God in A Cup of Coffee

John and I made a stop last evening at our favorite wine store, MacArthur  Liquors (aka Addies) on MacArthur Boulevard in Washington, DC. Great store at every price point.

You wouldn’t have believed the buzz in the store: it was like Christmas Eve and New Years Eve wrapped up in  chocolate truffles and fois gras.  Customers were buying Proseco and Cava and Champagne and expensive Burgundies and buying and shopping an laughing with that peculiar abandon and disregard of cost that glamourous weddings and the winter holidays induce.  (We were not exempt from this mood, although our purchases ran more in the direction of Chile than France.)

Washington is gearing up for the best party ever.  Restaurants are full.  They were full last night–6 days before the inauguration!  You can’t find a parking space.  There was a line out the door at Black Salt, the terrific fish joint adjacent to MacArthur Liquor.  Out of town guests have arrived!  And people are dining and partying.   Its damned cold outside, but here in sober Washington, it is as if an ocean of  champagne bubbles have been released into the the winter air.

WOW!

 

There has been a little discussion going on this morning on FACEBOOK about caffeine-yes, I am outed as someone who has discovered writing on walls as  a new better way to procrastinate.

One Facebook “friend” (a competitive barista, I think) commented that he had just cleared all the caffeine out of his system in time to start over-consuming again.

I wrote that I found managing the uppers and the downers to be one of this coffee lovers key tasks.  For me, the downer of choice is wine, and while I am generally pretty moderate in my consumption, on a recent occasion I found myself in the late afternoon (OK this was after a medical appointment discussing treatments for my bum hip) so (as the shrinks say) “disregulated” that I had to drink coffee and wine simultaneously.  Coffee to buck me up.  Wine to calm me down.  Luckily this state of “disregulation” came when my husband and I were near Old Town Alexandria in Northern Virginia, very close to Grape & Bean.   Not only could I drink wine and coffee at the same time, I could drink great coffee (counter Culture Kuta) and great wine at the same time.  Which was very wonderful.  By the time I had ingested one coffee, one glass of sauvignon blanc and one glass of pinot noir, plus a  plate of world class charcuterie, my inner state had been sufficiently re-regulated and we could drive on!

Those who share my interest in the peculiar and wonderful effects of caffeine-the-drug, might be interested in this bit of research sent to me by my book editor at Wiley, Linda Ingroia delineating what American cities consume the most and the least caffeine.

Note, however, that the researchers when describing overall useage at the top of the story have not differentiated coffee/caffeine from  cola/caffeine.  Later in the story, they break out different forms of caffeine, telling who drinks the most/where.

FYI, For the second year in a row, residents of Seattle ingest the most caffeine in the form of coffee.   Not too surprising given the city’s coffee-centricity and its depression-inducing climate.

The link to this story seems to have in its own way become “disregulated,” so I have resorted to old fashion cut and paste technology:

Go make another cup of coffee and read:

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HealthSaver Caffeinated Cities Survey Reveals Most, Least Caffeinated Cities in Nation. (PRNewsFoto/HealthSaver)

NORWALK, CT UNITED STATES

NORWALK, Conn., Jan. 13 /PRNewswire/ — The second annual HealthSaver Caffeinated Cities Survey, commissioned by HealthSaver, a national emerging health care discount service, found that the most caffeinated city in the country is Tampa, followed by Seattle, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090113/NY58247 )

The least caffeinated cities are Riverside/San Bernardino, followed closely by Atlanta, San Diego, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Dallas. The survey considered numerous caffeine sources, including coffee, tea, sodas, energy drinks, chocolate, pain relievers and caffeine pills.

Considering caffeinated coffee consumption alone, it was no surprise that Seattle ranked No. 1 nationwide for the second consecutive year.

The HealthSaver 2008 Caffeinated Cities Survey, released today, was conducted to determine the caffeine consumption habits and attitudes of consumers across the U.S., and to learn more about cultural views and health benefits of this morning pick-me-up, afternoon alert booster and late-night indulgence.

“With the advent of rich, high-end coffees, soaring popularity of energy drinks and national fascination with green tea, our HealthSaver Caffeinated Cities Survey has brewed up some very interesting trends, findings and results,” said Brad Eggleston, vice president of HealthSaver. “This groundbreaking research is an important tool to help educate about the health benefits of moderate caffeine consumption in the United States.”

The health benefits of caffeine are plentiful and well-documented in numerous studies in recent years. Coffee and tea, in particular, have emerged as good health food sources that can lower the risk of diabetes, heart disease, Parkinson’s disease, colon cancer, and cirrhosis of the liver, as well as lift your mood, treat headaches and even lower risk of cavities. Caffeine also enhances athleticism, endurance and performance, according to health care experts.

“Even though at one time coffee was considered harmful to your health, at this point there is no compelling research to indicate that, in fact, is true,” said Dr. Peter R. Martin, Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology and the Director of the Institute of Coffee Studies, Vanderbilt School of Medicine. “Newer studies actually prove coffee in moderation is good for one’s health.”

Here’s the buzz on the most and least wired cities:
Most Caffeinated Cities

2008                                  2007
1.  Tampa                             1.  Chicago
2.  Seattle                           2.  Tampa
3.  Chicago                           3.  Miami
4.  New York                          4.  Phoenix
5.  Los Angeles                       5.  Atlanta

Least Caffeinated Cities

2008                                  2007
1.  Riverside/San Bernardino          1.  San Francisco
2.  Atlanta                           2.  Philadelphia
3.  San Diego                         3.  New York
4.  Minneapolis/St. Paul              4.  Detroit
5.  Dallas                            5.  Baltimore

Other cities surveyed in 2008 include Baltimore, Miami, Boston, Houston, Phoenix, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Detroit, Philadelphia and St. Louis.

For the second year in a row, Seattle ranked No. 1 in coffee consumption, with 55 percent of residents surveyed saying this elixir of alertness would be the most difficult caffeine product to give up.

Nearly one-half (49 percent) of all respondents nationwide said they drink caffeinated coffee every day, while cola and tea tied with a 20 percent daily consumption rate. Sweets containing chocolate ranked fourth among caffeine products, with a 13 percent daily consumption, the survey found.

Some key survey findings:

Most Coffee Consumption
Regular coffee & specialty coffee drinks

2008                                  2007
1.  Seattle                           1.  Seattle
2.  Miami                             2.  Boston
3.  San Francisco                     3.  Houston
4.  Los Angeles                       4.  Chicago
5.  Tampa                             5.  Miami

Least Coffee Consumption
Regular coffee & specialty coffee drinks

2008                                  2007
1.  St. Louis                         1.  Dallas
2.  Riverside/San Bernardino          2.  New York
3.  Houston                           3.  St. Louis
4.  Phoenix                           4.  Atlanta
5.  Detroit                           5.  Philadelphia

Most Cola Consumption
Regular Coke, regular Pepsi, Mountain Dew

2008                                  2007
1.  Houston                           1.  Chicago
2.  Minneapolis/St. Paul              2.  Dallas
3.  St. Louis                         3.  St. Louis
4.  Chicago                           4.  Atlanta
5.  Washington, D.C.                  5.  Tampa

Least Cola Consumption
Regular Coke, regular Pepsi, Mountain Dew

2008                                2007
1.  New York                        1.  Philadelphia
2.  San Francisco                   2.  New York
3.  Riverside/San Bernardino        3.  Miami
4.  Boston                          4.  Seattle
5.  San Diego                       5.  San Francisco

Most Tea Consumption
Green tea, iced tea, black tea

2008                                2007
1.  New York                        1.  Miami
2.  Tampa                           2.  Tampa
3.  Baltimore                       3.  Washington, D.C.
4.  Boston                          4.  Philadelphia
5.  Atlanta                         5.  Atlanta

Least Tea Consumption
Green tea, iced tea, black tea

2008                                2007
1.  Minneapolis/St. Paul            1.  Minneapolis/St. Paul
2.  Miami                           2.  Detroit
3.  San Francisco                   3.  San Francisco
4.  Detroit                         4.  Seattle
5.  Seattle                         5.  Boston

Most Chocolate Consumption
Candy, ice cream, cake, cookies

2008                                2007
1.  Seattle                         1.  Chicago
2.  Phoenix                         2.  Atlanta
3.  Chicago                         3.  Minneapolis/St. Paul
4.  Detroit                         4.  Phoenix
5.  Boston                          5.  St. Louis

Least Chocolate Consumption
Candy, ice cream, cake, cookies

2008                                2007
1.  Atlanta                         1.  Los Angeles
2.  Dallas                          2.  Riverside/San Bernardino
3.  Riverside/San Bernardino        3.  Houston
4.  San Diego                       4.  Miami
5.  Philadelphia                    5.  Dallas

Most Energy Drink Consumption
Red Bull, Monster etc.

2008                                2007
1.  Atlanta                         1.  Riverside/San Bernardino
2.  Riverside/San Bernardino        2.  Los Angeles
3.  Tampa                           3.  Chicago
4.  Seattle                         4.  Miami
5.  San Diego                       5.  New York

Least Energy Drink Consumption
Red Bull, Monster etc.

2008                                2007
1.  Dallas (tie)                    1.  Philadelphia
1.  Baltimore (tie)                 2.  San Francisco/Oakland
3.  Washington, D.C.                3.  Houston
4.  Detroit                         4.  Dallas/Ft. Worth
5.  Philadelphia & St. Louis (tie)  5.  Boston

Cities Most Likely To Say Caffeine Is Good For You

2008                                2007
1.  New York                        1.  Seattle
2.  Miami                           2.  Chicago
3.  Baltimore                       3.  Miami
4.  Minneapolis/St. Paul            4.  San Diego
5.  Tampa                           5.  Boston

Cities Most Likely To Say Caffeine Is Bad For You

2008                                2007
1.  Detroit                         1.  Los Angeles
2.  Phoenix                         2.  Riverside/San Bernardino
3.  Riverside/San Bernardino        3.  San Francisco
4.  St. Louis                       4.  New York
5.  Houston                         5.  Atlanta

Cities Most Addicted To Caffeine

2008                                2007
1.  Seattle                         1.  Boston
2.  Philadelphia                    2.  Minneapolis/St. Paul
3.  Phoenix                         3.  San Diego
4.  St. Louis                       4.  Chicago
5.  Los Angeles & Boston (tie)      5.  Atlanta

Cities Least Addicted To Caffeine

2008                                2007
1.  Chicago                         1.  New York
2.  Tampa                           2.  Philadelphia
3.  San Francisco                   3.  Miami
4.  Houston                         4.  Houston
5.  Riverside/San Bernadino         5.  Tampa

Consumers tipped their coffee cups on a variety of caffeine-related trends:

For the second straight year, nearly one-half of all respondents (42 percent) said coffee/specialty drinks would be the hardest to give up.
Men are much more likely than women (47 percent vs. 39 percent) to say coffee would be the hardest to give up, similar to the first annual survey.
Nearly three-fourths (72 percent) of all respondents said they are not addicted to caffeine.
Among age groups, the older the consumer, the more likely they are to say coffee would be the most difficult caffeinated product to give up, a pattern similar to that found last year.

Other key findings of the study:

Women are more likely than men to say they are addicted to caffeine (29 percent of women vs. 24 percent of men).
A majority (64 percent) said they consume about the same amount of caffeine as they did a year ago.
More than one-fourth (28 percent) consume less caffeine now than they did a year ago.
The younger the age group, the more likely they are to say they consume more caffeine than a year ago.
Among respondents consuming less caffeine, 53 percent said it is because they are seeking to improve their health; and nearly one-fourth (24 percent) of those consuming less caffeine are doing so because of a change of diet/currently on a diet plan.
More than one-fourth said they consume more caffeine than a year ago because their everyday routine is more demanding. Another six percent said it was because they have more access to caffeine, and 2 percent said they consume more because of fatigue due to sleep problems.
Over one-half of respondents said they are way over their ideal weight (12 percent) or over their ideal weight (54 percent). Only four percent said they were under their ideal weight.

HealthSaver, an emerging health care discount program, offers savings on prescriptions, vision care, complementary and alternative health care treatments, vitamins and supplements by mail and more than 1,500 fitness clubs nationwide, including select Bally Total Fitness, World Gym and Ladies Workout Express locations.

Survey Methodology

There’s something about January that makes you look backward in preparation for going forward…

So I have been thinking about the year that just passed.  The high points.  And the low.

Spilling red wine on my computer at the Specialty Coffee Convention in Minneapolis on the weekend of my book launch was one of the the low low points–my beloved Mac, ruined.!  In retrospect: what comedy:  Holding my  computer as if it were an injured child,  clutching an address in my hand, I jumped into  a cab ordering the driver to take me to the the nearest Mac store.  The cabbie had just arrived in Minneapolis from Senegal.  He had no idea where anything was located. A GPS device sat on his dashboard, but he was so frightened and disoriented that couldn’t absorb the GPS data.  “Turn left on Fairfax,”  the bodyless voice intoned, and the driver paused and turned right.  “Change  direction.” “Change  direction, the machine ordered.  “Go right at the light and then turn right again.”  The driver hesitated, then ignored a red light and drove through an intersection, turning neither left nor right.  The machine squawked.  I screamed.  Screamed like a nutcase.  Like a character in a TV sit com.  The poor driver was overcome, sweating, hunched over the wheel.   Eventually, I realized I was in the presence of a psychiatric crisis far more serious than my own.  I gathered my resources.  “You must be calm, I said in fractured French.  “Calmez-vous.  Calmez-vous et Entend! “You must be calm so you can hear what the machine is saying.    I talked the driver down off the roof and slowly we made our way to the Mac store where I either so stupid or so overcome with pity that I give him a $20 tip –poor son of a bitch, so far from home.   My computer, of course, had suffered a fatal blow and could not be repaired.

Minneapolis was not a highpoint  of my year.

 Seattle was a highpoint.

My book promoting  trip to Seattle last fall  provided ego  gratifications of Stephen Kingian proportions.  I was greeted like a visiting celebrity–well, mini-celebrity:  interviewed, invited, shown all the best spots,  introduced to the most interesting foodies.

I talk about God in a Cup  at one of Michael Hebb’s famous One Pot underground dinners, taking question after question from a sold out crowd, each of them clutching a copy of my book. (Would that writing were as easy and pleasurable as talking!)

That’s me in a skirt with Michael Hebb, aka Hebberoy, Seattle “food provocateur.”

The pleasures of Seattle were legion.

I drank a near perfect cappuccino at the legendary Cafe Vivace.  You could wrap yourself in the cashmere of that milk foam and it would keep you warm…

I  met up again with that talented Guatemalan coffee producer Arturo Aguirre Jr. from the Finca El Injerto at a Stumptown producers event.  (I am  drinking his Pacamara this morning.)

That’s Arturo and his wife and Stumptown Coffee buyer Aleco Chigounis:

My tour guide (and new friend)m  Seattle  blogger and foodie extraordinaire, Traca Savadogo (Seattle Tall Poppy.com) was responsible for a lot of the fun I had in Seattle.    It’s hard to land in a town, knowing you are going to spend just a few day and connect with the right people.  Thanks to Traca, that just wasn’t an issue.

Traca gave me the grand tour, showing me all the really important stuff in Seattle.

The troll under the highway:

The statue of Lenin:

The Ballard Market where Friends don’t let Friends eat Farmed Salmon:

And the carrots at the Ballard market:

Traca took me to the waterfront Market, too, where great mounds of chanterelles were displayed:

The freaks were good natured:

And even the young Orthodox guys from the Chabad mobile are sweet, handsome and benefit from the healthy Seattle lifestyle:

It was Traca, too, who introduced me to the uber talented young chef Ethan Stowell.  Along with a small group of boon companions we shared  a cornucopia of small plates prepared by Stowell at his downtown restaurant, Union.  And I who rarely eat fatty meats swooned for crispy pork belly cleverly paired with earthy, fibrous legumes:

 And then there was the matter of my chocolate awakening.

Until Seattle, I had not had the chocolate conversion experience.  I liked dark chocolate.  But I didn’t get dark chocolate, and chocolate as a culinary subject had not yet engage me.

Then Traca introduced me to Claudio Corallo Chocolate on Seattle’s NW Market Street and something began shifting in my understanding of chocolate as a plant with a seed that is fermented and roasted and that recalls the taste of coffee.

In the weeks since my trip to Seattle that  interest in chocolate, especially the coffee-like chocolate produced by Claudio Corollo has germinated…

More about that in the next day or two…