Seattle's Best Coffee introducing lighter roasts

Starbucks lets its Seattle's Best Coffee brand try things it dares not touch: selling coffee through Burger King and Subway, franchising cafes to individuals, and beginning in December, roasting coffee lightly. Coffee roasts are a highly individual matter. Some coffee lovers sniff at light roasts, which they consider the purview of mainstream brands like Maxwell House and Folgers. Other coffee drinkers prefer certain lighter roasts, also known as northern Italian roasts, when they come from wizards like David Schomer of Espresso Vivace in Seattle.

Seattle's Best Coffee wants to help coffee drinkers bridge the gap between cheap, mainstream coffee and more expensive, specialty coffee — and that means adding lighter roasts, said President Michelle Gass. "Seattle's Best [blend], which we consider a medium roast, is still too strong for some consumers getting into premium coffee," she said.

So, the brand is adding two lighter roasts to grocery shelves in December — numbers one and two of a five-level system that Seattle's Best hopes will simplify the buying process for customers. Level three is the equivalent of the current Seattle's Best Blend and level four is the old Henry's Blend, which is used to make espresso at Seattle's Best cafes. Level five is the equivalent of a French roast.

Seattle's Best sells about $52 million in packaged coffee a year through stores other than Wal-Mart and warehouse clubs like Costco, according to A.C. Nielsen. Starbucks sells several times that much. Both are distributed by Kraft Foods, which is battling Starbucks over the coffee company's attempt to sever their relationship.

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Sugar ends higher, coffee falls amid euro crisis

ICE sugar futures reversed early losses to settle higher for the fourth straight day yesterday due to fund buying, while coffee fell as Europe’s debt crisis pushed the euro to a two-month low against the dollar and as investors worried about conflict in Korea. Cocoa futures settled stronger as the London market led the way up, ahead of the second round of presidential elections in top grower Ivory Coast. Volume was thin after the US Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday and the ICE agricultural markets dealt in a slightly abbreviated session.

ICE raw sugar futures found strength in follow-through buying from Wednesday as demand continued to be viewed as strong, particularly in China, dealers said. “This China (situation) where they seem to be running out of most everything, seems to be supporting the market,” said Jack Scoville, analyst for brokers The Price Group in Chicago.

ICE March raw sugar rose 0.30 cent or 1.1 per cent to end at 28.25 cents a lb, closing the week up eight per cent. Volume was light at around 36,305 lots, down nearly half from Friday after Thanksgiving in 2009.

Liffe March white sugar finished up $1.10 at $718.40 a tonne. “The algorithmic traders (system funds) are the likely buyers. There are few traders from the trade houses around due to yesterday’s Thanksgiving,” a sugar futures broker said. Dealers said the market faced stiff resistance above 30 cents a lb, having touched a 30-year high of 33.39 cents a lb on November 11, underpinned by low global stock levels.

“Concerns that total sugar recovery levels will fall in India’s cane are leading to fears that the country may not have the necessary surplus required to lift exports to a world that is crying out for more sugar,” Macquarie Bank said in a report. The European Commission has delayed plans to export a further 350,000 tonnes of out-of-quota sugar, after European Union governments raised concerns over the impact of the move on market prices, EU sources said.

Dealers said the softs had disconnected from market fundamentals due to an uncertain outlook for the euro and the threat of fresh hostilities on the Korean peninsula. “The recent bailout of Ireland was like putting a plaster on a wooden leg — we’re not getting to the core of the euro zone debt problem,” said Pierre Sebag of London-based sugar consultancy Sugar K.

A newspaper reported that euro zone nations were pressuring Portugal to follow Ireland’s lead and seek a bailout. Portugal and Germany’s finance ministry denied the report. Coffee futures settled lower along with the commodity complex, with investors still concerned about contagion stemming from the euro zone’s debt problems. ICE March arabica coffee futures dropped 4.75 cents or 2.3 per cent to finish at $2.0270 a lb, closing the week down four per cent, the biggest weekly loss since August 8.

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Drinking coffee with sugar boosts memory and attention span

A cup of coffee is what millions of us rely on to kick-start the day. But new research shows that morning pick-me-up has a much more potent effect on the brain if it is taken with sugar. Scientists at the University of Barcelona in Spain found taking caffeine and sugar at the same time boosted the brain’s performance more than taking them on their own. Researchers now believe each one boosts the effect of the other on brain functions such as attention span and working memory.

The findings come from brain scans carried out on 40 volunteers who were tested after they had coffee with sugar, coffee without sugar, sugar on its own or just plain water. The results, published in the journal Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental, suggest sugar-sweetened coffee may be the best way to prepare the brain for a busy day ahead. But it’s likely that coffee lovers who do not take sugar will get the same benefits from enjoying a sugary snack with their drink.

According to the British Coffee Association, UK consumers drink approximately 70million cups of coffee a day. More than half add sugar. It is well known that caffeine is a stimulant which works on the brain and can combat drowsiness and fatigue.

Previous studies have even suggested three cups of a coffee a day can significantly reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, possibly by triggering a chain reaction in the brain that prevents the damage done by the disease. It’s also well known that glucose, a type of sugar, is the main fuel which brain cells need to function properly. But the latest research indicates the two complement each other when it comes to bolstering the brain’s performance.

Researchers performed MRI scans on patients’ brains as they carried out a standard task designed to check their attention span and working memory. The tests were performed after they had consumed each of the drinks. Results showed that when the volunteers drank coffee with sugar there was reduced activity in the bilateral parietal cortex and the left prefrontal cortex - the two parts of the brain responsible for attention and memory.

But while activity levels dropped, the brain’s performance did not. Researchers said this shows the brain operates more efficiently when it has had a caffeine and sugar boost. ‘The two substances improve cognitive performance by increasing the efficiency of the two areas of the brain responsible for sustained attention and working memory,’ said researcher Dr Josep Serra Grabulosa. ‘The brain is more efficient under the combined effect of the two substances, since it needs fewer resources to produce the same level of performance than when volunteers took only caffeine, glucose or water.'

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Coffee franchise Tim Hortons to accept debit card transactions

Canada's favourite coffee chain, Tim Hortons, has announced that it will accept debit card payments at approximately 90 percent of its 3,000 locations. Several franchises in Toronto have already implemented the Interac system. Starting this month, Tim Hortons locations nationwide will give its customers the option of using their debit card to purchase any of their items in their restaurants or drive-throughs, according to a Canadian Newswire press release. For years, Tim Hortons did not use the Interac debit system over fears it would slow down service and make customers in the long line disgruntled. In the downtown core,many Tim Hortons sites maintain a large clientele.

“Tim Hortons' hospitality focuses on continuous improvement and fast, friendly service, whether it's new product innovation or the introduction of new payment methods such as Interac Debit,” said Tim Hortons Chief Operation Officer, Roland Walton. “Tim Hortons is proud to partner with a world-class Canadian payment network like the Interac network to bring more value and the speed and convenience of debit payments to Canadians coast to coast."

It was announced in March that Tim Hortons was going to establish 900 new stores in North America by 2013. The company is also slowly setting up upscale restaurants. In Toronto, at the Bay Street and Wellesley location, Tim Hortons has already gone upscale.

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Does the Tim Hortons crowd really vote Tory?

The Tim Hortons crowd is a blue collar bunch. They like their taxes low, the government out of their face and their leaders the kind you could have over for a beer. And, of course, they vote Conservative. Right?

After arguing last week that the image of the effete, Starbucks-drinking Liberal voter is more rhetoric than reality, a similar analysis of the more than 3,000 Tim Hortons locations from coast to coast to coast indicates a voter’s preference for a double-double does not make them a Tory or a Liberal, but rather just an average Canadian. A cup of Tim Hortons coffee can be found in virtually every part of the country, and this is demonstrated by the distribution of the chain’s outlets in the 308 federal ridings. There is almost no difference between the average number of Tim Hortons locations in each of the ridings currently held by the three national parties.

Contrary to public perception, the Conservatives come out last among the three federal parties with an average of about nine Tim Hortons shops per riding. The Liberals have an average of slightly less than 11 locations per riding, while the New Democrats come out on top with slightly more than 11. The Bloc Québécois has an average of only five locations per riding, perhaps indicating that Quebeckers have been slow to adopt the quintessentially Canadian chain.

The myth of the Tim Hortons crowd, however, is not completely without foundation. Of the top 10 per cent of ridings in terms of store density, the Conservatives hold 12 of them, compared to 10 held by the Liberals and eight by the NDP.

The general result of this analysis should come as no surprise. As mentioned in the study of Starbucks density and voting habits, polls have shown there is absolutely nothing that connects coffee preference to political ideology. The relevant poll conducted by Harris-Decima in 2009 showed that the proportion of Liberal, New Democratic, and Conservative voters who preferred Tim Hortons to Starbucks were virtually identical for each party.

But what of the caffeine-addicted, jittery Canadian? Six ridings, located in Toronto, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, and Niagara Falls, made it in the top 30 in both Starbucks and Tim Hortons density. Each of these ridings have more than 30 stores selling either pedestrian Tim’s or pricey Seattle-based coffee, not to mention the plethora of smaller chains and independent coffee shops these neighbourhoods support.

These six ridings are divided up equally among the three national parties, with two of them voting Liberal, two Conservative, and two New Democratic. But the average vote in them broke for the Liberals with 36 per cent, compared to 28 per cent for the Conservatives and 25 per cent for the NDP.

Of the four party leaders, Gilles Duceppe’s riding of Laurier–Sainte-Marie, Stephen Harper’s riding of Calgary Southwest, and Jack Layton’s riding of Toronto–Danforth all have about the same number of Tim Hortons locations within their boundaries. But Michael Ignatieff’s riding of Etobicoke–Lakeshore eclipses the others in Tim Hortons density, with almost three times as many locations.

However, these four men spend most of their time on Parliament Hill. Though the Prime Minister is reportedly not fond of coffee, he should have no trouble finding a cup of hot chocolate in any of the more than 100 Tim Hortons locations in and around the national capital, a region represented by politicians from all political stripes.

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Green Mountain Coffee Roasters to restate earnings

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. said it will restate earnings, lowering them by about $5.8 million, for periods dating back to 2007 after it discovered errors associated with its Keurig single-cup coffee business. About $3.5 million is for overstated net income in the first three quarters of fiscal 2010, the company said Friday. The errors included misreporting of the cost of K-Cup coffee pods in inventory, marketing expenses for brewers, and changes in how the company recognized royalties, according to the statement.

The company said none of the errors related to misconduct by its executives or employees. Green Mountain also said no part of the restatement is connected with its relationship to M. Block & Sons Inc., which ships the company's Keurig single-cup coffee brewers. One part of an SEC investigation into how Green Mountain books revenue is focused on the company's dealings with M. Block.

Green Mountain said it continues to cooperate with the SEC. The company expects to file the restated financials by Dec. 9. The company's shares have more than quadrupled in the past three years as it expanded its Keurig business. Keurig generated more than 50 percent of sales in the year that ended in September 2009.

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Brooklyn coffee shop offers porn in a cup

The Pulp & The Bean in the Crown Heights neighborhood put the item on the menu on Tuesday with the official name of "Dieci," Italian for "10." The nickname comes from a sign advertising the drink outside the store, whose specialty item was first reported by the New York Daily News.

Shop owner Tony Fisher, 37, said sales were brisk in part because "nobody's ever had the chutzpah (audacity) to do anything like this before.""This is for the person who wants to experience the limits of where coffee and espresso can go," he said of the drink, which weighs in at 20 ounces.

Fisher opened his shop specializing in latte coffee and chai tea about a year ago in a neighborhood that has traditionally been split between Orthodox Jews and Caribbean immigrants but has seen an influx of young professionals and gays who make up the bulk of his clientele.

Fisher came up with the idea after finding that a double espresso was not enough. "Sometimes I'll drink a double espresso and say to myself, 'I need another double.' And then another double will turn into another double. And I was like, why not drink a full cup?" The beverage is not for everyone, especially considering such a large dose of caffeine can increase heart rate and blood pressure. "I won't sell it to anybody in their 40s and up," Fisher said. "I'll just tell them I can offer an alternative."

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A new coffee pleasure bubbles up with special Ottoman-era cups

It is a well-known conversation starter, an indispensable drink that marks the ceremony of asking for a girl’s hand in marriage: bountifully bubbly Turkish coffee, that wonderful mix of boiling water and a handful of ground coffee beans.

Turkey encountered coffee for the first time in 1554. We must have really loved it, too, because shortly after we met it and started to make it, “Turkish coffee” began to be known all over the world. In fact, Turks felt so strongly about the coffee that came in from Yemen that in the early 1600s advisers urged Pope Clement VIII to ban it as a Muslim drink, but he refused, “baptizing” it instead. But, of course, it is not only coffee that remains in our memories from those days to today. It is the way it can be drunk, too: Turkish coffee simply cannot be had in a large mug, or the wrong kind of cup. It has its own specific way of being served, and its own kind of cups, too. Turkish coffee and its pleasures had their own specific rules during Ottoman times. The hot drink would be served up in very delicate and elegant cups, and with the kind of ceremony that suited such attention to aesthetic detail.

And so, Galeri Set Osmanlı in Mısır Çarşısı (Egyptian or Spice Bazaar) brings us these traces of the old ways to drink Turkish coffee. “Our Turkish coffee cups will take you on a journey into the depths of history,” says Galeri Set Osmanlı’s coffee cup expert, Uğur Atik. And it’s not just Turks who head off on this journey. Uğur Bey notes that he has sold these special cups not only to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President Abdullah Gül, but also to a wide range of foreign statesmen and artists. Some of these include names like Queen Elizabeth II, former US President George W. Bush, Fidel Castro, the Jordanian royalty, a Saudi Arabian prince, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and actors such as Kevin Costner. Middle East expert Hüsnü Mahalli picked up a set of six dark blue coffee cups here before a visit to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to give him as a gift. As for Queen Elizabeth II, she bought pink and turquoise coffee cups. When the queen’s attendants later visited the shop, they said she had especially liked the pink-colored cups. “We make our products with great care and love, and transport our feelings across the oceans,” explains Uğur Bey.

Galeri Set Osmanlı produces the most select examples from the 16th and 19th century Turkish work and stays faithful to those eras’ golden decorations. The production of just one cup takes exactly 21 days. And the only place that produces these cups is in fact Galeri Set Osmanlı, which was founded in 1972 by Mehdi Sezen. The store is now owned by Mehdi Sezen’s sons, Bülent and Mukbil Sezen, and Uğur Bey. Uğur Bey runs the store.

Each color represents a different era

Coffee cups at Galeri Set Osmanlı were designed after conducting much research into the past, with different colors and shapes of cups representing different eras. The founding period of the Ottoman Empire has come to be identified with pink and turquoise-colored cups. As Uğur Bey sees it, these colors symbolize new beginnings and purity. After all, newly born babies are often dressed in these colors. Also, research shows that the color dark blue was very popular in the Kanuni (Süleyman the Magnificent) era, and in fact, this sultan’s tomb boasts ample dark blue in it. So, as you might expect, the cups from this era are dark blue.

The period of rising power in the Ottoman Empire has been identified with the color green. And the emblem of the Ottomans from this period was also green, which was also the color of the caliphate. As for the color yellow, this symbolizes the final era of the Ottomans. Also, yellow is often thought of as the color of disease and separation.

In addition to all of the above, the shapes of the cups change, too. When Abdülhamit II came to power in 1876, he had the Fabrika-yı Hümayun created, where French experts began to show their skill. It was then that cups with wide mouths and narrow bases started to be produced. But in fact Turkish coffee should be drunk from cups with wide bases and narrower mouths because in such cups it takes the coffee longer to cool, and the bubbles also stay in place for longer. Of course these special cups are not the only items for sale at Galeri Set Osmanlı. You can also find Ottoman-era ewers, shallow cooking pans, specially designed rice bowls and much, much more here. Furthermore, you can order personally designed items, too.

When you think about coffee cups of this type, it’s hard not to think about fortune-telling. Uğur Bey tells us about this tradition, saying, “This sort of fortune-telling through coffee grinds was a way for the concubines at the palace to tell each other things that they weren’t otherwise able to say.”

Uğur Bey told us a bit about the palace coffee ceremonies. “When a person would visit the palace, you would first remove your overcoats in the dressing rooms and look in the mirror to make yourself presentable. When you passed through the doors, you would be greeted with rose lokum [Turkish delight] and rose candies. The reasoning behind this was to ‘eat sweetly and talk sweetly.’ Also, lokum works to calm nerves by boosting blood sugar levels. After all, going to meet the sultan would make people nervous. After you had sweetened your mouth up, you would sit in your appointed place. Three palace concubines would serve coffee alongside the coffee master of the palace. These three coffee concubines would wear crisscrossed embroidered velvet coffee aprons. They would lean over to serve the coffee, and they would never look into the eyes of those they were serving.”

Best to use cold water when making Turkish coffee

We asked coffee expert Uğur Bey for some tips on how to make the best Turkish coffee possible. He notes that, after placing your coffee and your sugar (never sugar cubes!) in the copper cezve (long-handled pot for making coffee), you need to be sure and use cold water for the best taste. He explains that after the first boiling of this mixture, you achieve the famous bubbles that mark Turkish coffee, and after the second boiling, the coffee grounds are settled, and after the third, the coffee can be poured. Interestingly, Uğur Bey also tells us that there are two kinds of Turkish coffee: “normal” and “comfortable.” The normal is served with a glass of refreshing water next to it, but the comfortable one comes with some rose-flavored lokum. This is truly keeping in tradition, because going back in history in Turkey, coffee was never really served with chocolate, as it is in the West.

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Is Your Coffee Making You Feel Sick? There Is A Healthy Choice

Coffee is so popular you'd think it must be the right thing to drink. But there are many health drawbacks to the normal coffee. It may be your morning pick-me-up and your midday pick-me-up, but normal coffee can be a real put-down for your health.

Obviously not everyone feels that way. After all, coffee is the most popular drink worldwide with 1.4 billion cups consumed every day. Four out of five Americans drink it, consuming more than 400 million cups a day. In Canada it is the most popular hot beverage. But the list of health problems associated with coffee is a real wake-up call itself.

Some of the problems that the caffeine in coffee causes are preventable and in fact urgent to prevent. For example, caffeine increases your heart rate, elevates your blood pressure, and can contribute to the development of heart disease. Anxiety and irritability are also associated with too much caffeine intake.

The high acid content of most coffees can lead to gastrointestinal problems because coffee increases the secretion of hydrochloric acid leading to an increased risk for ulcers. Coffee, including decaf, reduces the pressure on the valve between the oesophagus and the stomach so that the highly acidic contents of the stomach pass up to the oesophagus leading to heartburn and gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. With America's high consumption of coffee, its no wonder the best selling over-the-counter drugs are the so-called antacids.

Besides its direct effect on the human body, there is also the issue of the use of chemicals and pesticides on the coffee beans (as well as on other food crops). Pesticides and chemicals used in agriculture contain a myriad of chemicals - most of which are have not been studied thoroughly enough to understand or contemplate their long-term effects on the human body.

So, am I telling you to give up coffee? NOT exactly. Rather, I want you to know that there is an alternative to the normal coffee, the normal coffee that plays such a part in your decreasing health, even as it purports to elevate your mood and energy.

The alternative I'm talking about is a real coffee (not a coffee substitute) grown and processed organically without the use of chemicals, pesticides, hormones or artificial fertilizers. It's a coffee that actually helps to remove toxins from your body, and with every cup you drink, you can feel better and realize increasing health benefits.

And, in fact, this particular coffee tastes good. This new healthy coffee has been known to increase oxygen to your brain, help balance your weight, and boost your overall health. The secret ingredient is an extract from the Reishi mushroom known as Ganoderma Lucidum. Its literal root is the term Reishie Senshi, of ancient Asian origin, meaning, "goodness of health, life and eternal youth."

Unlike your average coffee bean, which is one of the most heavily pesticide sprayed crops, these coffee beans are grown and processed organically without the use of any chemicals or pesticides. This healthy coffee will help remove toxins from your body and boost your immune system. With every cup that you drink you can feel revived, rejuvenated and experience increased health benefits. As for taste, this coffee is known to be delicious. In fact, not only health reasons, but pure and simple taste is one reason that many people are switching to Ganoderma.

Health issues, however, are a very important reason that more and more people are switching to Ganoderma. Its essential ingredient, Reishi mushrooms, has been used as an immune stimulant for both HIV or cancer patients and has even been found to improve immune response in advance-stage cancer victims. These mushrooms have also been used to help the healing of lungs for people with asthma and lung disorders. The ancient Asian civilizations began using Reishi mushrooms centuries ago and still used today for hypertension, liver disorders and arthritis.

As it's low in caffeine, it won't have negative affect on sleep patterns either. So, it seems that coffee connoisseurs, or just the normal everyday drinker like me, can have a real coffee (not a substitute) that can help improve our lifestyle and health.

Just imagine a coffee that can boost your immune system, increase your circulation and just make you feel better. I've found that since switching to Ganoderma healthy coffee, I can have as much or more enjoyment of my daily cups of coffee, and have no more worries about negative physical or psychological effects.

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Tim Hortons closes 36 stores, 18 kiosks, in U.S.

A sound financial beating has forced Tim Hortons to leave the game in New England, but Canada's beloved coffee brand said Thursday it won't stop dropping the gloves against bigger, stronger rivals in the fast-paced American fast food game.

The coffee-and-doughnut chain that bears the name of its hockey-legend founder is shuttering 36 stores and 18 self-service kiosks in the northeastern U.S. -- the first time in its 46-year history that Tims has decided to pull out of a money-losing market. "We've not had that kind of experience before," Tim Hortons president and CEO Don Schroeder admitted Thursday.

But instead of rethinking its decision to enter the U.S.-- where it faces off against established players like Dunkin' Donuts, Starbucks and McDonald's -- Tims plans to cut its losses, learn from its mistakes, and push ahead with an aggressive plan to open 300 new stores elsewhere in the U.S. over the next three years.

"How I view the New England situation is it's a positive in terms of the earnings that we've had and we'll apply those as we continue to grow our business in the U.S.," Schroeder said. The store closures will come mainly in Providence, R.I., and Hartford, Conn., where average sales volumes have been about half of those in other U.S. markets. It will also close two restaurants in Portland, Me.

"The Providence and Hartford markets are among the most densely penetrated market areas in the U.S. by quick service restaurants," Schroeder said. "We were not successful in expanding our customer base to the levels required for future profitability."

However, Tims, based in Oakville, Ont., is in the U.S. market to stay as its brand profile continues to grow, Schroeder insisted. None of the other core U.S. markets it operates in are as densely concentrated with competitors, and stores there are performing well, he noted.

"We see the same size of sales progression and customer acceptance that we experienced in Canadian markets in early stages of development, and continue to see traction."

Brian Yarbrough, a retail analyst with Edward Jones, said it was wise for Tims to pull out of a market where Dunkin' Donuts, headquartered in nearby Massachusetts, has a stronghold. "Typically in your home market, or your better markets, you tend to put a lot of stores in," he said. "It's basically like going up to Canada and saying: why can't McDonald's and Starbucks and these guys go after Tim Hortons and take over the market?" The store closures will cost the company as much as $50 million in charges in the final two quarters of 2010.

But Schroeder said closing those stores, which represent a fragment of its 600-store U.S. unit, was necessary because they disproportionately affected the company's U.S. performance and overshadowed success in other American markets.

Those locations have cost the chain $4.4 million so far this year and a retreat from the fledgling market will improve the Canadian company's U.S. profits, Schroeder said. Tims closed a dozen locations in New England in 2008 after performance fell short of the expectations the company had when it acquired a local chain of coffee shops in 2004 as a platform for growth. It has tried to boost sales in the remaining area locations since, but decided to "call it a day" this quarter when it realized profitability was still far off.

"In hindsight, while we have benefited tremendously through the experience we gained through this acquisition, the fact is, it did not turn out the way we expected," Schroeder said. "The most prudent course of action is to focus our U.S. (efforts) in our core growth markets where we are experiencing greater success."

As Tim Hortons moves ahead with plans to grow in the U.S. it is perfecting a strategy that aims to decrease the amount of time from entering a new market to reaching profitability.

About 70 per cent of its expansion will be focused in existing markets in 10 states in the Northeast and Midwest U.S., where the brand continues to flourish. The other 30 per cent of new stores will be opened in nearby markets, Schroeder said.

Most recently it has trimmed that timeline to three to five years in Syracuse, N.Y. It is currently focused on Detroit, Mich. and Columbus, Ohio. "We continue to evolve and refine that strategy with all of the learnings we get with every experience in the U.S.," he said.

Yarbrough, however, suggested that growth opportunities for Tims might be limited to border-region markets where has made inroads, such as Buffalo and Syracuse, N.Y., and Detroit, MI. "Either you're going to expand across the United States, or you're going to stay in the 10 states you're in and those states only offer so much growth."

The company (TSX:THI), which has more than 3,700 stores in North America, announced late Wednesday that it earned $73.8 million in the third quarter, or 42 cents per share -- up more than 20 per cent from last year.

Three-month revenue was up nearly 10 per cent to $670.5 million, from $610.7 million and ahead of analyst expectations.

However, the company recorded a $20.9 million accounting charge to reflect the impaired value of those assets in its third quarter. That will be followed by an additional charge of up to $30 million to be booked in the fourth quarter.

Tim Hortons U.S. segment had an operating loss of $17.5 million in the third quarter, but excluding the charge related to the store closures, it would have recorded a $3.4 million profit.

Tims also announced that it will use $400 million from the sale of its half of Maidstone Bakeries to buy back some of its shares on open market, a move that may win investor favour. It will use another $30 million as a fund to help offset some of the anticipated rises in coffee, sugar and flour costs over the next year.

During the third quarter, Tims opened 44 locations in Canada and 35 in the United States -- essentially offsetting the 36 that will be closed in New England. Tim Hortons is Canada's biggest restaurant chain and the fourth-biggest in North America. In total, it has 3,703 restaurants, including 3,082 in Canada. Shares in the company were down 39 cents or one per cent at $39.01 in afternoon trading Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

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Free Coffee Day At Bruegger's Benefits CT Children's Medical Center

Stop by Bruegger's Wednesday any time before 2 p.m. and receive a free medium drip coffee. While you're there, donate your spare change to benefit children in need. The bakery chain's "Free Coffee Day" is part of a national fundraising program to benefit nearly 50 children's hospitals across the country through the Children's Miracle Network. The Connecticut Children's Medical Center will benefit from funds raised by Bruegger's locations in Connecticut.

Bruegger's will also donate a portion of proceeds from its annual "Bottomless Mug" sales. Customers who purchase a mug will receive free refills on coffee, tea or soft drinks for a full year.

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Burger King offers free coffee on Fridays in Nov

Burger King is putting some pep into its new focus on breakfast by offering free cups of coffee every Friday in November. The company rolled out a new breakfast menu in September and launched a major marketing blitz. Its goal is to eat away at McDonald's market-leading morning business.

Now the Miami chain says it will give away free 12-ounce cups of Seattle's Best Coffee. The giveaways take place every Friday in November during breakfast hours. Customers don't have to buy anything. Burger King declined to say how much the promotion will cost. It expects to give away between 2 million and 4 million free cups, which normally sell for $1.

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Coffee Festival on Freret, Fall Festival in Luling

The second annual New Orleans Coffee Festival is Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. at the Freret Market (Freret Street at Napoleon Avenue).

Live music, education and tastings of 35 coffees roasted and blended locally by Community, PJ's, Coffee Roasters of New Orleans, Campbell's Coffee, Mello Joy, Who Dat?, Organo, Coast Roast and Society of New Orleans Baristas. Tickets are $5 for four tastes.

FALL FESTIVAL IN LULING MARKET: The German Coast Farmers Market will have a Fall Festival on Wednesday from 3 to 6:30 p.m. at 12715 U.S. 90 in Luling. Events will include live music by Blanch Newsome, sampling by Abita Brewing Co., venison bratwurst by Schexnayder's Acadian Foods and a supply drive for the St. Charles Parish Animal Shelter, along with a Cookbook Exchange (bring a hardbound cookbook in good condition to the Welcome Booth between 4 and 4:45 p.m.; exchange starts at 5 p.m.).

DOMINIQUE MACQUET ON THE CHEF SHOW: Chef-host Mary Sonnier interviews chef Dominique Macquet of Dominique's on Magazine Street for "The Chef Show" on Friday at 2:30 p.m. on WRBH-FM (88.3 on the dial). The program is repeated Saturday at 5 p.m.

ADOPTING MIRLITONS ON LOUISIANA EATS: Lance Hill and his Adopt-A-Mirliton project, and chef Richard Knight of the new offal-dominated restaurant feast will be featured during Saturday's noon broadcast of "Louisiana Eats" on WWNO-FM (89.9 on the dial).

SIGNING FOR 'WILD ABUNDANCE': Susan Schadt and Lisa Buser will sign "Wild Abundance: Ritual, Revelry & Recipes of the South's Finest Hunting Clubs" today from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Garden District Book Shop, 2727 Prytania St. The book includes recipes from several local chefs.

DISCUSSION AND DEMO: Zella Llerena, curator and writer of the "New Orleans con Sabor Latino" exhibit, and K-Paul's waiter and poet Edgar Sierra will demonstrate and offer samples of two dishes from the exhibit -- plantains Foster and café brulot flan -- Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. Free with museum admission of $10. SoFAB, Riverwalk Marketplace, Julia Street entrance.

FREE VETERANS MEAL AT BOMBAY CLUB: The Bombay Club, 830 Conti St., is offering a free, three-course dinner to all U.S. veterans on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, from 5 to 10 p.m. Reservations are required in advance (504.586.0972) as seating is limited.

NICHOLLS CULINARY GALA IS NOV. 11: The 14th annual Bite of the Arts, Nicholls State University's fundraiser for the John Folse Culinary Institute, is Nov. 11 at 6:30 p.m. in the Bollinger Memorial Student Union on campus. This year's theme is "Viva España: Celebrating the Spanish Influence in Cajun and Creole Cuisine." Student chefs will work under the direction of chef Adolfo Garcia of New Orleans. Tickets start at $150. Call 985.449.7114.

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