Vancouver Coffee » Accessories

Coffee Cuffs

arieanna — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:24:54 +0000

Above is shown the Coffee Cuff, a coffee sleeve handmade from reclaimed architectural veneer offcuts. A green alternative to the waste generated from all the cardboard sleeves.

A great alternative for the eco-minded. Stylish too!

Via iltli ; Image: contexture.ca ; Tags: coffee cuffs, bentwood, design, coffee, coffee sleeve, recycled, eco friendly, eco, green

2008 Sketchtoon Coffee Calendar

ianiv — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 19:04:26 +0000

Check out this 2008 illustrated coffee calendar by Mike Rohde. It features several unique drinks from various areas of the world. You can see all the illustrations in this Flickr page, and if you like them you can buy the calendar from Cafepress.

Gold in your Coffee

arieanna — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 01:14:21 +0000

Japan’s Tsukioka Co. has created edible gold blocks to go in coffee. The "Kin Kirara" (Sparkly Gold) are thin, pure gold word and character blocks – Happy Birthday would set you back about $4

Via coolhunting

Valentine’s for Coffee & Tea Lovers

arieanna — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 23:01:09 +0000

I’ve stumbled across some great gifts for Coffee Lovers that are Valentine’s inspired – not just fun coffee gifts, but fun and lovable coffee gifts.

Inspiration: slashfood ; Tags: coffee, tea, valentine’s day, heart, hearts, valentine, valentines

Ceramic for Mix by Anna Gram

arieanna — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 20:23:52 +0000

The Ceramic for Mix is a design concept to eliminate the need for a spoon in hot drinks like tea or coffee.

The ceramic ball will stir your tea and makes a beautiful ringing sound as it goes around the glass. No need to remove the ball, it is encased in the ring of the glass and will not come out when you tip the glass to sip.

"Function creates an new gestural and aesthetic appeal."

Via Josh Spear

Barista Action Figure

arieanna — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 05:20:16 +0000

You know coffee is ingrained into our culture when Baristas appear as toys:

This BARISTA figure is named Nico. "She’s the barista who pours your morning espresso. No other barista in town makes a latte like Nico. Her beans are always freshly ground, she never tamps the filter basket too tight and her foam is perfect: thick and decadent, like a pillow of edible clouds. Each 5 inch tall hard plastic Barista Action Figure has moveable arms and legs and comes with two interchangeable heads and two different sized cups (tall and grande) that she can hold in her hand. Comes on an illustrated blister card with Nico’s history and other valuable information on the back."

I think I’ve seen it all now. And love the tattoo.

Tags: barista, coffee, coffee culture, barista toy, barista action figure, weird toys

Top 10 Gifts for Coffee Lovers

arieanna — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 18:17:17 +0000

With the holidays just around the corner, you might be planning your Christmas shopping. If you have a coffee lover on your gift list, here are some ideas for gifts we’d recommend.

Bodum Chambord 8-Cup Coffee Press – the cheapest, easiest and best way to make coffee at home.
Zassenhaus Coffee Grinder – better than most electric grinders in the same price range
Nissan 14-Ounce Leak-Proof Insulated Travel Mug – my favorite mug and most highly recommended product.
Bodum Pavina Double-Wall Thermo Glasses, Set of 2 – these are great to drink coffee at home on the weekend.
Chocolate coffee beans – they make a great stocking stuffer
Espresso 101 Barista Training DVD – for any aspiring coffee guru
Bodum Columbia Thermo Press – another fabulous way to make your coffee in a stylish Bodum
Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World – for those who want to feel the history of coffee
Braun WK600 Impressions 7-Cup Electric Kettle, Brushed Stainless Steel – the right water is essential to a good cup of coffee – good filtered water, just before the boil if you use a French Press
Aerolatte Original 18/8 Stainless Steel Frother with Stand, Chrome – for those latte lovers

And for those of you who can’t decide, there are always Amazon Gift Certificates to give your coffee lover the choice of which machines, gadgets or gizmos they want to buy.

Don’t forget that Online Shopping will be great on Monday – it will be “Cyber Monday” in the US, after “Black Friday”, so be ready for some great deals!

Tags: coffee, coffee lovers, coffee gadgets, bodum, gifts, christmas, holidays, gift ideas, top 10, top 10 gifts, shopping, online shopping, gadgets, kitchen

Make your own coffee pods

arieanna — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 00:52:32 +0000

I won’t admit to liking the coffee pod system since, well, I don’t. However, many many people like the convenience of it. So, for those of you, I present the Perfect Pod system.

The Perfect Pod Maker alows to to easily make your own pods using any coffee you like. So, you can choose a great roast, fresh, and make your pods in small batches. The machine will heat seal the pods, so no mess.

Makes pods for most brands, including Senseo, Melitta, Simple Human, Juan Valdez, Bunn Home Cafe, Bunn-o-matic, Mr. Coffee, Hamilton Beach, and more.

Via boing boing & popgadget

Tags: coffee pods, pod coffee, perfect pod, coffee, coffee machines

utiliTEA kettle review

ianiv — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 02:14:53 +0000

We’ve been using an electric kettle to boil our water when we want to drink coffee or tea. One of those that doesn’t even shut-off automatically, you have to pull the plug when you think the water is ready. So we started looking for a new kettle that would look nicer in the kitchen and would not burn the house down if we forgot to unplug it.

We looked in a few places: The Bay, Sears, various kitchen gadget stores. They all had the same stuff and the nice looking kettles where $90 minimum, so we gave up. That is until we wandered into a tea shop and saw the utiliTEA, a nice looking stainless steel kettle with temperature control.

The knob on the bottom allows you to control the water temperature when the kettle shutfs off. If you want to boild the water you crank it all the way to the right. On my kettle the middle setting heats the water to about 82C and the middle of the shaded area gives you about 92C. After some trial and error you can find out where the right setting is for whatever you are brewing: coffee, green tea, black tea.

The units are not calibrated so you have to use the kettle a few times to figure out where the temperatures are on your kettle, but it doesn’t take very long and the results are worth it. Compared to the other stainless steel kettles we saw the utiliTEA was about $20 cheaper at $70. And the other kettles didn’t have the temperature control.

Tags: water, kettle, review, utilitea

Popcorn machine coffee roaster

arieanna — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 01:31:41 +0000

Wanna know how to convert your popcorn machine into a coffee roaster? Well, I don’t but some may ;)

Anyway, if you think you can roast beans good enough for your taste, then hop on over to engadget for the step by step instructions. And be prepared – it looks like you’ll need to be quite specific about your parts and on how to put it together properly.

Caffeine Molecule Tshirt

arieanna — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 21:12:56 +0000

Check out this Caffeine Molecule Tshirt from Think Geek:

I’m not that much of a geek, though ;)

Via Arizona Coffee

Noix de Coco

arieanna — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 23:49:24 +0000

Noix de Coco – art by Silvia Vassileva, makes me want to run off and make a hot chocolate. Mmm.

Via morning coffee & afternoon tea ; Tags: chocolate, hot chocolate, art

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One more picture

ianiv — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 04:29:55 +0000

Another picture of the Bodum Assam glass:

What I got for Christmas

ianiv — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 04:06:45 +0000

One of the gifts Arieanna gave me this Christmas was a couple of Bodum Assam double-wall glasses. These 7 ounce glasses have a double wall of glass which helps keep your hot drinks hot and cold ones cold. The pictures I took are really bad and they don’t make justice to how nice the glasses look, the coffee seems to be floating, a nice effect. Another benefit of the double wall is that the outside of the glass wont sweat so it wont leave any marks on the table.

I don’t have any actual data, but I do think that the coffee stayed hot longer than when using our regular cups. The outter wall didn’t get hot, just a little warm, so it was easy to hold it comfortably. Thanks Arieanna!

Tags: bodum, assam, tea, coffee, espresso, glassware, glass

Tamper

arieanna — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 05:24:13 +0000

I will quite openly admit that I don’t know much about tamping, and tampers in specific. What makes one tamper better than the other? Not sure, want to research.

But as far as attractiveness goes, this one did catch my eye:

I also think I’m partial to ones that are more natural looking – you know, wood or steel or things like that. Granted, I’d need one seriously high end espresso machine to warrant this puppy, but maybe it’d be an appropriate decorative piece given our passion.

Via kitchen contraptions

Tags: tamper, tamping, espresso, coffee, gadgets

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Coffee for your lips

arieanna — Wed, 26 Oct 2005 02:13:28 +0000

Not everyone drinks coffee for the caffeine – some want the taste. For those coffee lovers, here is a treat for you. Perk lip balm from Crazy Rumors :

Perk varieties available in Amaretto, French Vanilla, Mocha, Hazelnut, Coffee Beans, and Irish Cream.

Our irresistible Lip Lattes™ are sure to awaken your senses. We’ve combined some of the most enticing aromas with nature’s finest ingredients, which will leave your lips super soft, protected and feeling splendid. Made with Vitamins A & E, Shea Butter and Natural Coffee Flavors, they’re sure to please the inner coffee lover in you.

Tea flavours also available.

Via SheFinds

Travel French press…real life field test

ianiv — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 18:28:09 +0000

I was in Vancouver yesterday and my portable French press came with me–of course! I also found the website for the company–PlanetaryDesign–though the style I have doesn’t seem to be available any more–coffee storage in the bottom. So how did it perform? Very well. It started off with regular coffee and the regular lid–the mug holds almost a full four cup pot, btw–and as you would expect it kept the coffee warm for a good long time.

Later in the afternoon, when I needed a nice pick me up, I pulled out my little reseviour of Rhumba, heated some water, and press-to1! Coffee! Usually, I have to say, I’m not a fan of French press coffee black., but this was okay. Next time I’ll make sure the water is quite hot and add some milk before I put the plunger lid on.

A good travel mug for sure!

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Furry Coffee Cozies

arieanna — Tue, 11 Jan 2005 23:14:15 +0000

I have to admit I am becoming more of a coffee lover every day. And this might just push me even further into the coffee craze. Faux fur coffee cozies. I want one! I don’t think I want to foot the bill for one from the UK, maybe I’ll check ebay. I wonder if it would fit around my Nissan Thermos…