Gigabiting

roasted and unroasted coffee beans image via Smithsonian.com
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Customers have long complained that Starbucks coffee tastes burnt. Apparently, the company has been listening. Maybe a little too well. Starbucks is rolling out a new beverage made from unroasted, green coffee beans.

What, you might ask, does unroasted coffee taste like? According to Starbucks’ vice president of global beverage Julie Felss Masino, “It’s coffee that doesn’t taste like coffee.” In fact, the company refers to the green coffee extract as ‘flavor neutral.’ It also doesn’t have a coffee aroma, and contains a mere fraction of the caffeine. And the point of this new beverage is…? Read entire article.

      image via R2 Thoughts 4 You
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We’re having a national senior moment.

Baby boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964, are a demographic time bomb. Making up nearly one-third of the population, they’ve reached the age of memory loss, slowed reflexes, and synaptic glitches. That’s 75 million boomers that can’t remember what they went upstairs for.

Brain foods really work.

In the same way that a low cholesterol diet can keep plaque from forming in arteries, there are foods that can keep plaque from forming in your brain. You can unclog your cognitive functions just like you can unclog your arteries. Read entire article.

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Iced coffee is expected to rack up yet another season of double-digit sales increases.

The big boys are tripping over each other with new product launches as each tries to cash in on our growing affinity for iced versions of our favorite beverage. Dunkin’ Donuts, Starbucks, and McDonalds will be going head-to-head this summer, each with its own frozen-dark-roasted-choice-of-flavored-syrup-blended-ginormous renditions. Read entire article.

image courtesy of Cocobean

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Do you have a child named Joe? Get your minimum daily requirement of calcium from half and half? Have a line item for coffee in your budget? Do you think maybe you drink too much coffee?

How much coffee is too much coffee?

The medical community tells us that we should limit our caffeine intake to 200 – 300 mg. a day, or about two cups of coffee.

A little coffee is a good thing. Caffeine stimulates the central nervous system, alleviates fatigue, and increases wakefulness. It increases strength and endurance in athletes. Coffee is full of antioxidants that reduce risks of certain diseases like type-2 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and some forms of cancer. It’s been linked to lower rates of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. There are fewer suicides among coffee drinkers. Read entire article.

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Giving new meaning to the question Would you like whipped cream on that?

Seattle is well known as the first city of coffee. Starbucks and Seattle’s Best both got their start there. The city consistently ranks first in the U.S. for coffee consumption. Now Seattle might again break new ground as the first municipality to outlaw bikini baristas. Read entire article.

image courtesy of flickr

Remember 2007?

Unemployment was low and the Dow was high. We were mainlining energy drinks— $7 billion worth— just to keep up. If the party wasn’t stopping then neither were we.

These days, we’re all frazzled nerves. We’re looking to be soothed. We need something to bring us down from the ledge of our own anxiety. Read entire article.