But one coffee house has decided to go another route,  an eye opening route that will shake away the sleep from your eyes better than any double espresso — Topless coffee shop waitresses.

Yes, topless.  These brave young ladies  who will risk scalding hot coffee burns and the inevitable snickers that will arise from asking their patrons if they want cream with their coffee should not be vilified, but rather applauded for their courage to expand upon the arts in a way not done before in the U.S. of A.

As the Vassalboro Maine Planning Board considered this permit request, a few things they might consider…

• Great resource for Art Students – With the declining economy many colleges are forced to cut back on the models they have available for life drawing, college art professors could have field expeditions to this shop and kill two birds with one stone.
• Better Environment for the Elderly – Reduction in clothing equals increase in heating.  No longer will Grandpa be forced to shiver in a cold Starbucks.
• Its Green -  Such a store would reduce the need for certain adult publications, it would encourage local shopping and reduce paper consumption.  Bonus, bonus, bonus.

Whatever the result may be, I am fairly certain that the shop will not look like the place you see above, at least we can hope it won’t!

1/7/2009 Update - The permit has been approved.

]]> http://blog.brotherhoodofthebean.com/2009/01/06/topless-coffee-elderly/feed/ 6 http://blog.brotherhoodofthebean.com/2008/11/02/coffee-klatch-roast/ http://blog.brotherhoodofthebean.com/2008/11/02/coffee-klatch-roast/#comments Sun, 02 Nov 2008 15:24:19 +0000 Brotherhood of the Bean http://blog.brotherhoodofthebean.com/?p=278 The Coffee Klatch list of awards is impressive and long, and this year they add another to their already long list of accomplishments — Roast Magazine’s 2009 Micro Roast Winner!

If you are in the mood to try some time tested award winning coffee, head on over to the Coffee Klatch online store!

Past Awards…

• TOPS AWARDS
  (Given to only 35 coffee houses in the world)
• GOLDEN CUP
  (For excellence in coffee brewing)
• BEST COFFEE AND COFFEE HOUSE
  (Daily Bulletin)
• SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
  (IVEDC)
• UNITED STATES BARISTA CHAMPION
  (Heather Perry 2003, 2007)

During the latest Saturday Night Live, Starbucks did its best to tempt people get off their asses and vote on Tuesday with a simple message delivered in the soothing Starbucks colors:

“What if we all cared enough to vote?”

The better question is “Why don’t we all care enough to vote?” . Its something I have never understood, the apathy that so many people have for something so simple, yet so radically important. But that’s a question for another time.

The message ends with an offer —

“If you care enough to vote, we care enough to give you a free cup of coffee. You and Starbucks. It’s bigger than coffee.”

So there you have it, vote Tuesday and get some free drip coffee from Starbucks. As far as I can tell its an honor system, so I imagine some people will lie to just get some free coffee. But I imagine a certain percentage of people will go out and vote because of this offer of free coffee

The seven photos shown below represent a theme of Italian style, the montage is meant to take the viewer on a journey through Italy and focuses on the unique culture and lifestyle that is Italy.

The style of Lavazza’s “Italian Expresso Experience” Calendar is unmistakably European, its sophisticated elegance easily meshes with the Lavazza image.

Lavazza coffee/espresso is slowly becoming more popular in the U.S., why I never had the opportunity to visit the Lavazza that was briefly opened in my area (closed, chewed up and regurgitated as a Starbucks), its coffee is quite good from what I have heard from friends.

Trying to find a link to a store that carried this calendar is providing difficult, if anyone is able to find one, please post a comment and include the link!

]]> http://blog.brotherhoodofthebean.com/2008/10/31/lavazzaleibovitz/feed/ 2 http://blog.brotherhoodofthebean.com/2008/10/30/undercover-donut/ http://blog.brotherhoodofthebean.com/2008/10/30/undercover-donut/#comments Thu, 30 Oct 2008 23:58:33 +0000 Brotherhood of the Bean http://blog.brotherhoodofthebean.com/?p=257 The Valero Nice N Easy coffee and donut shop had an epidemic on their hands — Donuts were going missing, disappearing actually from under the manager’s noses.  Even the strong police presence in the shop which they kept strong by comping their coffee did little to deter the theft.

It was then that the manager’s decided to undertake their own private sting operation.  Through the use of high tech video surveillance hardware they managed to catch the crook on tape.   As soon as the trap was set, the thief was caught on camera.

Shock and outrage were no doubt felt when they reviewed the tape that first fateful night.  So rather than blow the whistles they waited, and collected more video evidence.

All in all 21 thefts were recorded, the $1.29 donuts brought the grand total to just under $30 stolen.  The culprit? A student? A homeless man? A bored suburban housewife trying to get her thrills with a little shoplifting?  Hardly.

The thief was none other than police officer Sgt. Steve Brody of Morrisville State College.  So much for serving and protecting.

“I was going to jump out of a cranberry scone, but maybe not.”

Bono went on to say that his appearance was even kept secret from the rest of his U2 band members. The cause for all of this hoopla was Starbucks’ decision to partner with (RED), a private organization that benefits AIDS programs in Africa.

(RED) was founded in 2006 by Bono and Bobby Shriver to benefit the Global Fund. The Global Fund, created in 2002, provides money to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. With approximately 4100 people dying daily in Africa from these diseases, the addition of Starbucks to the list of companies partnered with (RED) will result in lives being saved.

Starting November 27th through January 2nd, Starbucks will donate 5 cents to the Global Fund for each holiday beverage it sells. Following the holiday season Starbucks will designate certain products as (RED) of which similar donation be given from their sales.

Bono was quoted as saying:

“Here we are, talking about the economy tanking. People are saying, ‘Maybe the world doesn’t need more coffee houses.’ And what do you do? What does Starbucks do? You decide to give your money away. This is not charity. This is commerce.”

According to Starbucks, if every Starbucks customer bought one (RED) Holiday Exclusive (beverage) for a week 15,000 lives could be saved in Africa.

The question I raise, is this:

Drink Cost (Estimated $4 per Drink) x 7 = $28.00
Money Donated by Starbucks to (RED) = $.05 x 7 = $0.35

If $0.35 x All Starbucks Customers = 15 thousand lives saved
Then $28 x All Starbucks Customers = 1,200,000 million lives saved

I ask you, why not skip spending that money at Starbucks and just giving it all directly to (RED)? This kind of charity is sugar coated goodness, it doesn’t require one ounce of sacrifice, and when you consider that you are drinking an overpriced cup of coffee, its really quit sad.

Don’t get me wrong, I think the (RED) project should be commended for trying to help in whatever way it can, its the rest of humanities blind eye and dedication to self that I have a problem with, mainly because this kind of thing makes me realize how little I am doing. But then again, maybe that is a good thing.

The villain in the situation isn’t even the company that caused the access to be removed (T-Mobile).  The villain is Starbucks who failed to honor the exclusive contract that they had with T-Mobile.  Contracts! We don’t need no stinkin’ contracts.

The kicker is that the access is only available at U.S. Company owned Starbucks.  That equates to roughly 40% of all the Starbucks in existence.  Not the greatest odds, but better than before for sure.  So, what would this news mean for me?

Well nothing since I don’t have an iPhone, but in the interest of coffee I popped over to the Starbucks Wifi Locator Service and pulled up the store locations for my zip code that have wifi.   Bear in mind, that there are three Starbucks within 2000 yards of each other outside of my subdivision.

The results — “No Stores Found”.  Ah well.

Even the staunchest of independent coffee house supporters cannot argue that this is nothing but a good thing.  Starbucks is already the biggest importer of fair trade coffee which a lot of people don’t know.

According to Business Week, Starbucks’ move is:

… part of the company’s “Shared Planet” initiative to do business “responsibly,” the company has said, by focusing on areas such as volunteerism and going greener, including using recyclable cups and reducing water usage.

Starbucks will be working with two fair trade certification organizations (TransFair USA and the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International) in an effort to further the advancement of agricultural/environmental practices.

Investors reacted favourably to this announcement and Starbucks shares rose 6 cents to $9.65

According to the researchers at Lund University they found that drinking as little as three cups of coffee a day can have an impact on breast size.  The more coffee women drink, the bigger the effect on their breast size.

While this news will no doubt strike put many men and women into a panic, Lund University does believe that regular coffee intake can reduce the risk of breast cancer.

Fox News quoted Helena Jernstroem who said:

“Drinking coffee can have a major effect on breast size,” said Helena Jernstroem, a lecturer in experimental oncology at Lund University. “Coffee-drinking women do not have to worry their breasts will shrink to nothing overnight. They will get smaller, but the breasts aren’t just going to disappear.”

Faced with hundreds of choices and an olfactory overload walking through a coffee isle, many times a coffee choice comes down to the name that sounds the best.

When I first heard about “Bad Ass Coffee” I knew they had a name that would compel people to try their coffee.

I found myself instinctively wanting to buy it just to offer some bad ass coffee to my friends and family.

But like anything, what appeals to some infuriates others. That is the case in Arizona where a recently opened “Bad Add Coffee House” is causing quite the stir.

The Arizona Republic reports one such residents feelings:

“We all have small children . . . and we don’t want to swear around them,” Surprise mom Heather Sutton said. “Now, you drive down the street, and there’s a swear word on someone’s sign.”

Despite the fact that Bad Ass Coffee is based on a Hawaiian Legend, and used in the context to refer to a donkey, the collective wail to “Save the Children!” is being heard around the world (hey, it did make the internet).

Heather Sutton’s comments make me wonder if she understands that the word “ass” has another meaning other than its more derogatory reference to a derrière? Maybe this sign is a good opportunity for her and other residents to talk to their children, and teach them something about words with multiple meanings?

Some other words they might talk about could include — bitch (female dog), gay (happy), fag (cigarette), and why not touch upon the offending “ass” word while they are at it?

In the case of the “ass” word there is a great teaching guide they can use, its called the Holy Bible which uses this offending word seventy-six times (King James Version). Just how sensitive have we become as a society?

I have to say that I really enjoyed the Arizona Republic’s article. Apparently this is not the first time residents have responded to the word ass — Ass Kickin’ Hot Sauce has just learned to ignore the residents since coming to town in 1989.

Councilman Gary “Doc” Sullivan knows that this will not be the last time the residents get up in arms over a name, a dog grooming business has recently applied for a business license. Its name? Doggy Style.

Who knows, maybe it will invoke thoughts of Snoop Dog instead of its other meaning.