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The Lowdown on Grind Settings

When it comes to preparing coffee, it is important to note that buying whole beans is a much better option than the pre-ground stuff. Aside from the obvious convenience benefits of pre-ground coffee, it has a much shorter shelf life which really impacts on the flavour of your cup. Grinding fresh beans yourself, however, will give you the best chance of a high-quality brew.  

With fresh grinding, it is crucial to understand that the coarseness of your grind will also have a profound impact on the quality of your brew. Choosing the right grind is therefore a key part of the coffee making process.

This choice is completely dependent on the brewing method that you are using. Generally, the longer the brewing time the coarser the grind you will need. An espresso, for example, only takes around 25-30 seconds to brew and therefore requires a super fine grind to ensure the water trickles through the puck in a steady fashion. If the grind is too course for the water will fly straight through the puck - not allowing enough extraction time - resulting in a very weak espresso.  

Coarse, Medium and Fine are the go to words when it comes to describing the grind. However, they don’t really help you to visualise what the grind should actually look like!  The picture below shows the difference.

The coarse grind is chunky with obvious, loose particles. The medium grind has a slightly smoother texture - a bit like coarse sand - while the fine grind is even smoother and looks more like sugar or salt particles. Within these three main grind types there is of course some variations, medium fine for example would sit somewhere between the fine grind and the medium grind. 

With so many different ways to prepare your coffee the table below should help you to choose the correct grind and prepare the perfect brew!

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eightpointnine is on a mission to educate all coffee lovers on the benefit of fresh beans.

Quite simply, to achieve the best taste, regardless of your brew method, you should always use fresh coffee beans. Fresh coffee beans are the first and most important ingredient when it comes to brewing great tasting coffee.

When you look around your local supermarket it's natural to assume that the coffee beans that you see on the shelves are fresh. This is usually far from the case. Coffee is imported, roasted, allowed to cool, ground and then packaged before being distributed via warehouses to finally be stocked in store. By the time you take them home, it may be weeks or even months since the beans were roasted. That's a problem because coffee beans start to lose their flavour the moment that they come out of the roaster. Much of the coffee flavour is found in volatile oils which evaporate when they come into contact with air.

eightpointnine’s top tips to ensure fresh beans:

Make sure the coffee bags you choose have a one-way valve, and a roasting or best-by date Grind only the quantity you need that day Store your beans in a foil lined and sealable packet or air-tight container once you have opened them Consume all coffee as soon as possible and always within six months of opening

Why do coffee bags have a valve?

Because when beans come out of the roaster they “gas off”. If you put fresh roasted beans into a bag and seal it, the gases would build up in the bag and it would tear or explode. Quality coffee suppliers put the beans in bags with these one-way valves. The valve allows the gases from inside to get out of the bag, but it doesn’t allow any air into the bag. These valves allow roasters to put beans into sealed bags as soon as possible after roasting and to maximize their flavour.

At eightpointnine, we supply all our coffee beans in valved resealable bags to ensure our beans are as fresh as possible when they land on your doormat or desk. You can also choose your subscription cycle from weekly, fortnightly or monthly to ensure you don't have beans lying around un-used. To create and name your own blend and taste the fresh bean difference, sign up now at www.eightpointnine.com

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eightpointnine is very pleased to bring you the following review of its entire subscription service, completed by Kev at the coffeeblog.co.uk “Blending coffee beans are something which enables roasters to create unlimited taste profiles, the same way as wine makers do by blending grapes. You’re probably familiar with blends of coffee beans, but here’s a question for you, have you thought of creating your own blend? I hadn’t thought of this personally, I really enjoy trying different coffee beans including blends, but the thought of creating my own blend hadn’t crossed my mind until I got an email from eightpointnine Coffee. This is a coffee firm who have created a coffee subscription (although you can order as a one off, or as a gift) with bespoke, personalised coffee blends based on the customer’s individual taste profile requirements! They invited me to try out their system, create my own blend & see what I think of the service and the coffee, so of course I accepted. Just to point out, I didn’t pay for the coffee that eightpointnine sent to me, but this doesn’t in any way effect this review, if I was to be bought it would take more than three bags of coffee… four at least! Website, and coffee subscription sign up So, I went to their website eightpointnine.com, and I went straight to “create my blend”. I was then presented with their online blend personalisation app, which looks like this:

PS. Before you order, make sure you check out the discount code at the end of the post for a 50% discount!

It’s really simple to use, and a genius Idea I think. You select the flavour with the slider, from fruity to spicy, and then you adjust the intensity from light to rich.

And then, a feature which I think is great, you name your own blend, and the coffee comes labelled up with your own unique blend name!

The first part was easy, I just set the slider for the taste profile I wanted with each blend.

I created three blends, a light and fruity blend which I called Berry Nice, a spicy and rich one at the other end of the scale called Caffeine Bomb, and one in the middle called Coffee McCoffeeFace … obviously ;-).

On the next page, I selected what brewing method I was using, and then selected ground or whole bean (I always go for whole bean, as I grind my own). I was then asked what my favourite way to drink coffee was, Americano, Espresso, Latte etc., and finally I entered the name for my blend, (which then showed on the preview image).

When you’ve selected your blend and chosen the other options, you’re offered a subscription – but if you do only want the one bag, whether it’s for you or as a gift, you can tick the “buying as a gift” option – but keep in mind that that 50% discount coupon they have offered to coffeeblog readers, which I’ll share shortly, is for the coffee subscription only.

Pricing

It’s £8.95 per 250g bag including delivery, so it’s not the cheapest. That being said, this is the only option that I’m aware of, when it comes to creating your own blend, so it’s difficult to compare apples with apples. It may well be that there are increased costs associated with making personalised blends.

Subscription service

You can select to receive a 250g bag weekly, fortnightly or monthly.

You don’t have to subscribe, as I mentioned earlier you can just buy a one off bag. If you do subscribe, the subscription is flexible –  you can log in to your account and choose to pause, re-schedule or cancel your subscription at any time.

What I like about their subscription service, is the lack of commitment, and the flexibility. I think this is really important when it comes to buying something by subscription. I want to be able to pause for whatever reason, for as long as I want, or reschedule a delivery, or cancel it all together if I feel like it, without any messing about – and this is how it is with eight point nine, which is great.

There is no commitment, you’re not committing to order a number of bags of coffee, or anything along these lines, and there are no hoops to jump through if you need to stop or pause the subscription, you can do it online at the click of a mouse.

The Coffee A couple of days later, as promised, Berry nice was a fruity, light coffee. Coffee McCoffeeface was less acidic and sweeter, and had more body – and Caffeine Bomb was a spicy full bodied wake up coffee, which is exactly what I was after. By the way I named caffeine bomb after the song by one of the best rock bands in the world, The Wildhearts. They blend using beans from Minas Gerais in Brazil, Santander department Columbia, Naranjo Costa Rica, Acatenango Guatemala, Nyeri Kenya & Sumatran Mandheling. There is currently no info on their website about specifically which farm each bean is from, which is something I really like to know when I’m buying coffee, so this is something I would like to see. There also isn’t any details about the varietal being used for the blend, which is something else I would personally prefer to see as a customer. Conclusion I think eight point nine have come up with a really nice and interesting (and unique as far as I’m aware) concept, and I think their website has been very well done, and provides a great user experience all the way through. The process of choosing your blend and all of the associated options is really slick, they’ve obviously put a lot of thought into it. The subscription itself is really easy to manage online, there’s no commitment, there’s no hassle, all good. The resulting coffee is perfect when it comes to what I was expecting from each blend, I very much enjoyed it. It was delivered very quickly, and all very nicely packaged. I think it’s a great idea, and I’d like to try some other blends.

Discount eightpointnine have very kindly offered a 50% discount on the first bag for coffeeblog readers. Just enter the code coffeeblog16 at checkout. Please note that this discount code applies only to the subscription, and not to one off purchases.

In order to apply the coupon, click “click here to enter your code” then paste in the code coffeeblog16, and hit “apply coupon’.”

Thanks coffeeblog!

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Coffee Drink Types

Choosing a coffee shop drink can be a daunting experience. When the shop is brimming with customers and baristas, far too often we find ourselves at the front of the queue having a mini meltdown as we try and choose a coffee we think we might enjoy. The reality is we almost always stick to the usual – which is fine – but perhaps if we all understood the difference between the usual and the “other” options, maybe things would be different. The Espresso The espresso is the European coffee of choice. It’s not for the faint hearted and can essentially be described as a concentrated coffee shot. Espresso is prepared by forcing hot water through finely ground coffee at high pressure which contributes to the distinguished crema associated with the espresso. Macchiato The espresso macchiato is quite simply an espresso with a touch of milk foam. There is nothing really complicated about it but it is important to ensure it is only a dab of foam, otherwise you risk damaging the rich flavour of the espresso.   Espresso con Panna A variant of the espresso macchiato where the foam milk is replaced with a dollop of whipped cream. ~ Latte A latte is an espresso based drink with steamed milk and micro-foam that comes in a tall tumbler glass. This coffee is much sweeter than an espresso because of the steamed milk, making it a bit of coffee shop favourite. Cappuccino The cappuccino is a close cousin of the latte but the main difference is the foam content. The cappuccino is predominately foam based with some steamed milk. Usually the cappuccino will come with a dusting of chocolate on top and is served in a cup, not a tall glass. Flat White The flat white originated in Australia and New Zealand but in recent years has become a permanent resident here in the UK. It has less milk, less foam - hence flat white-  and therefore proportionately more coffee than a latte. The desired texture is a velvety sensuality and there should also be a natural sweetness. Café Breve This is an American variation of the classic latte. It is a milk based espresso drink that uses a half-and-half mixture of cream and milk instead of just milk. Mocha The mocha is a cross between a cappuccino and hot chocolate. It is made by mixing chocolate powder with an espresso shot and then adding steamed milk and micro-foam to the beverage. Americano Also known as a “long black” it is an espresso topped with hot water to produce a light layer of crema. The result is this wonderfully rich cup with depth and nuance.

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Get a taste of the Olympics !

This week will mark the start of the much anticipated 2016 Olympic Games.

Over 10,000 athletes will travel to Rio De Janeiro in Brazil - to compete across 306 events in 28 different sports. Famous for its vibrant and colourful culture Brazil is sure to create a real carnival atmosphere to support the event! Brazil is of course also famous for its coffee, which has had a major impact on Brazilian society for many years. None more so than in the early 20th Century when extremely wealthy Brazilian coffee barons held much of the economic and political power in the country. During this era there was heavy investment in railway infrastructure, credit expansion, banking infrastructure and industrialisation in general. Today coffee remains big business in Brazil. In 2015 the country produced 43.2 million 60kg bags of coffee, making it the largest coffee producer in the world. This being the case, it is perhaps unsurprising that the Brazilian coffee trade is estimated to employ over five million people in the country. Brazil produces everything from mass produced coffees that rank among the world’s cheapest, to specialty coffees prized as the world’s finest origins for espresso brewing.

With lower growing altitudes than Central America, Colombia, and East Africa - around 3,000 ft. above sea level - Brazil produces coffee that generally has a mild, sweet flavour that compliments a creamy mouth feel. Plantations vary significantly across the country, ranging in size from small half hectare farms, all the way up to 100,000 hectare sites! Minas Gerais is the largest coffee growing region in the country and is responsible for producing around 50% of all Brazilian beans. The regions mild climates and favourable rains make it the perfect coffee growing location, and this is where the Brazilian beans in your eightpointnine blend are born. As well as producing coffee, Brazil also boasts an impressive consumption rate. With coffee as the national beverage, in 2014 alone the average Brazilian consumed around 780 cups worth! It was also ranked second in the world for coffee consumption by volume, consuming a whopping 969,000 tonnes of coffee in 2013. So why not try one of eightpointnine Brazilian blends and get into the spirit of the games?

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The coffee flavour wheel has been a major part of the coffee industry for over 20 years now. It has become an iconic symbol of the coffee trade that almost every specialist coffee shop in the country has displayed somewhere within its walls.

We believe coffee to be personal at eightpointnine. The wheel shows a great diversity of flavours and goes a long way to explaining the rationale of personalising your blend to suit your tastes. The most recognised version of this flavour wheel was developed by the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) and originally published in 1995. This publication has since been regarded as the industry guide when it comes to understanding and describing coffee flavour. As a result of the work completed by the World Coffee Research (WCR) team that lead to the development of the ‘Sensory Lexicon’, the SCAA has made significant changes to the wheel for the first time in its 21-year history. WCR determined that a sensory descriptive analysis approach was required to address the need for more scientific ways to research and understand coffee flavour and move the coffee industry forward. This method uses panels of specially trained, dedicated sensory professionals to taste coffees blindly against a set of referenced, commonly recognised flavours.

The WCR team worked with sensory scientists at Kansas State University and Texas A&M to develop the lexicon (which is basically a dictionary of coffee flavours). Such was the weighting of this research and the need for a common coffee language that the SCAA felt it had no option but to be compatible with the lexicon and modify its flavour wheel. To design the new flavour wheel, the SCAA embarked on another research study, this time with the Food Science and Technology Department at University of California in order to understand how coffee tasters associated these flavour attributes with each other. This was necessary because the WCR research identified a list of coffee flavour attributes, but did not organise them as the flavour wheel does.   The outcome was stunning: both coffee professionals and sensory panelists organised the lexicon flavours very similarly to each other, giving a high level of confidence in the outcome that was the reconfigured flavour wheel that we see above. Where does your eightpointnine blend sit?  

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Coffee Addiction!

Ah coffee - the backbone of our society! It’s safe to say that life these days is fuelled by the beautiful black stuff! Whether you are a partying student, a fat cat working long hours in the city or a sleep deprived mum we all reach for a cup of coffee to help us get going in the morning or function better during the day.

As far as science knows, the wonderful drink doesn’t really have any negative effects on your health, so if you enjoy drinking a cup or three, you have nothing to worry about.

So what stage of coffee addiction are you at?

1. Experimentation - “I only drink it when…”

Perhaps to get you through your finals at university or a day at work after a particularly big night out, you innocently reach for a cup to see what all the fuss is about and BANG you suddenly realise how much easier life can be!

2. In Denial Addicts - “I only drink one cup in the morning”

If you’re like most people, your occasional treat or pick me up will soon turn into an every morning thing. At least one coffee will be required before you can face leaving the home. A cup of your favourite brew magically transforms you from a grumpy, lethargic lump into a sparkly, energetic version of yourself!These steady, consistent coffee drinkers have a single cup every morning before they leave home in order to help wake them up and get their day going. I would consider them dependent but in denial.

3. Borderline Dependent - “Don’t talk to me until I’ve had my coffee”

After you’ve been in the second stage for a while, you’ll begin to notice you can’t miss your cup in the morning or not only do you get tired, you get a headache. Suddenly your slight dependence has turned into a something you can’t avoid or run away from. Without caffeine in your system you are finally able to notice just how exhausted you are. Days involving normal human interaction are so much more challenging. You have finally reached the point where you realise your dependence on coffee’s profound abilities.

4. Chemical Dependency - “What do you mean you don’t drink coffee?!”

Coffee is an essential part of life for people in stage four. They live and breathe for coffee. These people rarely sleep and get frequent caffeine headaches when they go without. Not drinking coffee is practically a crime to them. A question they commonly ask non-coffee drinkers is “How do you manage your life without it!?” Your mood is now determined by the number of coffees you’ve had. You haven’t truly reached the last step until you’ve had someone point out a difference in your personality when you haven’t had any caffeine!!

Wherever you are, there are far worse things to be addicted to in life so ENJOY people!!

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Simple Cold Brew Coffee at Home!

It’s official: Summer is here.

It feels like we’ve waited an eternity, finally the rain has made way for (some) blue skies and everyone is feeling cheerier than they were a few weeks ago!

With the arrival of summer, iced coffee has become a serious topic of conversation at eightpointnine HQ. After all, at this time of year a boiling hot Americano simply doesn’t cut it.

Iced coffee can be a complicated matter and not that easy to get right. Luckily for you we’ve spent a few days doing just that and here are our top tips for preparing the perfect picnic or poolside refresher.

1. Method for the perfect Cold Brew The traditional iced coffee is made using ground beans and hot water, before adding a handful of ice cubes to cool it down. A credible option if you are short of time, but the major problem here is that ice melts. When this happens your coffee becomes watery and diluted, losing all of its unique flavour.

Our preferred method is the more extravagant and far more rewarding process of cold brewing. It’s been at the forefront of summer time coffee drinking for a few years now and there is good reason why!

Cold brewing uses ground beans but instead requires cold water - as well as a certain degree of patience. Here is our simple guide to cold brewing at home using a cafetiere:

• Prepare your coffee beans to a course grind and add to the cafetiere • Pour over the cold water (as you normally would with warm water) • Be sure to stir the brew thoroughly until well blended • Place the cap back on the cafetiere and stand in the fridge for 10-14 hours, depending on how strong you like your coffee. It’s usually a good idea to run this process overnight but trust me, it is well worth the wait • When the 10-14 hours is up, push down the plunger before pouring your cold brew over ice, adding milk and sugar as you wish!  

2. Use your favourite blend At eightpointnine, we know only too well that taste preferences vary significantly when it comes to coffee - and it’s no different with cold brew. That’s why we recommend choosing the blend that you love. For me it’s the “Words Cannot Espresso”. My very own combination of Brazilian, Colombian and Sumatran beans creating a delicious rich and chocolatey taste!  

3. Get creative As with the choice of blend, remember this is your cold brew! So why not spice it up with some additional flavourings? Cinnamon, chocolate and caramel are all fantastic complementary tastes. If you are feeling extra adventurous you could always add a scoop of vanilla ice cream!  

Let us know how you get on and send us your pictures on Twitter/Facebook: @eightpointnine or Instagram: eightpointnine.

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Watch this space - Exciting NEW 8.9 coffee gift boxes coming soon!

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Going round the blends

Eightpointnine has been out and about at some of the capitals biggest coffee events, and we’ve been talking blends.

First we were at the Old Truman Brewery off Brick lane for the London Coffee Festival, where bearded guitarists played, martinis were poured and everyone was vying for the most eye catching piece of real-estate. And last week we saw the business end of the coffee industry at the Café culture show at Olympia, where it was all business cards, prices and shelf lives.

What these events had in common was a clear pattern in what the trends are in the café world. Aside from the juices and funky teas, when it comes to coffee, the issue I've been discussing is the perennial blend versus single origin question.

With the enormous rise of small batch coffee roasters, there has come a flurry of young coffee know it ‘aficionados’. This is very exciting, as it means that everybody is trying to push forward and take up residence at the forefront of coffee.

For a coffee to be described as single origin, it must hail from a single geographical coffee growing area. To me, the lines seem blurred about just how specific an area this must be, whether a coffee growing region, estate, farm or single crop.

One advantage of single origin coffee is that the drinker is able to identify a distinctive coffee profile. Whereas blends are able to consistently build an appealing flavour profile through the combination of various sought after qualities, a single origin is perhaps a more individual and subjective experience. Lightly roasted so as not to lose the individual character of a coffee and with brewing methods including syphon, filter and cold drip appropriate for highlighting the individual flavour characteristics of coffee to be consumed ideally without milk.

These coffees should be served under the assumption that a degree of knowledge exists within the consumer base, the light, citrus and fruity notes expected from a single origin coffee is not something that would appeal to an average coffee drinker wanting a milky morning pick up. Another pre-requisite for a good single origin coffee is quality. The highest quality of beans are required if coffee is to be stripped down to one type of bean and therefore prices are likely to be higher.

 Whilst single origins have benefits through their unique provenance and distinctive flavour profiles, there are several good reasons why we think blends are best!

Consistency of flavour: Putting all of your beans in one grinder can lead to inconsistency of flavour. Harvest on harvest, beans can change depending on climatic conditions. Coffee growing regions are not only susceptible to drought and unpredictable rain fall but are also less stable politically and economically than perhaps the countries which buy the beans. By blending beans, coffee providers are able to retain a consistent profile by adjusting amounts of certain beans with certain qualities.

Pure price: In order to create a single origin offering, some coffee suppliers and cafes jump into buying beans of a very high quality and high price. This is risky as there is no guarantee that the flavour profile of these beans will be appropriate for their audience if the right levels of consumer education has not been carried out. Whilst we would never undermine the importance of high quality beans, blending allows a less expensive bean to be complimented by other varieties in order to create an appropriate profile and of course guaranteeing an excellent price for our valued coffee lovers.

Risk is reduced, because supply of one bean may dry up, but roasters will be able to replace the particular quality that bean provided with something else.

Whereas single origin beans have a fixed and specific story, we like that people are able to experiment with their coffees and create a very personal balance of flavours, allowing them their own coffee story!

For now, we are defending blending!

       "H[2���d

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Why Fairtrade Coffee Beans?

Today it’s the World Fairtrade Day and we are celebrating by offering you 10% off to try our amazing Fairtrade coffee beans all day long, and also by letting you know a little about why we think fairtrade is important.

So why have we chosen to only sell Fairtrade coffee beans? 

Coffee is a valuable product and there are 25 million coffee farmers in the world.

Coffee is one of the most important income in many developing countries such as Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia and Mexico, the largest exporters of coffee.

When it comes to the market value of coffee, it’s always been very vulnerable to external forces and unstable over time.

For example, a Coffee Crisis came in 2001 and the coffee prices fell once again down to only a US$45 cents per pound. The prices and the agreement crashed and hundred of thousands of coffee farmers were forced out of business.

This crisis resulted mostly from an overproduction of coffee. Vietnamese farmers were producing huge amounts of lower quality Robusta coffee, so the market price of high quality coffee was dragged down by how much low quality  coffee that was produced.

It takes four years for a coffee plant to yield fruit, this is why it’s so extremely difficult for farmers to respond quickly to the changing market.

This is the reason why Fairtrade is so important.

I copied this from the Fairtrade website: 

Here and on their website you can download the full document about their standards for Fairtrade coffee.

There are some problems inherent in the fair trade system though. Small farmers that own their own land, and that do not belong to a cooperative cannot be certified as fair trade. This rules out a great many producers, some of which are producing an excellent product. Though the system isn’t perfect, it’s the best way we’ve found to be certain that our producers are being paid well for their countless hours of hard work.

I hope this made you a bit wiser and as I said in the beginning of this post is that we are doing a 10% off campaign on all of our coffee the whole day, so try some out! 

If you’d like to read more, here is the Fairtrade website.

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London Coffee Festival is starting today, come and join us!

Hi Coffee People!

Today is a wonderful day, because today the London Coffee Festival is starting and it’s here until Sunday. 

I can’t be the only one that has been waiting for this? 

So when you’re there make sure to visit our friend’s De’Longhi (Hyde Park 22) to try out our specially prepared show blend. Oh... don’t forget to ask about our exclusive show offer, but hurry before it’s to late.

Barista guru, Jon Skinner, will also be there so maybe you’ll pick up one or two tips from him when your there too!

Terms and conditions for the Offer: 

This offer can not be combined with other promotions

One offer can be registered per house hold

Offer available only whilst stock last

This offer is only extended to UK residents 

Coffee will only be delivered within the UK 

Last date to get this offer is 31th of May 2015

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Difficult getting up in the morning?

In that case, this is the invention you’ve been waiting for. 

This is a coffee making alarm-clock called the Barisieur that brews your first cup of the day to be enjoyed in bed. It is so clever that it is hard to understand how this hasn't already been done before.

Excited? So are we, unfortunately the Berisieur is still in the making, but if you want to be one of the first to receive it, you can sign up to be informed when it is finished here.

If you want to read more, visit their website.

In the meantime you probably have to make your own coffee in the morning, I would recommend you to try my favourite blend from eightpointnine.com

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Over in the US anytime soon?Check out this video on the 27 drinks you can buy from an American cafe. 

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Enjoy this video on buttered coffee. Would you drink it?

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Check out this interesting and fun video on coffee from AsapSCIENCE.