Different kind of coffee

THE PICKY EATER
Different kind of coffee
Article Last Updated:10/18/2006 09:51:40 AM PDT
Different kind of coffee

I know, it doesn't take much convincing to get a coffee lover to scoot over to Peet's for a rich, full cup of hot coffee. But what you may not know is that even at Peet's, or ESPECIALLY at Peet's, not all coffees taste the same.

The most dramatic example of that cliche is Peet's Ethiopian Yirgachef, a superior gourmet coffee that's $17.90 per pound. It's OK that it's expensive, because it's really so different that it will never replace the usual morning cup. But this is a coffee every coffee lover should try at least once. It's kind of fruity and edgy, wildly different from any other coffee. The reason it's so different is that the tiny little beans are allowed to ferment inside the pod longer, which imparts extra fruit flavor. The process, of course, is a lot more time intensive — hence, the price.

What I love most about this coffee is that it's distinctive and has a personality. It will never be mistaken for just another cup of joe.



Bound to fall apart


There are times when a cookbook is simply destined to fail. It may be packed with great advice and workable recipes, but it just won't last.

This, sadly, is the case with "The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook," ($34.95, Cook's Illustrated.)

It's a thick binder-style cookbook that is filled with the kind of information that any beginning — or advanced — cook needs to know. It has recipes for those kind of dishes



that seem to be printed nowhere — American-style Chinese chicken salad, taco casserole made with tortilla chips, eggs in a hole, and homemade Egg McMuffins.
It also offers illustrated how-to's on things like deveining a shrimp, making cinnamon rolls, and making an ice cream cake. This cookbook has so much essential information that it could turn just about anyone into a fantastic cook.

The problem is that it is bound to fail. The binding on two copies of this book failed before they even reached my hands. The metal loops are breaking off the cardboard on one; the cardboard cover is crushed and buckling on the other.

What to do? Since the contents of the book are so valuable, so well-put-together, I plan to pick up a pair of sturdy binders into which I can simply transfer all of the pages.

I'll make a color copy of the insides and outsides of the binder, huck the binder into the recycle bin and tuck my trusty binder full of information on my cookbook shelf.



Chocolate teas


It seems to be chocolate season here in the Bay Area, possibly because the weather is cooperating with the mail companies whose job it is to get chocolates to us in non-melted form.

That said, I need to share about a no-melt chocolate arrival, one that calorie-counters may well want to consider. It's a line of Chocolate Truffle Teas, a collection of whole leaf loose teas infused with chocolate chips, and cacao nibs by Mighty Leaf, the San Rafael-based tea company known for its oh-soelegant tea bags.

The chocolate teas may not be as good as a hunk of 66 percent, but they are quite lovely, and most of them do have a distinctive chocolate flavor. My favorite is the Chocolate Mint Truffle, a smooth rooibos blend that is just perfect as a nightcap. Earlier in the day, I might opt for spicy chocolate Mayan Chocolate herbal tea, or the Mocha Pu-erh, an inspired blend of rare Yunnan tea and cacao that brews up into an irresistibly rich, satisfying elixir.

Less chocolatey in flavor is the herbal Chocolate Masala, which is beautiful, but more of a celebration of cardamom than anything else.

The only one in the line I didn't care for was the Mocha Chip. The black tea seemed to overshadow the other elements in the mix.