The Perfect Cup
=> Feature Article
=> Recipe Of The Month
=> How To Submit A Recipe
=> Coffee Trivia
=> Contact Us
=> Subscribe/Unsubscribe information

_________________
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Brewing Tips For
The Perfect Cup
_________________
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Want to brew the perfect cup of coffee? Then you're in the right spot. Here's some tips that will make a difference in every single cup you drink.

For the absolute best results use whole bean coffee and grind just prior to use. While you might think it's an inconvenience compared to ground coffee, once you taste the difference you'll never go back. However, if you want to use ground coffee, make sure you use quality coffee and a drip grind.

A clean pot is a must and can make a world of difference in the taste of your coffee. Old oils from previous batches of coffee and soap residue are the two most common reasons why coffee tastes bad. Baking soda and water work well for cleaning. Rinse extra good so no residue is left behind.

Coffee is 99% water so use clean filtered or bottled water free from chlorine and other minerals that affect the taste of coffee.

Use a stainless steel or gold mesh filter instead of paper filters. Paper filters release dyes, chlorine and bleach that affect taste. If you want to still use paper filters buy the unbleached, brown paper filters.

Use 2 level tablespoons of coffee per 6 ounces of water. This can be adjusted for individual taste preference. Make sure to spread the grounds evenly in the coffee filter so full brewing is achieved.

Drink your fresh coffee right away for the best flavor. Coffee will break down quickly if left on a heat source. A clean, preheated airpot or stainless steel Thermos will keep coffee hot a long time without hurting the flavor. Coffee should never be reheated or microwaved.

Contrary to what you may have heard, never store coffee in the freezer or refrigerator. Coffee beans should be stored in an airtight container in a cool dry place. Ground coffee should also be stored that way because once opened only stays fresh for 7 days. Remember, air is an enemy to coffee flavor.

If you follow these practices, every cup you brew will be perfect coffee.

_________________
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Feature Article
_________________
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Can Starbucks Keep Growing?

It's a new American institution. Its stores are everywhere. Doubters say it can't get much bigger. But Howard Schultz is setting up his company for more growth—in coffee and beyond.

Howard Schultz has now created an American institution. Starbucks today is possibly the most dynamic new brand and retailer to be conceived over the past two decades.

The company's stores—over 7,500 and counting—are everywhere from Omaha to Osaka to Oman. That's a blessing for the company's millions of latte-dependent customers but something of a challenge for Schultz and his team because it raises the saturation question. If Starbucks is already everywhere, how can it keep growing so fast?

"We are in the second inning of a nine-inning game," Howard Schultz says. "We are just beginning to tap into all sorts of new markets, new customers, and new products." Many of Schultz's ideas about how to achieve these are unconventional—like refusing to franchise—but that's the Starbucks way, and millions of us seem to love it.

We stream into Starbucks to buy coffee for $1.75 that we used to pay 50 cents for. We drop into our local Starbucks to read on plush couches. We lug in our laptops and hold meetings, and we buy gifts and music there. We load money onto the company's stored-value cards. How unusual a set of customer experiences is that?

Behind the counter and at headquarters, Starbucks is an unusual company too. It strives to mix capitalism with social responsibility. It gives all its employees who work more than 20 hours a week stock options and health-care benefits. It doesn't advertise on TV. And it funds breakneck expansion through its own cash flow, not by selling stock or debt.

Right now Starbucks is growing at an eye-popping rate. Its revenues continue to climb at above 20% a year. Same-store sales (that is, sales at stores open more than a year) rose at an 11% clip in November and December, the best showing in over a decade.

Starbucks stock was up 56% last year—and 3,028% since its 1992 IPO—and is now hitting all-time highs. (The stock, as always, is priced sky-high on a P/E basis.) If you think Starbucks is everywhere now, don't be surprised to see even more stores in places like Winslow, Ariz., and Warsaw, Poland.

To achieve that kind of omnipresence, Schultz is building his company for bigness—hiring a new management team, constructing huge coffee-roasting plants, and helping coffee growers improve their crops to meet Starbucks' exacting standards and insatiable demand.

Last year the company bought Seattle Coffee Co., a chain of lower-priced coffee shops, and it plans to expand the business to $1 billion in annual revenue. Starbucks will open dozens of stores in France starting this month. And in the U.S. it plans on opening more stores with drive-thru windows this year. Altogether, the company says, it will open 1,300 new stores worldwide in 2004.

Starbucks has become what I call the third place," says Schultz, seated and sipping one of his five or so daily cups of company product (usually black). "The first place is home. The second place is work. We are the place in between. It's a place to feel comfort. A place to feel safe. A place to feel like you belong."

Schultz says he's trying to create something that never really existed in the U.S.: cafe life, for centuries a hallmark of Continental society. Schultz points to the British pub, too, as a close cousin of his third place, and notes that a Barnes & Noble has some of the same characteristics. Whether or not you buy his concept, it is unassailable that the number of people visiting Starbucks—25 million people each week—is impressive.

This is an excerpt from the Jan. 26, 2004 issue of Fortune Magazine written by Andy Serwer

_________________
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Recipe Of The Month
_________________
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Cappuccino Muffins

These are easy to make and go perfect with your favorite cup of coffee or tea.

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons instant espresso coffee powder (or instant coffee)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup milk, scalded and cooled
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate mini-chips

Instructions.
Grease 12 muffin or 24 mini-muffin cups. Combine dry ingredients. Stir moist ingredients until blended, fold into dry just to combine. Stir in chocolate chips. Spoon into muffin cups, bake 15 to 20 minutes at 375 degrees F. Cool and freeze in a labeled freezer bag.
Yield: 12 muffins or 24 mini-muffins

_________________
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Coffee Trivia
_________________
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Coffee is the worlds undisputed most-consumed beverage, with more than 400 billion cups drank each year.

Coffee grows in more than 50 countries and is the second largest export in the world after oil (in dollar value).

The United States is the world's largest consumer of coffee, importing 16 to 20 million bags annually (2.5 million pounds), representing one-third of all coffee exported. More than half of the United States population consumes coffee.

Espresso contains less caffeine than any other roast; generally, more mild roasts contain the most caffeine.

As a roast darkens, oils are brought to the surface of the bean, and caffeine and acidity decrease proportionately. Dark roasts will exhibit more of a smoky, charred flavor, rather than the flavor of the bean.

Many roasters characterize the degree of roasting with the following terms, from light to dark: Cinnamon, Medium High, City, Full City, French, and finally, Espresso or Italian roast. On the West coast of the U.S., however, French roast is the term generally used to describe the darkest roast, although it has no relationship to where the coffee is grown or roasted.

Since a single coffee bean will generally not possess the complexity necessary for gourmet espresso, many espresso blends will contain three to seven different varieties of beans.

_________________
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Contact Us
_________________
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
If you have comments or questions about our web sites or coffee newsletter we would love to hear from you. Your opinion is more than just important. To us it is everything.

Our contact email is Comments@perfectcoffees.com

Thanks for reading and subscribing to our newsletter.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Webmaster: Gary Gresham

Website: Perfect Coffees.Com

Newsletter Subscription Page:
Perfect Coffees.Com Newsletter
-------------------------------------------------------------------------