So of course they occasionally address coffee. In fact, there’s over 903 mentions in their search results, ranging from the mostly-dumb (“Flavor Whole Coffee Beans with Spices”) to the eminently practical (“Rinse Your Coffee Filters for a Cleaner, Better Tasting Cup of Coffee”). But their latest feature really hit us close to home, for it has only been a few weeks since the holidays, and that’s when 1/2 of Sprudge found himself trapped in a remote location with a loving husband, some wacky family members, a delicious bag of coffee, and nary a proper coffee grinder. That’s when we reached for the blender – a home method that has now been endorsed by Lifehacker:

“We wondered if there was a specific way to use the blender to grind the coffee beans, and it turns out there is. eHow suggests setting your blender on “Grind” if you have that setting, or using a speed of eight or nine if you do not and adding small amounts of beans gradually. Of course, you don’t want to run the blender while the top is open. You just grind up a few until they get as fines as they’re going to get, stop, add a few more, and repeat the process. This isn’t a replacement for a proper coffee grinder, and you can often just go into a store with a coffee grinder and ask them to help you out, but if you have to do it at home (or would prefer to) this is a decent alternative.”

It turned out OK. Read the full Lifehacker feature here.

The idea behind this questionnaire about chemistry and coffee was to assess the level of understanding and interest within the SCAA community. In the future, we have the opportunity to incorporate more or less chemistry into our class and certification materials, depending on what we hear from our members. This questionnaire allowed us to understand the average introductory level of content we should incorporate as well as your opinions as to if or where it would be helpful for your business.

In total, 434 people at least looked at this questionnaire. Nine of these never answered any questions, and about half of them didn’t answer any questions past the demographic info. For those questions actually dealing with our opinion on chemistry and how it may or may not help our understand coffee in the future, an average of 158 people answered, about 36%. Of these, about 72% were baristas and 30% were roasters, 30% of which were also trainers and cuppers.

Most of those who answered the questions about basic chemistry (around 150) remembered:

That a pH below 7 was acidic (72% answered correctly)

Covalent bonds are considered strong (82% correct)

How to draw molecules (53% knew that there were 6 carbons in the benzene ring)

The water molecule (89% correct)

Generally, what a volatile molecule was (62% correct)

That water goes from a liquid to gas phase when boiled (83% correct)

An isomer is a different structural configuration of the same molecule (25% correct)

A carbohydrate is made up primarily of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms (21% correct).

Many more (34%) knew that carbohydrates were generally known as sugars.

Finally, perhaps because we are biased, 67% recognized the caffeine molecule.

We hear that Bladkya is finishing up a hard-hitting review of current studies on coffee staling, and we are edging with anticipation. Keep up the excellent work, Emma!

To show our appreciation for our clients and partners this holiday season, we put together a little project to allow them to share in our love for two important staples here at C5: caffeine consumption and data visualization. 150 of our clients, and 50 of our partners received a limited edition print of this interactive coffee poster, which provides a canvas to track consumption data over the course of a month. The instructions outline a few calculations to analyze personal consumption trends. Once monthly tracking is complete, the drinker can use their coffee (or a stronger version thereof) to ‘paint’ their data onto the poster to complete the visualization.

Check out the project and order your very own print via Column Five.

WBC Procedure for the Measurement of Brewing Water Temperature in Espresso Coffee Machines

It is our pleasure to introduce our new Coffee Science Manager, Emma Bladyka. With a Masters of Science in Botany from the University of Wyoming and a Bachelor of Arts in Ecology, Emma comes to us with a wealth of knowledge and experience in science and research. In this position, Emma will develop goals and strategies for conducting original research in coffee, conduct literature reviews and analysis of existing research on coffee related science, and represent SCAA at industry events and conventions in regards to science and standards, among other responsibilities. According to SCAA Deputy Executive Director, Tracy Ging, “This hire signifies a renewed commitment to developing standards, protocols, and practices that will support strategies to differentiate specialty coffee. With a combination of scientific and research experience plus practical knowledge, Emma will be responsible for driving this effort.”

In her own words, Emma declares herself a specialty coffee “groupie” and is “excited to finally participate in the community on a professional level.” In her academic life she studied biology, ecology, biochemistry, and botany, and, on many occasions, has mused over unanswered questions about coffee growing, processing, packaging, roasting, brewing, and everything in-between. “I think all SCAA members will benefit from incorporating basic scientific principles into their daily activities, and hope that my role at the SCAA will focus on improving the taste of the coffee we all enjoy each day. I am joining the SCAA hot off a job in the wine industry, where I have gathered lots of ideas to transfer to coffee. I plan to start simple, but go big! I am an energetic go-getter and hope many members will take advantage of my coffee science seminars and network of industry-led experiments.”

If you’re reading this and saying to yourself, “Wow, I really wish I could get a job like THAT in coffee”, well, you should probably go get some Masters degrees and stuff. But! The SCAA just announced that they’re looking for a Sales Associate - go read all about it here via the SCAA blog.

Once a classroom terror, now a Mom Blog icon, meet little Rowan Haskell, the boy whose mother treats his ADHD by dosing him up with milky coffee. Rowan gets his caffeine fix once in the morning and once in the afternoon, with mom reporing that it keeps him focused and calm. Rowan (or rather, Rowan’s mother) should really take the next step and try some ridiculous honey washed or natural coffees. I’m sure the now-soporific tween would appreciate some fruit-bomb complexity rather than the brackish brew his mama is servin’ up in that old french press.

So we skimmed. We skimmed this stupid maybe-science article about caffeine and sunscreen, because whatever. We only wanna hear about sunscreen if it involves a beach full of hunks.

What, you got beef? Talk to this guy.

Coffee from your favorite donut shop has a problem. It doesn’t taste as good as it should because the lid traps in the wonderful aroma. Taste is 95% smell, so you’re really missing out.

Where does this figure come from? Sure, smell has a lot to do with taste, but WE’RE GUSTATING AS WE SIP. You know, 69.69% of all statistics are made up on the spot…

According to the article, this product has a revolutionary “new cover that’s infused with the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. When you take a sip, you smell and taste a wonderful, full-bodied brew.” Artificial coffee aroma to enhance the experience? What is this, astronaut food? Are we pod people now? Excuse our palpable disdain, but that’s got to be the most god awful ridiculous thing we’ve heard all day.

Gizmodo, really? And congratulations, Hong Kong based Mint Urban Technologies. Your stupid invention is the 2011 Sprudge.com Schlock of the Week for the week of August 5th-12th.

Dr Monique Vlak, a neurologist and the study’s lead author, said: “All of the triggers induce a sudden and short increase in blood pressure, which seems a possible common cause for aneurysmal rupture.”

All that to say, this study seems to indicate that a combination of seasonal allergies, sexual activity and caffeine ingestion could create a “perfect storm” of stroke conditions, putting roughly 2/3rds of Sprudge.com readers at imminent risk of aneurysm.  A word of advice: local honey from your favorite neighborhood apiarist does wonders for reducing negative pollen reactions.

The horror!