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The Coffee That Keeps You Going and Going. Vietnamese facility caught producing coffee from used batteries​ - Tuoi Tre News

 And you thought antifreeze added to Riunite wine was bad? Ha!

Vietnamese facility caught producing coffee from used batteries​ - Tuoi Tre News:

"Tuoi Tre News Society
Vietnamese facility caught producing coffee from used batteries​
Their ‘coffee’ ingredients included D batteries, dirt and rock dust

By Tuan Son / Tuoi Tre News Wednesday, April 18, 2018, 11:05 GMT+7

An officer inspects a coffee production facility owned by Nguyen Thi Loan in Dak Nong Province in the Central Highlands region of Vietnam. Photo: Police

A family-run coffee production establishment in Dak Nong Province in the Central Highlands of Vietnam has been caught red-handed producing coffee from harmful materials.

Dak Nong Police said on Tuesday they were finalizing case files to prosecute those involved in the operations of a local facility that produced ‘dirty’ coffee.

The facility, owned by Nguyen Thi Loan, was raided by police and food inspectors on Monday afternoon following reports from locals of their suspicious activities.

During the raid, authorities discovered tons of finished coffee as well as raw materials used in production, including 35 kilograms of black powder taken from used D batteries and a bucket of blackish water weighing around ten kilograms.

According to Loan, her workshop bought rejected coffee beans from large facilities at a cheap price, ground and mixed them with other materials including dirt and rock dust, then used the black powder found inside D batteries to ‘dye’ the mixture to produce finished products."

'via Blog this'

Delightful Coffee - Some Ideas

When we raised bunnies, we were given bunnies all the time.
Now I get coffee graphics, which I love, 
and lots of good books to share.

There are various ways to make coffee:

1. The aluminum percolator was once the norm. Given the quality of coffee, that was sufficient.
2. Mr. Coffee came up with a drip maker that cooked the coffee, making it undrinkable in short order. But it was a roaring success.
3. French Press is a great way to make a small amount of very good coffee, but the victim has to get that impacted set of grounds out of the end of the press. Breaking a French Press glass tube is very easy.
4. My mother had the vacuum pot method, which all the kids loved to watch.

But now there is a simple, low-tech way to make wonderful coffee and enjoy the experience, with easy clean-up. This is all we do now, because our Black and Decker drip coffee maker was very old. I tossed it to remove any temptation. Yes, I know they make drills, etc, but it was a pretty good coffee maker.

Pour-Over Coffee
This requires a goose-neck water heater and a pour-over contraption, coffee filters, a bean grinder, and freshly roasted beans. Perfectionist also use a scale to weigh the beans. The better grinders are burr grinders.




Mrs. Ichabod got a little pour-over contraption at the store, and that works fine. I bought some cone paper filters. We get freshly roasted beans, which are hard to find at most grocery stores.

I am still learning some fine points, but these are the major considerations:

• Coffee begins to degrade as soon as the beans are ground, so everyone should start with grinding just before brewing. If freshly roasted beans can be obtained, then that is an important step up.
• The water really matters too. I use private label water, better known as Walmart water. Sam's Club water bottles are the perfect amount for us to get two mugs from the pour-over.
• Using a filter in a pour-over means the grounds can be tossed into the garden with the paper diaper. Coffee grounds are very good for the soil, and that does add up over time. One reader gets hundreds of pounds of grounds from Starbucks. Some coffee shops are glad to share them. Earthworms adore coffee grounds.

We Have Learned - 

Any coffee made from a pour-over will be far better than the product of a typical coffee brewer. 

Coffee should be enjoyed immediately after the pour-over, but if some remains and reaches room temperature, the flavor can be enjoyed all over again. Luke-warm is not good. Cold or hot - very good.

Company enjoys watching the pour-over and learning about how it works. The bloom is fun, with various details open for discussion on the Internet.

I did not obtain a scale because we found a good measuring place on our grinder. That has worked well.

Roasts in typical coffees are nothing like freshly roasted and ground pour-over coffee. I never liked commerical dark roast coffee. Now I enjoy the variations in roasts. Dark roast can be excellent.

Teacher's lounge coffee in the past -
now they have Mr. Coffee doing the same thing.

Coffee To Wake Up the Gardener and Garden

Today I was talking to a coffee expert on using coffee grounds in the garden. I used some extra coffee on some new plants and saw good results, especially with rainwater added. I began adding more used coffee grounds on other plants that needed attention.

My Crepe Myrtle twigs have various heights. The tallest receives regular rainwater and coffee grounds. In the front, the tallest is at the bottom of the slope and the shortest at the top. Today, the light went on. Although Crepe Myrtles are drought tolerant and sun-loving, any plant at the top of the slope will get less water than at the bottom. In fact, the back yards drain down where the myrtles are lined up in a row, the bottom one getting the best runoff and a big of soil as a bonus.

The rescue operation will consist of more grounds for the shortest myrtles, plus extra stored rainwater.

Benefits of Coffee Grounds
No, I do not think coffee grounds will drive slugs away and do other magical tricks. But the grounds are organic sponges, a convenient way to lighten the soil and add some nitrogen material.

I am more interested in their contribution to lightening and hydrating the soil. Coffee grounds as mulch on top of the soil will be pulled down by earthworms, contributing to water infiltration and the conversion of the grounds to castings.

Earthworms alone have a powerful effect on the soil, by tunneling, sweetening the soil with their Caltrate glands, adding nitrogen waste, and leaving their castings, which are considered the best of all fertilizer. Although they seem too tiny to make a difference, the earthworms on one acre of land add up to a one-ton creature moving a ton of soil every day.

To hold water longer for each myrtle twig on the slope, and to improve the soil below, I will add more grounds, dried leaves and grass around each plant. The initial effort will hold moisture in the soil. The long-term effect is to leaven the clay soil with organic material and to increase  microbe activity. Earlier I thought the wood mulch was having an anti-nitrogen effect, because wood absorbs nitrogen as it rots, then gives it up again. That may still be true, but the ability of the backyard myrtle to absorb water and grow made me think of the regular doses of rainwater turning that one plant into a champion when all the others were planted at the same time. And they varied by their position on the slope.

Plants have to be given their due, since each has different Creation gifts. Even the roses vary in what they like and tolerate. I failed with one Chaste Tree when I watered it all the time and left it in semi-shade. That is one bush that wants lots of sun, no water added, and enjoys pruning. I cut the Chaste Tree drooping branches, placed it in the sun, and banned all watering near it. The plant responded with health and steady growth.

This crisis reminded me of the couple whose roses, planted at the top of a small hill on their property, did not grow well. I said, "You planted them in the driest spot in your yard. Water drains downhill." One was a chemical engineer. He said, "Oh."

The myrtle fence was planned to keep some neighbor kids off the rose garden. It worked, because the family moved away.

Free Plants - Some of the Best Around
Our Army Ranger friend really liked the roses I gave him for the cemetery. He especially likes the Veterans Honor rose - glowing red, fragrant, long-lasting.

"Where did you get yours?" I said, "From the Net, but I can grow some on potatoes." He was startled, even though he had worked in landscaping. (Every time he has a landscaping story, it is enhanced by the toxic chemicals he handled - all very effective. I nod in agreement.)

I will root roses and some other plants in potatoes - by drilling holes in the spuds. A rooting compound is supposed to help, so I will try that. The cane goes into the potato and forms roots. The potato is planted in the soil, possibly in a pot before transferring it to the garden. The potato provides moisture and food for the new plant.

Elderberries Ten Feet Tall
Almost Eden sold me two Elderberry plants last year, and they grew and formed fruit. This year they grew much taller and formed even larger berry umbrellas.

I found a plant that grows faster than weeds and spreads, too. Like Blackberries, the Elderberries sprout along runners. I may have botched the transplant, but I took some sprouts and moved them deeper into the Wild Garden, to make an attractive, green, bird-feeding screen.

 Photo source.

Where's the Coffee? - A Good Sign

The first words I heard this morning - "Is there coffee?" Chris has been feeling good since surgery, but even better this morning.

The last great effort to capture Vienna - and possibly Europe - was turned back by a Polish general, Sobieski. The defeat of Ottoman forces was so great that the threat against Europe ceased at that point.

But more important to coffee drinkers, the coffee beans left behind introduced Vienna to the brewing of the roasted beans, and the Vienna coffee house was born.

A second great turning point was the imposition of tea taxes on the American colonies by the British government. The Boston Tea Party inspired opposition against British taxes and laws, leading to American independence. Thus Americans began favoring coffee while the Canadians remained loyal to their tea.

My father insisted on the best coffee at his bakery and donut shop. We threw away coffee older than 15 minutes, since coffee sitting on a burner is quickly demolished. We even blended the coffees in advance, combining Maxwell House with Yuban.

Even at home we had the quaint and seldom used vacuum system. The water was boiled and the top attached. We loved seeing the water drawn up and then filling the glass container below.

The French press is similar, with arm power used to push the grounds to the bottom of the cylinder where coffee grounds and hot water mix. That does make a very good coffee, but in smaller amounts.

The total negation of good coffee was this abomination in the olden days:

• Start with cheap Robusta beans, already ground, in a tin can.
• Use tap water in an aluminum percolator.
• Percolate until the coffee aroma in the kitchen provides an illusion of coffee in the aluminum pot.
• To disguise the flavor or lack thereof, add sugar and cream, or better - a powdered mix that makes the coffee more tolerable.

Starbucks invented the $4 cup of coffee by adding a fake cream and sweeteners to their cold brewed coffee. People caught on to the folly of paying $4 for ten cents worth of coffee, so the corporation is not doing so well.

How Does This Apply To Theology?

For some of us, the analogy is clear. Everyone welcomed coffee in America as a substituted for British tea. According to one story, peaberry was popular because housewives roasted their own green beans in frying pans. The round beans were easier to roast, and naturally they ground their own beans.

Convenience led people to accept worse and worse coffee, the dreaded church coffee leading the list of bad brews percolated and heated forever. Restaurant coffee was often no better. As long as people were used to this, they were passive and obedient in accepting the substitute.

When people are introduced to Luther's sermons and to the clear Gospel of the Lutheran Reformation, they lose their apathy and begin to enjoy again the best of Christianity.

Likewise, if enough people, laity and pastors, know Greek, they are unlikely to accept the horrid mess of the NIV, which is eagerly sold by the "conservative" Lutherans. 

Rejecting the NIV has been a reason for kicking out pastors in the WELS for decades, when that action should have resulted in kicking out the DPs and the low-IQ professors of Mordor. Once the WELS cult members got used to the abuse and accepted the classic NIV, which was bad enough, the entire cult adopted the disastrous New NIV. The newest NIV makes Professor Kloha seem to be another Martin Luther in comparison (but only in comparison). 

Coffee - Better and Cheaper at Home

The congregation in Sturgis had an idea about the coffee left in the urn. "You could warm it up to drink during the week,"

Instead of taking up that frugal suggestion, I made my own coffee. Reheated, percolated coffee left in an aluminum urn was not my culinary fantasy.

At Melo-Cream I was always happy to go down to the coffee barrel where the Yuban coffee was kept. My father mixed Maxwell House and Yuban, used a drip coffee maker, and insisted on keeping coffee no longer than 15 minutes.

The favor of coffee is mostly in the aroma, so drinking it fresh is the key to enjoying it. Here are some key steps in making delicious coffee.

Pure Water
The water has to have its off-flavors filtered out. We use a tap filter for that. Otherwise, the coffee competes with the flora and fauna of the lake water we get on tap. I would get spring water and use that ($1 gallon) if I had to.

Fresh
The freshness of the coffee grounds will make an enormous difference. I stopped grinding it each time because the early morning or late night sounds were like gravel being ground up, and the results were uncertain. I put in too much in one batch or two and had truly awful coffee, too weak or too strong.

But we keep the coffee sealed up tightly in sealed containers, one from Gevalia, which we no longer buy. They used to offer wonderful coffee storage devices, and we still have one for the favorite variety of the day. We got a free one each time we tried Gevalia, every six months, so we did, and kept the jar. Alas we only have one jar left.

Now the free offers are for one measuring spoon, so I have two spoons I keep, and I keep track of the amounts used for a good pot of coffee.

Let us pause and consider cost. A large Starbucks cup of coffee is $2 plain. Their fancy concoctions are $4 and up, $24 a gallon, if you take 6 x the 20 ounce cup! Starbucks' plain coffee is one step above restaurant coffee, two steps above church coffee.

High quality coffee is $2 per 10-cup pot at home. The cost is even lower with premium grocery store coffee. Gevalia is found at Walmart and is fairly good. Some other brands can be found there too, and many favored ones as well.

K-cups are more costly per pound but convenient with a large group of people wanting fresh coffee - or hot cocoa - at various times. I was converted Keurig in Seattle, of all places, but the numbers are not favorable for beginning the day with a pot of fresh coffee.

I like Boca Java for several reasons. They have every possible kind and flavor of coffee, and they roast it once the order is in. Therefore, the coffee is quite fresh and the choices nearly reach infinity. They have the best flavored coffees, which are always risky. Most flavored coffees have a bad after-taste and a tendency to be bitter when made. That does not matter when balanced with 50% sweetener and fake cream, as the Starbucks customers know.

The only Boca Java flavors I enjoy are Blueberry and Chocolate Hazelnut. Nevertheless, the other attempts at flavoring are pretty good. I can make perfect cinnamon coffee by shaking some cinnamon on the coffee grounds before making the pot. Others do the same thing. It reminds me of apple sauce with cinnamon at the store. I remembered my mother doing that on her own, not picking it out at Geifman's store.

Roasts vary the flavor and the caffeine content. The light roasts are higher in caffeine and lighter in flavor. Dark, French, and Expresso roasts are not my cup of tea.

The Machine
Our previous drip-maker was a Mr. Coffee that emptied into a thermo-carafe. That wore out after six years. Their latest model  was panned in the Net so I looked around and settled on a Black and Decker thermo-carafe.

This maker is easy to fill and works very well. My only problem is the clock blinking 12:00 all day long, but I ignore that.

---

Alec added -

Hi Greg,

RE: your post on coffee, you write:

"The Machine...
My only problem is the clock blinking 12:00 all day long, but I ignore
that."

An easy solution, worth the 2 minutes, is to cut a piece of black
gaffer's tape or equivalent and cover up the blinking 12:00.  If you cut
neatly, the black tape may actually look better than the clock.

Alec

---

Coffee Varieties
The most expensive is Jamaica Blue Mountain, half the crop used for coffee liquor, a terrible waste. Boca Java must have made tons for Father's Day, because they sold it cheap afterwards. Otherwise, it is something like $50 a pound.  JBM is mellow but has a good flavor at the same time. If I had a choice between JBM and Kona, I would take Kona.

Kona is from Hawaii and combines a great flavor with smoothness. Often a coffee will get a bit much after a few cups, but Kona is so smooth that overdosing is likely. Fortunately, the high cost of $40 a pound will prevent that problem. I bought some on sale at Boca Java - and wow.

We favor light and medium roast coffee. Some come from on location, like Costa Rican and Kona, and JBM.

Another benefit of regular Boca Java ordering is their free sample. One two-ounce packet is offered free each time, so we have tried Banana Foster (a slight chocolate flavor with bananas), Maple Bacon (noping that one), and types with coconut in the background. Since coconut is so easy to obtain now, an artificial coconut flavor in coffee is not choice. Now I am more likely to pick various roasts, but they snagged me with Chocolate Hazelnut.

Amendments
I used to make my own whipped cream to add to coffee, a slippery slope. Sometimes the old cup would be found in the basement, with howls of outrage coming from Little Ichabod, Mrs. Ichabod, or both.

The coffee aisle at Walmart is heavenly, because the coffee aromas are mixed with the artificial cream fragrance. Bending down into a case of half-pound coffees in bags, I thought about the old coffee barrel at Melo-Cream.

However, I would never put those artificial powders and cremes in my coffee. Whipped cream is off the menu for obvious reasons. I could easily finish a bowl off, but that is not wise.

The only amendment approved by the Melo-Cream Little Chef is Cream of Coconut, which is found in the mixed drink aisle of stores. How do I know, with my aversion to drinking alcohol? One customer came looking for it at the Neighborhood Market and the assistant manager directed us to the cubby hole for beer and liquor. On display was Cream of Coconut, used  for pina coladas. The concoction, made of coconut juice, coconut oil, and sugar, is perfect on desserts (like pineapple) and also good for taking the bitterness from a cup of coffee made a little too strong. The bottle is not expensive, a few dollars, and lasts a long time without refrigeration.

Combat typos - start the day with coffee.