Chop Lickin' Latte!

Better than finger lickin' good! Sushi is giving her sign of absolute approval to that latte!
Which won out, the toy or the latte? It's a dog's life...she got BOTH!

COOL Coffee VIDEOS!

I have discovered a really cool thing and added it to my blog for you all to enjoy---- just scroll ALL the way down and click on the You Tube Video Box and you will see video clips of coffee related stuff!!! COOL!

Meanwhile, any of you that may have any cute clips of your OWN coffee stuff and you want them posted, send 'em over to me! I encourage you to include your pets of course....so they can be an official Coffee Critter too!!!

Hope you are having a WONDERFUL week!

Latte to go, please! Brew the perfect cup of java at home!

Here is this morning's latte, in a to go cup. You can get these insulated paper cups with caps at your local grocery store now. I re-use them to save money and it is better for the environment, too! So, it is ABSOLUTELEY cheaper to make your own lattes at home! Or brewed coffe, whichever you choose! And the quality is SO much better, too! YUM!

For those of you wanting to get a better cup at home, here are some tips:

1. Use PURE WATER!
Yes-----use filtered water if possible!

2. Make sure you get A GOOD GRIND! It is absolutely IMPERATIVE to grind JUST before

brewing! This WILL improve your coffee! If possible, use a burr grinder!

3. Use HOT water---make sure it is around 200 degrees! Most home drip breweres do NOT

achieve this! You can boil the water and pour it thru your brewer, or try a french press.

4. Use FRESH beans! Beans lose flavor RAPIDLY after they are roasted. In fact, the flavor

changes dramatically form the roast over the first few days, often peaking in complexity

around days 5-10. After that they go DOWN HILL!!! Most people are amazed to discover

this. A great reason to find FRESH roasted beans and see what you have been missing!

Or, better yet: try roasting them yourself! I will have tips for doing this soon, so stay tuned!

Bittie's Beddie can't Beat the Beans!

Wow! Even Patience---aka "Bittie"---can't resist the temptation of Lisabeeen's Homeroasted Beans! She doesn't easily come out of her bed, can you tell? Patience lives in Vermont and yes, there HAS been good reason to stay in bed this week----LOTS of cold weather!

Thanks to Bittie for being today's Coffee Critter!

Coffee and YOGURT???

Not such a strange combo after all~ Sure, you can buy it already made, OR you could make it BETTER and use your favorite yogurt (my ALL time favorite is Hawthorne Valley Farms yogurt--PURE heaven on earth!) and add your favorite coffee (my favorite lately is Idido Misty Valley~ YUM!). You can add texture by grinding finely and just putting a teaspoon in!

Life IS good!

We're famous!

We got featured on the COVER page of Foodcandy! Check it out here:
http://www.foodcandy.com/

Coffee Critters ROCK!!!

Kitty's got her purrrfect Koffee Kup!

Have you ever heard the saying that sometimes pets look like their cups? hehe

Thanks to Nimue, from Florida, for allowing us to see her coffee cup!

Thanks to Jenn and Roberto for the terrific pic! Jenn is the Leftover Queen herself! You can visit her awesome blog here: http://www.leftoverqueen.com/

While Nimue may be nice and warm, it is COLD in Vermont this morning! Perfect day for a second latte! Hope this finds you all nice and toasty!

;D

Happy MLK Day!

A whole lotta latte love is happenin' HERE! Pele is hoping to get his tongue in the cup, for sure!

Hope you are having a great day! More clues will be coming soon, so stay tuned!

What is your favorite coffee?

If I have to get some coffee out and about my favorite is definitely Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. I generally do not drink flavored coffees....but they offer a seasonal eggnog flavored coffee that I just ADORE! And, speaking of eggnog, Starbucks makes an eggnog latte seasonally as well that is really good! Real eggnog is in it! If it is not winter, well......all the more reason to stick to my own coffee at home!

By the way, in case you didn't realize: Paul Newman's Own coffees are roasted by Green Mountain, AND McDonald's also serves it!

I have heard that McDonald's is going to start seving espresso drinks like Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts does, with automatic machines. Anyone try it yet? I suppose if you are desperate and have the money it will do! Yep---i am spoiled now, thanks to my Rancilio S27 espresso machine and my homeroasted beans! But, I am saving a LOT of money while drinking the best stuff! Can't beat THAT!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

TGIF!

WooHOO!!!!

The weekend is HERE! Time to roast some more beans, pull some more nice shots of espresso and some yummy latte art, and have some tasty relaxing FUN!

Here is another clue in the Coffee Treasure hunt:

Tell me where coffee originated and you will be closer to winning some coffee from Lisabeeen!

(Hint: this origin is my personal FAVORITE!)

Wishing you all a fun weekend full of yummy coffee!

Lisabeeen Homeroasted Coffee: Taco and the coffee from Hell#comments

Lisabeeen Homeroasted Coffee: Taco and the coffee from Hell#comments

Lisabeeen Homeroasted Coffee: How do YOU take your coffee?#comments

Lisabeeen Homeroasted Coffee: How do YOU take your coffee?#comments

Lisabeeen Homeroasted Coffee: A bean in hand~#comments

Lisabeeen Homeroasted Coffee: A bean in hand~#comments

A bean in hand~

A bean in hand is fine but a handful that will make an espresso ROCKS!

Number one myth about espresso: that there is such a thing as an espresso BEAN! Nope! Espresso is an extraction method, NOT a roast type! A lot of people think you need a very dark roasted bean to make a good espresso---WRONG again! You can make it with any level roast and enjoy a tremendous variability in tastes! This is perhaps what I enjoy the MOST about home roasting: I can try different levels of roast as espresso, and as drip, or in a moka pot, or press pot, or ANY method- and get to see how different the flavors are with the different roasts and brew methods! What delicious FUN!

So, how do YOU extract your coffee? Lisabeeen wants to know!

We ALL scream for Lisabeeen!

This is a marmoset monkey and it REALLY needs some caffeine! or DOES it? Nope! It drinks Lisabeeen's DECAF! Well, it would if it could!


Hope you are all having a wonderful week so far! Stay tuned for the next clue in the Treaure Hunt!

Pet Flavored COFFEE?!?!

Pet Flavored COFFEE!
WHAT?!?
Well, sort of... Fetch Ave is a business that caters to pet lovers and you can get coffee from them that has attributes that we often ascribe to breeeds of animals. SO, for example, you can order the Dachsund Coffee as described in the pic here.

A very cute idea! You can visit Fetch Ave by clicking the link at the bottom of this blog. Tell them Lisabeeen sent you! ;D

How do YOU take your coffee?

One of the most popular questions asked of peoplekind!
Well, I really want to KNOW!

From BLACK, to cream and sugar....and everything in between! I especially would like to hear about weird stuff-----I mean, what are some of the strangest ways you've taken it? (Listen now, doesn't it sound like I am talking about drugs? WELL folks, caffeine certainly IS a drug! But that's not what this post is about----it's about the combinations of coffee and all the other stuff we like to drink WITH it!

To get us rolling here I will tell you about one of my weirdest combos:
Years ago while living in Albany, New York I remember making up a real nice Molson and Haagen Daz float.......YEP.....TRUE! It actually tasted GOOD! (Shocking, and very difficult to believe, i know...) What does this have to do with COFFEE? Well, after drinking THAT i cwertainly needed a cup of coffee and I rememebr EXACTLY how i had it, too----funny how these memories of weirdity become forever ingrained in your brain--- I brewed up some freshly ground beans from the Daily Grind to which i had added a sprinking of cinnamon and one frozen Hershey's Kiss from my freezer, yep, right into that cute little whilry blade grinder it all went! And the there it is!
Weird? Perhaps! Tasty--um, yeah!!!

SO come on folks, let's hear YOUR coffee combo stories! WE won't judge you harshly...and maybe you will inspire us right into some new coffee adventure!

Kitty Kards and Koffee~

Here is the Coffee Critter of the day!
It's Savannah, who uses coffee to help her "poker face"!

Lucy is a real sniffer........

Lucy is sniffing for Lisabeeen COFFEE BEANS wrapped as a gift! Proving beyond a doubt that it IS true that pigs are REALLy smart!


Lucy is so smart, she always rememebrs to cast her vote for lisabeeen AND she has written a review about Lisabeeen on the Foodbuzz Foodie Site!

SO, what better time than now to begin the new Lisabeeen Coffee Lover's Contest!
Here it is folks:
A virtual coffee treasure hunt! I will provide clues frequently that will point to little "treasures" on the web. Your job is to collect the little "treasures" and the winners at the end will be the ones who collect the most--in the event of a tie I will allow MY little coffee critters to pick the winner(s). Did i say winnerS? Yes! There will be 3 prizes at the end, to be announced soon!

So get your coffee sniffer going real good and start looking for the first little "treasure"!

When you find it email me with its URL and you will be on your way to winning!

Clue #1:
Lisabeeen finds out about the BEST coffees in the world from an online business that is so "sweet" it should be really easy to sniff out here on this blog!

Koda is too KOOL!

This pooch REALLY knows what to do on a day like today when it hits the 60's in Vermont in January! Get out the Harley!!!

I am told that "Koda is waiting by her HD cup for her Lisabeen coffee.
Koda is in charge of Rick and Linda from Cape Cod MA"


Way to go Koda!

Gizmo Gives it a GO!

Here is Gizmo's recipe for the brew she is enjoying out of her lovely mug:
"Fresh ground beans, a little chocolate, a stick of cinnamon and a dab of whipped cream. Ole! Life is good."

Gizmo is the proud owner of Jim and Joanie, in New York state
Thanks Gizmo~

Ben yells for coffee!

This Coffee Critter lives with ME! This is Ben----he adores a good latte! And when he DOESN'T get it--the toys PAY!

I am scheming up a cool contest that I will post about soon. A sort of coffee treasure hunt...Meanwhile:

Hope you are all having a terrific Sunday!

Taco and the coffee from Hell

Here is Taco wishing you all a wonderful weekend and hoping you all DON'T have the coffee from hell! (Apparently Taco ran out of Lisabeeen's Mexican Beans and is having a tad of an adjustment issue...) I wonder what she put in that cup with her coffee, anyway?

THANKS to Lisa and Cindy for the GREAT pic of Taco!

New Year's Resolutions with flair~

Here's a few resolutions that could be on every coffe drinkers list for 2008:

I resolve to eat healthier---this includes drinking a cappucino with steamed one percent milk instead of the cream that used to go in my morning coffee!

I resolve to drink some decaf coffee---and naturally decaffeinated at that!

I resolve to drink coffee grown with respect to the environment and to the farmers and families who depend on it for their livelihood!


Luckily, these are easier to achieve than ever! Just order some coffee from Lisabeeen and you are well on your way! And send me some pics of you enjoying your morning brew, however you decide to brew it!

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2008!

I hope the beginning of the year finds you safe and warm! It sure is COLD here in Bennington---WOW!!!! It's a great day for a few extra pulls of espresso and pours of latte art!

I am looking forward to expanding my site in 2008 and would love to hear from YOU about all-things-coffee that interest you! So please email me with coffee links, your own stories, any questions you have about coffee...really, ANYTHING coffee related!

And mostly: HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

P.S.: That is really a COFFEE, not a Guinness, that the pup is about to enjoy...
And, BTW: it is NOT Patience! Sure looks a lot like her, tho!

:D