Scientists say 11am is perfect time for coffee break

If you are among those who desperately need a midmorning coffee break, then go for it at 11 a.m., as scientists claim a formula they have devised proves that 'elevenses' is the best time to drink your brew.

The Oxford University research also shows that a tasty Americano is not the only requirement -- lights, music, aroma and good company need to be added to the mix.

The experts developed the formula (M = 0.5 x F + (0.5 x E + 0.3 x P + 0.15 x C + 0.05 x T) by combining various factors such as great flavour (F) with the perfect environment (E),

The container it comes in (P), who you drink coffee with (C) and the time of day you enjoy your coffee break (T) to create the most enjoyable coffee moment (M)

After applying this formula, the scientists found 11 a.m. is the best time to have a coffee bream, in a well-lit room with friends and nice music in the background, the 'Daily Mail' reported.

Prof Charles Spence, from the Department of Experimental Psychology at Oxford University, who led the research, said: "The formula describes how to create the perfect coffee moment at home or at work. We have known for some time that our taste buds are a vital part of the taste experience."However, we can now pinpoint the exact sensory conditions required to enjoy coffee, or any other food and drink." According to the researchers, 11 a.m. is the best time to have a coffee break as this is the time when the average person's palate is at the height of its powers.

They also suggested for soothing background music at the venue which should be a well-lit room or outside in the sun. About the aroma, they said it should be strong as 80 per cent of the flavour of food or drink comes from the nose and not the tongue.So far as the company is concerned, they reasoned that the anticipation of meeting up with friends increases your enjoyment and the sensation of a warm drink makes your brain see the people around you in a more favourable light.

Spence's formula, published in a report called 'Changing Tastes', highlighted how external, environmental influences also affect our brain's interpretation of taste and enjoyment of food and drink.Kevin Gould, a British food futurologist said: "Prof Spence's research report proves the importance of all the senses in the enjoyment of food and drink."Aroma is a vital ingredient to make the most of your coffee break."

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Organic Coffee Caffeine Effects And Skin Cancers

Coffee, or, better put, caffeine, could become a new weapon in the fight against skin cancer. Dr. Conney, Professor of Pharmacology at the University of New Jersey.

And his team conducted clinical trials using a caffeinated lotion on mice.They exposed 90 hairless mice to high dosage of UV rays twice a day, for 20 days.

Then the mice were divided into three groups. One group was treated with caffeine solution, second one was treated with epigallocatechin gallate or EGCG solution extracted from green tea, and a third group wasn’t treated at all.

With large dose of UV rays all mice suffered skin cancer. Treatment with caffeine reduced cancerous tumors by 72% and non cancerous tumors by 44%. Treatment with EGCG reduced cancerous tumors by 66%.

Unlike sunscreen of SPF, which protect the skin by absorbing UV rays, caffeine acts directly on cells. Apparently caffeine is capable of blocking the genetic changes in cells, and it seems that caffeine acts selectively, only to diseased cells. If clinical trials confirm this discovery we can freely say that a new method for skin cancer prevention is discovered.

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Stumping for Stumptown

Time magazine is wondering if Stumptown is the new Starbucks this week in its piece, "Is Stumptown the New Starbucks or Better?". Glad they finally caught up, since we essentially started that conversation last summer when we published a piece by Ethan Epstein titled "Totally Stumped" about the Portland mini-chain's invasion into.

New York and how the coffee messiah, Duane Sorenson, was stumping for his coffee beans with unbridled zeal. Coffee blog TheShot pointed out the similarities before we could get to it and also rails on writer Josh Ozersky for couching the entire coffee development as coffee's "third wave."

Ozersky says these evangelists of third wave coffee "tend to be male, heavily bearded, zealous and meticulous in what they do." Sounds like the same thing with craft beer guys or just about every other person we see sitting on the L train. But at least he was creative in not using the dreaded h-word.

We've been staking out Stumptown for a while now, especially since it's conveniently located in the Ace Hotel a couple blocks from our offices in the Nomad area. While the costumes the baristas wear are quaint, it's a little annoying having to wait in line for that perfect cup while a lot of super-cool types are milling about in the lobby or
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Related to:nypressnew yorkethanepsteinstumptownace hotelsorensoncoffeenymagtime barking their way into The Breslin. Sorenson also seems to hang out there quite a bit, and we don't want him to pop us in the mouth for questioning his dominance when it comes to roast.

I'm not really the fighting type and definitely wouldn't get into a scrap over a cup of coffee (or even an entire bag of beans). I tried to rile things up by talking to the folks who opened Birch just a couple of blocks over by the Museum of Sex. But they were also having none of it, they seem to be cut from the same Portland cloth (which happens to come in various pleasing plaids).

We saw Josh Ozersky the other day near our office and thought maybe he was on his way to check out the Schnitzel & Things truck that was parked nearby. But now realize he must have just absconded from Stumptown and was therefore sheepish about answering our questions regarding what he was up to. Aha, meeting us face-to-face when working on a Stumptown story must have been a delicate situation indeed.

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Coffee Prices Supported, For Now

While sugar has been the soft commodity star over the past 12 months, coffee prices have done little. Analysts at Barclays Capital suggest 2010 could prove a different story for coffee given the potential for supply side issues to impact on the market.

As Barclays points out, coffee is really a simple story in that the market revolves around Brazil and Columbia as the two largest producers, Brazil of arabica and Columbia of the washed milds varieties, which are the deliverable type of arabica for contracts on the ICE Futures Exchange.

On its numbers Barclays expects the coffee market will report a one million bag deficit in 2009/10, an outcome it suggests will support average prices for the ICE front month arabica contract of US$1.41 per pound over the first half of 2010.

Supply side issues are also supportive as the analysts point out the 2008/09 harvest in Columbia was very poor at 8.6 million bags, which was down 30% year-on-year thanks to heavy rainfall, an outbreak of coffee rust, low input usage, cherry borer and reduced acreage. 2009/10 is showing no signs of delivering an improved harvest.

As well, Barclays notes some other producing nations in Central America and Mexico are underperforming with respect to likely harvests, all of which has pushed arabica inventories down to their lowest level since February 2003.

This underperformance elsewhere has brought the market's focus to Brazil, which has just completed its 2009/10 harvest and delivered a fall of 14% in year-on-year terms from 2008/09 levels. Again, this was the result of adverse weather conditions, which impacted on the quality of the crop.

Weather will hold the key to the outlook for the coffee market over the next 12 months according to Barclays, as at present Brazil is expected to record a close to record crop of between 45.9 million to 48.7 million bags in 2010/11.

With Colombia also expected to record a moderate crop improvement to around 11 million bags in 2010, Barclays expects the market will return to a surplus, so softening prices in the second half of this year. Barclays is forecasting an average price for the second half of 2010 of US$1.35 per pound.

For the rest of the first half of this year Barclays remains mildly bullish on coffee however, suggesting prices will remain supported at least until there is is a reversal in the trend of falling stock levels on the ICE Exchange.

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Does Portland beat Seattle at coffee?

Does Portland brew -- and roast, and buy -- its coffee better than Seattle now? That's the theme of a KUOW report today by Chantal Anderson. founder Jordan Michelman:

"Seattle is very stuck in a mold of what coffee culture was like 20 years ago and third wave coffee is very, very different from that."

What's third wave? Michelman told KUOW: "It works on much more of a thinking about it almost from.

A gastronomy stand point of being really, really obsessed about seed to cup, where it comes from, who's roasting it, where it's roasted, the duration of time, having the choices, seasonality, all these kinds of things. There's nowhere that does that here."

Sprudge wrote on Twitter that "npr took us out of context." (Disclosure: Sprudge does not dig my coverage of Fair Trade, among other things.)

Either way, Michelman would not be the first to say Portland has passed us, with high-profile Stumptown Coffee leading the way (pictured: its flagship store in Portland). Sam Lewontin, who goes by coffeeandbikes on Twitter, wrote a thoughtful post about it on espresso machine maker Slayer's web site last month.

In the KUOW report, Lewontin mentions the shackles of street food regulations in Seattle, which the city and county are working to change. Their efforts are largely aimed at opening up carts for vending beyond coffee, popcorn, hot dogs and flowers. But one proposed change would get rid of city restrictions on cart size and defer to more liberal county guidelines, said Gary Johnson at the Seattle Department of Planning and Development. And, he said, he welcomes comments about cart rule changes.So, what do you think? Has Portland eclipsed Seattle at coffee?

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Coffee Bean International Introduces Project Direct

Coffee Bean International, the Portland, Ore.-based specialty coffee roaster and wholesaler, last week announced the launch of the direct trade program, "Project Direct." Through Project Direct, Coffee Bean International works directly with farmers to achieve the mutually beneficial goal of paying higher prices for better-quality coffee, directly improving coffee growers' farms, communities and quality of life. The program now offers Coffee Bean International's private brand retail clients the opportunity to source coffees through these impactful buying relationships.

The first Project Direct coffee is from the San Ignacio region of Peru. Working with over 20 independent coffee farmers -- 90 percent of whom are growing organically -- Coffee Bean International is setting coffee growing standards that will lead to the continued improvement of the coffee crop, while farmers receive between $0.40 and $1.00 per pound more than established fair trade prices. Coffee Bean International is working to establish direct trade relationships with growers in Nicaragua and Tanzania this year.

"The Project Direct program is a commitment by our company to improve the quality of life for farmers and to pursue the mutually beneficial goal of adding transparency and improving coffee quality," says Patrick Criteser, president and CEO of Coffee Bean International. "This program elevates our company's long-standing partnerships with farmers to a higher level of commitment, and assures our clients have access to the highest-quality, sustainably sourced coffees available in the market."

Now retailers' private brands can work with Coffee Bean International and offer their customers direct trade coffee. Because Coffee Bean International brings a micro-roaster's attention to quality to the final product, large regional and national retailers have access to the type of quality and innovation previously absent from the national brand scene.

"Our customers are interested in the story behind the products that they buy," says Karen Stout, vice president of non-perishables at The Fresh Market. "With Project Direct coffee, they can find that story -- about the regions, the farms and about the sourcing practices."

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Which coffee personality are you?

Coffee snobs can find more than froth and sugar at the bottom of their cups - personality lives there as well. While strolling out of a cafe on the way to work, that cup of coffee in your hand is actually emitting hidden meanings to passers-by.

In their new book, The You Code, body language experts Judi James and James Moore decipher what our caffeine preferences reveal about our self esteem, stress levels and even sex life.

The espresso drinker James and Moore describe the espresso as "the unfiltered cigarette of the coffee drinking world". Espresso drinkers tend to be moody, hard-bitten and hard working.

They are into leadership and fast goals. They don't suffer fools but are hard living and prone to "night-time shenanigans, followed by a rather louche attempt at day time repair". The espresso drinker can be an experienced, exciting and consummate lover but is not known for reliability or unswerving loyalty. The black coffee drinker

This type is al about minimalism and takes a no-frills, direct approach to life.The black coffee drinker can be quiet and moody but prone to brief bursts of extroversion. "A difficult but potentially rewarding friend, colleague or partner," James and Moore conclude.

The latte drinker

Typically metrosexuals or cuddly-toy collectors, latte drinkers are pleasers with an overwhelming compulsion to be liked. A latte drinking boss will use a baby voice to tell you off.

By taking a dark and dangerous drink and turning it into a comforting milky bedtime beverage, James and Moore say, latte drinkers reveal that while they may want to come across as hot shot contenders, they have an immature side.

The cappuccino drinker

What's not to like about the extroverted, optimistic cappuccino drinker? Like their drink, cappuccino drinkers are all froth and bubble, bored by detail and liking - but not obsessed with - material objects. "Freud would have a field day here," write James and Moore. "Cappuccino froth gives the tongue the mother of all workouts and is all to do with the physicality of the experience rather than the basic consumption of the beverage." The cappuccino drinker enjoys sex but is easily bored by an unimaginative partner.

The instant coffee drinker

These are cheerful, straight forward types, who like a laugh and live by the maxim "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". But instant coffee drinkers can be unadventurous in their careers and need to let others see the hidden depths in their personality. The no-nonsense instant coffee drinker is allergic to pretentious behaviour, say James and Moore, and they are likely to keep their socks on during sex.

The decaf soy milk drinker

A self-righteous eco-worrier and attention seeker with a tendency to be picky, fussy - and squeamish in the bedroom. What's more, this faux choice implies a pretentious, high-maintenance type who wants what they can't have and is disguising their true personality. "If caffeine gives palpitations and cow's milk brings you out in spots there's little hope for you in the cockroach society that is city dwelling", James and Moore conclude.

The frappucino drinker

Flighty and shallow, the frappucino drinker will try anything once - especially if a celebrity has done it first. They fancy themselves trend setters but send out the message that they are someone who favours style over substance. The frappucino drinker's relationships often last as long as their drink choice, according to James and Moore.

The non-coffee drinker

Unfortunately, the verdict isn't good. Frightened of coffee equals frightened of life, say James and Moore. If the taste of coffee puts you off you really are a child, they say, and it's time to join the world of grown ups. But there's hope.

"Twenty one days is all it will take to break your cycle of disgust and then you'll be back in the real world."

The You Code is published by Vermilion and will be released in March 2010.

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