While it seems that nearly everyone is doing their best to simply survive the global recession, the coffee franchises seem to be unaffected by it. If the recent coffee franchise report at franchisedirect.com is to be believed, the coffee industry is doing very well despite the receding economy.

Coffee Consumption

According to the study, coffee consumption has either increased or remained level in the last year among specific age groups. People in the 25-39 age group are have been drinking more coffee while the people of the 40-59 age group (my age group) are drinking about the same amount as always.

They say these age groups are the essential age groups targeted and who am I to argue? The findings show that people will continue to drink coffee regardless of the economic climate. I know the economy has no bearing on how much coffee I drink and I drink as much as I ever did.

Coffee Industry Diversification

The big-time leader in the coffee franchise market, Starbucks, had a difficult year and had to make some adjustments. Consumers are starting to look for cheaper coffee options and that spells rewards for all of the coffee franchises.

There is a general shift by consumers from the typical commercial offerings to more ecological products and coffee is no exception. People are looking for organic coffee — shade grown coffee that hasn't been treated with expensive pesticides.

Coffee Serving Mobility

This is something I've witnessed in the Philippines as well as what has been described in the US. More coffee companies are going mobile and serving coffee from kiosks, vans and carts. The days of only being able to find good coffee at coffee shops in strategic locations may be coming to an end.

It makes sense — take the coffee to where the people are instead of expecting them to come to you. I appreciated this the last time I was at a shopping mall. There wasn't a coffee shop in the mall and the closest thing to good coffee I could find (if I wanted to trudge to the other end of the mall) was the crappy coffee served at Wendy's. Well, I didn't have to think about it very long because a coffee vendor set up a kiosk right in the middle of the food court where I was sitting with my family. I won't mention the brand since I've mentioned it too much on this site already.

Health Benefits of Drinking Coffee

This is part of the reason that coffee continues to be a favorite beverage. As I've mentioned in several places, the consumption of coffee has measurable health benefits. Since coffee comes from a red berry, it contains a bunch of antioxidants and this is what helps deter the aging process of cells in the human body.

There are other health benefits, which I won't mention at this time, that far outweigh the negative health concerns. Regardless of what other studies come out, I'll continue to drink coffee until the day comes when I'm unable to drink anything at all.

Cheers.

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Everyone in this world is addicted to one thing or another. Anytime you crave something, whether it's harmful or not, it's an addiction. Is a coffee addiction harmful? If you believe what some other folks have written, you may be inclined to quit drinking coffee entirely. I'm not saying they're wrong about coffee addiction. I just believe it's what they believe.

People Who Gave Up Coffee

Motivational writer Steve Pavlina wrote "How to Give Up Coffee" back in 2005. He didn't take sides on the issue of whether it was good for you or not, based on studies, but leaned toward the negative because caffeine is a drug that can cause addiction.

In 2007, Henrik Edberg of the Positivity Blog wrote "How I Quit Drinking Coffee and the Benefits I've Experienced". Clearly, this man believed that caffeine was all negative. He included "The Caffeine Curve" picture as the lead-in picture to illustrate his point.

Last year, the person behind The Daily Mind wrote "Give Up Coffee: How To Quit Coffee With Meditation". This is another person who believes coffee addiction is a bad thing. He (or she) offers the kind of help you'd expect for someone who needs drug addiction help.

There are more, but I think you get my drift. Most people tend to think coffee addiction as being bad, even if they still drink coffee.

My Coffee Addiction

I can't claim to be addicted to coffee. I sometimes skip days of drinking it. Yes, I drink regular coffee, not the unleaded kind. I've only experienced caffeine withdrawals one time and it had nothing to do with coffee. In fact, I'm not even sure the headaches I got were from caffeine withdrawals.

In 1983, the US Navy ship I was on ran out of soda. We were sitting off the coast of Beirut, Lebanon for about a month when it happened. I started getting headaches when I couldn't drink soda (and I only had one or two a day anyway). I thought that drinking coffee would alleviate the symptoms and headed to the mess deck. The headaches went away about a day later, so I doubt they had anything to do with caffeine.

I don't get headaches when I don't drink coffee or tea, so I'm assuming that I'm not addicted to caffeine even though I consume a few cups of coffee a day. If I can skip entire days without having coffee or tea, and not get a headache or crave them, then it can't be an addiction.

I suppose people react to chemical addictions differently. I just know my own coffee addiction doesn't bother ME in the least. I think people who compare a coffee or caffeine addiction to a drug or alcohol addiction and requiring drug treatment have one or two screws loose. There is no comparison.

In my case, giving up coffee just isn't an option I'm willing to consider.

(Image source: Shrunken from "We Are a Nation of Starbucks Addicts" at My Pinoy Humor Blog.)

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After watching the employees at one of the Starbucks locations in Phoenix, Arizona, my wife decided to do an experiment to see if she could make coffee that tasted as good as Starbucks coffee. More specifically, she wanted to reproduce the taste of their lattes.

Latte is Italian for Milk

Lattes were invented in the US. In Italy, latte means milk. It's probably okay to order a caffè latte in Italy now, after all the publicity of the drink, but years ago it would have fetched you a glass of milk.

In the US, a latte is quite simply a cup of coffee made with milk instead of water.

It Starts With Espresso

Starbucks has machines which produce espresso, a concentrated coffee beverage brewed by forcing very hot water under high pressure through coffee that has been ground to a consistency between extremely fine and powder. Espresso, which was invented in Italy, is used as the base for lattes, cappuccinos and mochas.

My wife noticed that two shots of espresso were added to the large drinks at Starbucks, while they added only one shot to the smaller drinks.

How to Mimic a Latte

It's easy to do if you have your own personal espresso machine. What if you don't? Here's how my wife did it:

She filled a cup with milk (whole milk, not 2%, 1% or skim milk), heated it in the microwave oven for 2 minutes, added two spoons of coffee power and stirred. I'm talking about the spoons you eat with, not teaspoons for measuring.

What you end up is a strong cup of coffee, a simple latte. If you want to turn it into a cappuccino, add whip cream to the top. If you want to turn it into a mocha, add a spoonful of sweetened, powdered chocolate.

Why Starbucks instead of at home?

If it's so easy to make coffee that tastes like Starbucks coffee at home, then why don't people do that instead of spending much more money at coffee shops like that? I could never afford to regularly stop at Starbucks and probably wouldn't make it a point to do so even if I had a Starbucks gift card.

People are always "on the go" and don't take the time at home to enjoy the simple pleasures. They stop by coffee shops on the way to work or on the way home. It's the fast-paced societies that keep companies like Starbucks in business. They can keep their business. I'll drink my lattes and cappuccinos at home.

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