Tuesday, February 28, 2012

What’s better for you: coffee or tea?


Aloha kakahiaka!  (Good morning in Hawai’ian)  Here in Ruidoso, New Mexico we just say “howdy.”  Happy Tuesday morning and greetings to all you coffee fiends.   That’s fiends not friends.  I know how you really feel about coffee!  The purpose of this blog is to unite coffee lovers, especially lovers of Kona coffee, and perhaps learn a little about coffee and all the benefits of coffee at the same time.  Even though Hawaii is the only coffee-producing state in the US, Americans are the Number One consumers in the global coffee market.  Americans buy more coffee than anyone else but Norway is Number One in amount of coffee consumed per person.
Studies have determined that both coffee and tea have health benefits. Providing you don’t load your coffee – or tea – with sugar and cream, either can be a good source of certain nutrients and antioxidants linked to disease prevention. 

Let’s start with tea. Fresh tea leaves are an incredibly rich source of phytochemicals called catechins, which have potent antioxidant properties. In fact, tea is one of the highest sources of antioxidants in the North American diet. When it comes to health, most of the research has focused on green tea suggesting the beverage may help lower the risk of certain cancers (breast, ovarian) and heart disease. Regular black tea drinkers have also been found to have a lower risk of developing heart disease. 

The strongest evidence for coffee’s health benefits center around diabetes. Drinking coffee – at least three cups per day – has been linked to a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes in a number of studies. Coffee – caffeinated and decaffeinated – contains an antioxidant called chlorogenic acid, which has been shown to dampen inflammation in the body, reduce glucose (sugar) absorption and improve how the body uses insulin, the hormone that lowers blood glucose. Coffee also contains magnesium, a mineral linked to blood sugar regulation. 

There is a downside with coffee for some people: its high caffeine content. (Tea contains much less caffeine than coffee.) Drinking too much coffee can result in a high intake of caffeine which can disrupt sleep and rob calcium from bones (if you consume too little calcium from foods). And some studies suggest that high intakes of caffeine during pregnancy can increase the risk of miscarriage. 

Women of childbearing age should limit caffeine intake to 300 milligrams per day. Other healthy adults can safely consume 400 milligrams daily – almost 2.5 cups of coffee worth. (One eight ounce cup of regular coffee (filter drip) contains roughly 180 milligrams of caffeine.) One eight ounce cup of black tea has 43 milligrams of caffeine and green tea contains 30 milligrams. 

Coffee – both regular a decaf – can also trigger heartburn if you have reflux (GERD). 

So what’s better for you – coffee or tea? That really depends on you. If you are not sensitive to caffeine and don’t suffer heartburn, both coffee and tea are considered healthy especially if you skip the sugar. 
The Kona Cowboy Coffee Company is planning to introduce an Oolong tea this summer, honoring the Chinese workers who helped to build the West in the gold fields and railroads.

Do you want FREE coffee?  The first member of the Kona Coffee Fiends fb group who comes to the Kona Cowboy Coffee Company’s Cowboy Coffee Saloon at upcoming trade shows will get a free, that’s FREE bag of CAFÉ PINON de Nuevo Mexico…our newest fusion coffee made with a proprietary blend of central American coffees and real New Mexico pinon nuts!

The purpose of this blog is to unite Kona coffee lovers and perhaps learn a little about coffee and all the benefits of coffee at the same time.  Join up, become a member, comment and have fun!  You can find the Kona Coffee Fiends group on Facebook and we’d appreciate it if Facebook users would “LIKE” the Kona Cowboy Coffee Company page at www.facebook.com/pages/Kona-Cowboy-Coffee-Company/222070817858553.  Just copy and paste to your browser.  You can also find us on Twitter at twitter.com/jackshuster.  And on the web at www.KonaCowboyCoffee.com.

You know you’re a coffee fiend when you don't need a hammer to pound nails.
So enjoy your coffee, make it Kona, and remember, Kona is the home of the Hawaiian cowboy…and we had cowboys in Kona before there were cowboys in Texas!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Coffee In Pods Could Cost $50 Per Pound


Aloha kakahiaka!  (Good morning in Hawai’ian)  Here in Ruidoso, New Mexico we just say “howdy.”  Happy Tuesday morning and greetings to all you coffee fiends.   That’s fiends not friends.  I know how you really feel about coffee!  The purpose of this blog is to unite coffee lovers, especially lovers of Kona coffee, and perhaps learn a little about coffee and all the benefits of coffee at the same time.  Beethoven was so particular about his coffee that he always counted 60 beans each cup when he prepared his brew.

Single-serve pod coffee machines are all the rage in America these days. Single-serve coffee is now the second most popular means of making a cup (after drip brewers). Last year, 7 percent of coffee consumed in the U.S. was made with a single-serve brewer; in 2010 it was 4 percent.  The current pod craze was launched by the huge worldwide success of Nespresso single-serve espresso machines. Since 1986, the company has sold 27 billion of the little pods.

Here in the United States, Keurig sold 4 million of its K-Cup brewers in the 13-week run up to Christmas; during the same time, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters sold more than $715 million in K-Cup packs. Keurig licenses its technology, so Dunkin' Donuts and Starbucks are making K-Cup pods now too.

A week or so ago, Oliver Strand did some math for The New York Times website and figured out about how much it costs per pound for this precious pod coffee; Trent Hamm, in a post published by the Christian Science Monitor, calculated the price-per-cup. After reading these numbers, you may need to sit down and relax with a nice pot of tea.  Strand's numbers computed to this: Nespresso Arpeggio espresso costs "about $51 a pound." Folgers Black Silk coffee blend capsules work out to "more than $50 a pound" as well. Compare this to most high-end coffees, which can cost less than $20 per pound. Even the most renowned, such as 100% Kona, generally go for less than $35 per pound. A pound of Dark Espresso Roast from Starbucks is, according to Mr. Strand, "$12.95 a pound, and a bag of Eight O'Clock beans for brewed coffee...is $10.72 a pound."  Check our website at KonaCowboyCoffee.com for real gourmet coffee at sensible prices.

Hamm's price-per-cup numbers included factoring in the cost of coffee pots and filters for a regular coffee machine and prorating the price of a single-serve machine in his pod-per-cup prices. Hamm's price for a cup of regular joe made at home came to thirteen cents.  Hamm hunted down the very best possible price for coffee pods -- as in those being sold in bulk via Amazon -- it still came to $.26 per cup.

Nespresso pods, purchased at Nespresso prices, come to about $.55 per cup, but good news may be on the horizon for those jittery single-serve Nespresso espresso addicts who are perhaps slowly going broke: Ethical Coffee Company is planning to sell Nespresso-compatible pods for "around 20 percent less" on Amazon.com.  

Studies show that most coffee roasters can produce a pod for .08. That's a lot of profit being paid by the consumer. The pod itself cost more than the coffee in it.  It is the old computer printer game of buying a printer cheap and paying a fortune for the ink.
WOW!   $50 bucks a pound is a lot of money for a cup of coffee!!!

Do you want FREE coffee?  The first member of the Kona Coffee Fiends fb group who comes to the Kona Cowboy Coffee Company’s Cowboy Coffee Saloon at upcoming trade shows will get a free, that’s FREE bag of CAFÉ PINON de Nuevo Mexico…our newest fusion coffee made with a proprietary blend of central American coffees and real New Mexico pinon nuts!

The purpose of this blog is to unite Kona coffee lovers and perhaps learn a little about coffee and all the benefits of coffee at the same time.  You can find the Kona Coffee Fiends group on Facebook and we’d appreciate it if Facebook users would “LIKE” the Kona Cowboy Coffee Company page at www.facebook.com/pages/Kona-Cowboy-Coffee-Company/222070817858553.  Just copy and paste to your browser.  You can also find us on Twitter at twitter.com/jackshuster.  And at www.KonaCowboyCoffee.com.

You know you’re a coffee fiend when all your kids are named "Joe"!
So enjoy your coffee, make it Kona, and remember, Kona is the home of the Hawaiian cowboy…and we had cowboys in Kona before there were cowboys in Texas!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

The story of Kaldi, the 9th-century Ethiopian goatherd who discovered coffee.


Aloha kakahiaka!  (Good morning in Hawai’ian)  Here in Ruidoso, New Mexico we just say “howdy.”  Happy Tuesday morning and greetings to all you coffee fiends.   That’s fiends not friends.  I know how you really feel about coffee!  The purpose of this blog is to unite coffee lovers, especially lovers of Kona coffee, and perhaps learn a little about coffee and all the benefits of coffee at the same time.  The first American coffee trader was from Boston. By the name of Dorothy Jones, she was granted the license to sell coffee in 1670.
Ethiopian ancestors of today's Oromo people were believed to have been the first to recognize the energizing effect of the coffee bean plant.  However, no direct evidence has been found indicating where in Africa coffee grew or who among the natives might have used it as a stimulant or even known about it, earlier than the 17th century.  The story of Kaldi, the 9th-century Ethiopian goatherd who discovered coffee, did not appear in writing until 1671 and is probably apocryphal.  Other accounts attribute the discovery of coffee to Sheik Omar. According to the ancient chronicle (preserved in the Abd-Al-Kadir manuscript), Omar, who was known for his ability to cure the sick through prayer, was once exiled from Mocha to a desert cave near Ousab.  Starving, Omar chewed berries from nearby shrubbery, but found them to be bitter. He tried roasting the beans to improve the flavor, but they became hard. He then tried boiling them to soften the bean, which resulted in a fragrant brown liquid. Upon drinking the liquid Omar was revitalized and sustained for days. As stories of this "miracle drug" reached Mocha, Omar was asked to return and was made a saint.  From Ethiopia, the beverage was introduced into the Arab world through Egypt and Yemen.
Do you want FREE coffee?  The first member of the Kona Coffee Fiends fb group who comes to the Kona Cowboy Coffee Company’s Cowboy Coffee Saloon at the Lions Club Gun Show at the Las Cruces (NM) Convention Center, February 18 and 19, will get a free, that’s FREE bag of CAFÉ PINON de Nuevo Mexico…our newest fusion coffee made with a proprietary blend of central American coffees and real New Mexico pinon nuts!

The purpose of this blog is to unite Kona coffee lovers and perhaps learn a little about coffee and all the benefits of coffee at the same time.  You can find the Kona Coffee Fiends group on Facebook and we’d appreciate it if Facebook users would “LIKE” the Kona Cowboy Coffee Company page at www.facebook.com/pages/Kona-Cowboy-Coffee-Company/222070817858553.  Just copy and paste to your browser.  You can also find us on Twitter at twitter.com/jackshuster.  And at www.KonaCowboyCoffee.com.

You know you’re a coffee fiend when you can jump-start your car without cables!
So enjoy your coffee, make it Kona, and remember, Kona is the home of the Hawaiian cowboy…and we had cowboys in Kona before there were cowboys in Texas!

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Official coffee of the Single Action Shooting Society: Cowboy Action Coffee.


Aloha kakahiaka!  (Good morning in Hawai’ian)  Here in Ruidoso, New Mexico we just say “howdy.”  Happy Tuesday morning and greetings to all you coffee fiends.   That’s fiends not friends.  I know how you really feel about coffee!  The purpose of this blog is to unite coffee lovers, especially lovers of Kona coffee, and perhaps learn a little about coffee and all the benefits of coffee at the same time.  Here’s something for you espresso lovers out there! A shot of espresso has just as much caffeine as a normal cup of coffee. Also, the word “espresso” comes from the Latin word for press. It is named so because the beverage is brewed by forcing a small amount of boiling water under pressure through finely ground coffee.

The Kona Cowboy Coffee Company of Ruidoso, New Mexico now produces the official coffee of the Single Action Shooting Society.  The Single Action Shooting Society is an international organization created to preserve and promote the sport of Cowboy Action Shooting.   SASS members share a common interest in preserving the history of the Old West and competitive shooting.  What coffee could be more fitting for folks in the sport of Cowboy Action Shooting than Cowboy Action Coffee?  Cowboy action Coffee is a special blend of exotic African and Pacific coffees especially chosen for body and flavor, specially blended for SASS members.  Join the thousands of Old West aficionados who have discovered the fast growing sport of Cowboy Action Shooting! Members receive a numbered shooters badge, a registered alias, access to exclusive shooting events, an annual subscription to The Cowboy Chronicle and much more!  Then go to www.KonaCowboyCoffee.com and order some Cowboy Action Coffee!

Do you want FREE coffee?  The first member of the Kona Coffee Fiends fb group who comes to the Kona Cowboy Coffee Company’s Cowboy Coffee Saloon at the Lions Club Gun Show at the Las Cruces (NM) Convention Center, February 18 and 19, will get a free, that’s FREE bag of CAFÉ PINON de Nuevo Mexico…our newest fusion coffee made with a proprietary blend of central American coffees and real New Mexico pinon nuts!

The purpose of this blog is to unite Kona coffee lovers and perhaps learn a little about coffee and all the benefits of coffee at the same time.  You can find the Kona Coffee Fiends group on Facebook and we’d appreciate it if Facebook users would “LIKE” the Kona Cowboy Coffee Company page at www.facebook.com/pages/Kona-Cowboy-Coffee-Company/222070817858553.  Just copy and paste to your browser.  You can also find us on Twitter at twitter.com/jackshuster.  And at www.KonaCowboyCoffee.com.

You know you’re a coffee fiend when you can type sixty words per minute ... with your feet!  So enjoy your coffee, make it Kona, and remember, Kona is the home of the Hawaiian cowboy…and we had cowboys in Kona before there were cowboys in Texas!

Monday, February 6, 2012

New website up and running!


The new Kona Cowboy Coffee Company website is up and running!  Check it out at www.KonaCowboyCoffee.com.  You can still learn all about us on Blogspot at http://konacowboycoffee.blogspot.com/ on Twitter at @jackshuster and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/JackShuster