Tony Hillerman’s characters solve mysteries over coffee in The Wailing Wind.

Daily, 150 million Americans drink about three cups of coffee.  Join the crowd, join the celebration and make one New Year’s resolution and reap the benefits all day, all year long.

Be Merry

Drinking a delicious cup of freshly brewed wonderful coffee improves coffee drinkers mental health.  Just inhaling the rich aroma has a positive effect of boosting your mood.

Be Healthy

Savoring two or three cups of coffee each day may lower the risk of developing Type 2Diabetis.  A cup of Joe counters the disease’s onset by lowering the blood sugar and promoting delivery of insulin to the blood stream.  Coffee is loaded with antioxidants that seem to improve the body’s sensitivity to insulin.  But—and here’s coffeesnobology’s caveat:  moderation is key.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/coffee-and-health/AN01354

Be Wise

Brew a cup of jolt to jumpstart your brainpower.  Cognitive performance and short term memory is improved while sipping, and that’s a Java truism every college student pulling an all-nighter lives by.

As one coffee enthusiast remarked “If you want to improve your understanding, drink coffee; it is the intelligent beverage.”  www.cocoajava.com

Huffington Post offers more grounds to join the caffeinated party.  Drink up!  Be merry, healthy and wise in 2012.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/31/coffee-health-benefits_n_1064577.html

check it out at www.konabrewingco.com

PS: I use it in my dry-rubbed, marinated pork chili. Yum, culinary surfers!

Shop Small.  One purchase.  Ka-ching.  And the Shop Small movement is percolating.

The G-R-I-N-D Coffee house and Roaster is this coffeesnobologist’s destination for Brazil Bourbon Machado, a sweet, nutty medium body bean.

November 26, 2011:  Shop Small—Small Business Saturday.

Paul’s coffee craftsmanship yielded many followers and a bank account, but it took a trip to Nicaragua in 1985 to inspire the soul of his family’s(give thanks here to his wife, Joan, also company president) Thanksgiving Coffee Company. He witnessed first hand the poverty of the farmers who were the foundation of his business. From then on he adopted Carlos Castaneda’s philosophy of, “take a path that has a heart.” The mission of Thanksgiving Coffee Company transcended from “In Search of the Perfect Cup” to “Not Just a Cup, But a Just Cup.”

Thanksgiving Coffee Company is now not just in the quality coffee business, but in the business of “elevating the quality of life of our suppliers.” Their conscience didn’t stop there. Thanksgiving’s fair trade practices go beyond the borders of coffee plantations and countries. They also partner with a number of non-profits, including Wild Birds Unlimited and the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.  These and their End the Embargo (on Cuba) and Defenders (Save our Wolves) Coffees raise funds and awareness through the sale of special blends. 

www.thanksgivingcoffee.com (home site to shop coffee – all Kosher Certified, learn more about the company’s history and practices, sign up for newsletter, check out Blog)

www.companiesandme.com (“companies we like” site)

With Veterans Day just around the corner share a cup of coffee with troops serving as far away as Iraq, Afghanistan, Kurdistan, Qatar and Djibouti, East Africa without leaving home.  A cup of Joe for a Joe is the remarkable Joe Program launched by Green Bean Coffee.
Click on www.greenbeanscoffee.com/coj/index.php. and in a matter of minutes somewhere a soldier serving in a lonely outpost is drinking a cup of black coffee and reading a heartfelt note of thanks.  For only $2.00, the night isn’t so friendless.

Just a click away and new friendships are percolating on this Veterans Day.  Go to www.greenbeanscoffee.com/coj/index.php.

This coffeesnobolog writer received this note today.  Let’s hear from others who contacted the Joe Program. $2.00 goes a long way.
Greetings from Afghanistan! Thank you for your generosity and support, it is greatly appreciated. Thanks again and God bless.

Saturday, Nov 5, 2011.  Enjoy New Orleans savoring delicious java at the Coffee Festival.  A highlight of the festival, besides all that is wonderful about New Orleans, is the Cupping Flight.

Next stop:  Hawaii!   Sample the richness of world famous Kona coffee in a weeklong festival from November 4 to November 13, 2011.  Check out www.konacoffeefest.com to learn how royalty played a role in bringing the world Kona coffee.

New Delhi, India, is the place to be.   Stroll down tree-lined boulevards to savor the graciousness of this global city and rich coffee.  The India International Coffee Festival begins January 18, 2012.

And there are more grounds for celebration at Coffee fest in New York from March 9-11.  http://coffeefest.com.  The Big Apple takes pride in serving espressos.
End your coffee tour at the London Coffee Festival on April 27 to 29.  England may be best known for their teas, but a movement is brewing toward smaller, independent coffee shops where coffee is Art.
www.londoncoffeefestival.com

In honor of coffee’s patriotic role, Coffeesnoblogy prepared Coffee Marinated Pork Chops.  The tantalizing sweet aroma of chops roasting in red wine and coffee filled the kitchen.  Ohhhhhs and Ahhhhhs were heard all around.

Coffee Marinated Pork Chops
6 pork chops
3 TBS olive oil
2 mashed cloves of garlic
2 tsp minced parsley
2/3 cup (150 ml) of red wine (save some to sip)
2/3 cup (150 ml) of strong black coffee
3 tsp honey
Salt and pepper, freshly ground
Juice and grated pulp of a lemon or lime

*Put chops in a large, low stewpan.
Mix remaining ingredients and pour over chops
Let marinate overnight, stirring every now and then
Grill until browned
Replace browned chops into stewpan and bake in the oven 360 F or (180 C) for 30 minutes.

Last word,
At our July’s URLove It Link www. baristasroating.com/page64.html describes the patriotic activism simmering in Boston’s Green Dragon Coffeehouse and Merchant’s Coffeehouse.

A revolution was brewing.

www. Keensorganiccoffee.com/coffee-and-politcs.

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/boxscore/06291941a.shtml