The last post here in the CocoaJava Cafe is from March - and it's now August. I think it's been apparent for some time that the Cafe's time has come and gone. There are SO many wonderful foodie blogs out on the web, with wonderfully specialized interests, and many of us have feeds to those. It's How Stuff Is Done these days. I like it and so do you!

I'm going to close down the CocoaJava Cafe in LiveJournal. I guess I will leave it up for reference and archival purposes, if anyone needs to tap back and see something, but from here on out, let's just pretend we turned the "Open" sign on the door around to "Closed".

Was a blast, kids! And remember, the website behind this notion, cocoajava.com is still alive and kicking!

Morning coffee good... morning coffee that reminds me why I should always have my camera even better.:)

There's a lot of really great latte art out there, but whether you love watching it being made or you actually want to try making some yourself, here are a few links to both entertain and educate.

Latte Art
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDZs__m5iAI
Creating art with latte coffee. (1,488,332 views!)

Montreal Caffe Art Java - Latte Dragon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggfTjfN8uVQ
What starts out looking like a swan turns into a dragon!
To see more Caffe Art Java, go to http://www.caffeartjava.com/artjava.html

Latte Art Printing Machine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjgVeJkdBn0
This latte art printing machine uses an x-y plotter and an inkjet cartridge filled with caramel food coloring to recreate the Starbucks logo.

Searching YouTube by "latte art alfredo" will get you a series of amazing latte art examples. Here are two of my favorites...

Ogon Pawia Alfredo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5Q7sJnXTJA

Tornado Alfredo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yfBSo2AObU

And of course, for Valentine's Day...

Latte Art Triple Heart
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Pp6qckhsX0
Triple heart poured by Scottie Callaghan World Latte Art Champ and 2007 Ausie Barista Champ.

YouTube is also a good source of help learning how to create latte art. Just search by "latte art how to" to see a range of instructional videos. But if you'd like more step-by-step instructions...

12 Steps to Latte Art
http://www.wholelattelove.com/articles/12_steps_to_latte_art.cfm
Step-by-step instructions on the basics of creating latte art.

How to Make Latte Art: 6 Steps (with video) - wikiHow
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Latte-Art
How to instructions, plus tips and a helpful video.

Love Latte Art? There's some wondrous stuff featured at Rate My Rosetta -- and if you log in, you can vote for your favorites and leave comments!

Have you seen the Starbuck's Instant Coffee Challenge?

There's a wee contest attached to this product rollout too, through November 10th. Details are below the video.

More info is in this story at CNN.

But MOST importantly - what do you think? And yes, I'm allowing light rants on the product. ;)

Here's an interesting bit of trivia I hadn't been aware of...

Caffeine is on the International Olympic Committee list of prohibited substances. Athletes who test positive for more than 12 micrograms of caffeine per milliliter of urine may be banned from the Olympic Games. This level may be reached after drinking about 5 cups of coffee.
-- Jeremiah's Pick Coffee Newsletter (http://www.jeremiahspick.com/)

You often hear about steroid abuse by athletes, but it turns out that even our friend caffeine is considered a substance that needs to be monitored and controlled. Back in 1962, the International Olympic Committee first enacted a restriction on caffeine, then dropped it from the list, and then restored the restrictions in 1984.

While it takes a fair amount of caffeine to exceed the limits, one enthusiastic Australian pentathlon competitor actually did become disqualified from the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

For more info about caffeine, check out this book...

The World of Caffeine: The Science and Culture of the World's Most Popular Drug
By Bennett Alan Weinberg, Bonnie K. Bealer
http://tinyurl.com/nhgcup
(this link takes you to Google Books)

giving credit to crucialities for posting it on ohnotheydidnt

'fresh coffee', a short film

the making of 'fresh coffee'

you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll probably be slightly confused... :-)

Thu Jul 23, 10:55 am ET

LONDON (AFP) – Scientists are looking for women willing to eat chocolate every day for a year -- all in the name of medical science.

Most of the women will have to eat two bars of "super-strength chocolate specially formulated by Belgian chocolatiers" daily for one year and undergo several tests to measure how healthy their hearts are.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/britainhealthoffbeat;_ylt=Arkav57rhXi1HS37HiT7GYQjr7sF

Hello friends, not trying to spam I swear! I wanted to share with you a yummy deal from Starbucks on July 21st! From opening time to 10:30 am receive a free pastry with your drink! Here's the printout!

www.starbucks.com/retail/free_pastry.html