Most of us wouldn't even think twice about our morning cup of coffee. But this ordinary drink has been front and center in some extraordinary feats. The Guinness Book of World Records recognizes over 10 astonishing coffee and espresso-related records. Let's take a moment to smell the coffee, shall we? Here are the incredible highlights:

• The largest cup of coffee contained 3,487.1 gallons and was made my DeLonghi in London on November 5, 2012.
• The Discovery Channel built the largest espresso machine in the world on September 20, 2004. The big brewer measures 10' 9 1/4" H x 8' 2" W x 10' 1 1/2" L and can hold 130 gallons of water.
• Three more for the Brits: Most espressos made in an hour by a team - 12,003. The record was set on April 9, 2011 by the London Belle Baristas. And, the UK's Macmillan Cancer Relief held the world's largest simultaneous coffee party on September 26, 2003 with 576,157 people in attendance throughout the kingdom.
• You'd think Whole Latte Love be a shoo-in for the largest collection of coffee pots, but that title belongs to Robert Dahl of Germany, who owns an impressive 27,390 coffee pots at last count, on November 2, 2012.
• Hawaii's own DFS Galleria Waikiki created the biggest coffee mosaic, using 5,642 cups of coffee on August 10, 2012. It measured 16' x 25'. The image? Elvis Presley.
• Tired of waiting in line for your morning espresso? Recommend the world's fastest espresso machine to your favorite cafe. The “Swiss Espresso Extractor" can produce 3 gallons of espresso per minute. Don't think the local coffeehouse will go for it? Home brewing may be your best alternative.

We're certainly inspired by these caffeinated exploits. Though, there does seem to be room for more of our favorite brew. Can you think of any coffee records waiting to be set?

Nothing says summer like homemade ice cream. Today's recipe comes directly from Nigella Lawson, the UK's favorite food writer and a noted TV personality. Don't worry if you don't have an ice-cream maker, this recipe doesn't require any churning!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
• 2 tablespoons espresso liqueur

If you don't have instant espresso powder, you can make your own using the instructions below. This is also a great way to make use of spent espresso grounds.

Espresso Powder Instructions:

Preheat your oven using lowest temperature setting.
Spread spent espresso grounds evenly onto an unlined baking sheet and place in oven for approximately one hour, or until coffee is toasted with a slightly crunchy texture.
Remove grounds from oven and allow them to cool.
Set your grinder to the finest setting and further grind the cooked grounds to make espresso powder. (The ice cream recipe calls for 2 tbsp of espresso powder. You can safely store the rest in an airtight container for future use.)

Ice Cream Instructions:

Whisk the cream, condensed milk, espresso powder, and liqueur together until soft peaks form.
Pour the mixture into an airtight container and freeze for 6-12 hours.
Serve and enjoy!

Hint: Looking for airtight containers? Check out our Vacu Vin storage solutions.

You won't find a recipe for it in any book. And it may not even be in your favorite barista's vocabulary. But, caffè sospeso delivers a pick-me-up like no other.

Said to have originated in Naples roughly a century ago, caffè sospeso is an act of kindness through coffee. The name translates to "suspended coffee" in English. This heartwarming tradition entails paying for an extra drink, to be set aside for a stranger in need, when placing an order at your favorite cafe.

It's customary for the barista to keep a track of the number caffè sospeso that have been paid for by patrons of the establishment and give them out whenever someone comes in asking for a suspended drink. The person receiving the suspended coffee can be someone who's fallen on hard times or simply a regular who forgot his wallet that particular morning. It's an honor system that thrives on the kindness and honesty of the participants.

With much of the European Union grappling with austerity measures, a bit of goodwill goes a long way and caffè sospeso has spread from Naples, where Dec.10 was formally declared "Suspended Coffee Day," to the rest of the continent. Likewise, it's far from unheard of in Australia. Stateside, this trend is just starting to emerge but it already has some devoted supporters. Coffeehouses from New York and Pennsylvania to Wisconsin and Seattle have started to implement the feel-good, pay-it-forward system. Starbucks has also jumped on board, though with a slightly altered program restricted to the UK.

That's not to say caffè sospeso is without its detractors. Consumerist, a website owned by Consumer Reports, ran a series of blogs questioning the suspended coffee movement. With names like, "Coffee Shop Owner: Quit Asking Me to Offer Suspened Coffees Already," and "Why Ordering 'Suspended' Coffees For the Needy is Stupid And Inefficient," these blog posts come out swinging against the grassroots revival of caffè sospeso. Reasons cited include everything from "it feels scammy," to shops are already prone to giving away drinks to build goodwill, and there isn't a means test -- so anyone could claim a freebie and abuse the system.

So while the coffee runs hot, the debate is just heating up. We want you to weigh in. What are your thoughts on suspended coffee?

If you've got a sweet tooth, this is one recipe you must try. Coffee creme brulee -- it's a twist on an old favorite, featuring our favorite ingredient. This recipe makes five servings, perfect for entertaining.

Ingredients

1 quart of heavy cream
1 1/2 cups of dark-roast whole bean coffee
10 egg yolks
2/3 cup of granulated sugar
1/4 tbsp of salt
5 tbsp of superfine sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 320 degrees fahrenheit.
Add cream and coffee beans to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for 30 minutes then pour the mixture through a sieve into a large bowl. Discard coffee beans.
Combine egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a large bowl and whisk until the sugar has dissolved. Slowly add cream and whisk to mix the ingredients. Skim any foam or bubbles from surface.
Divide custard among the five molds. Place the molds in a roasting pan and place in oven. Pour boiling water around the molds (about half way up the sides). Bake for 30 minutes or until the edges of the custards are set, but the center is still loose.
Remove molds from oven and let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Cover each mold with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Use a fine sieve to sift 1 tbsp of sugar over each custard. Hold a torch at a 90-degree angle, about 4 inches from the surface and carefully caramelize each custard until the tops are a light brown color.

The powers that be at Colgate-Palmolive Company have announced plans for a toothbrush with an integrated caffeine patch to deliver that morning jolt. Perhaps they didn’t read our blog about the FDA investigating the use of caffeine in traditionally non-caffeinated products. Or, maybe, they’re hoping the promises of multi-tasking and efficiency will have you considering this quirky invention.

The idea is to embed chemicals into a patch located within the toothbrush head. The chemicals would be slowly released through use. Colgate has already filed the patent for the toothbrush and mentioned potentially using the system to deliver a variety of flavors and even medications - including painkillers and appetite suppressants - as well as caffeine.

So, what do you think? Will you give the caffeinated toothbrush a try or will you be sticking by your tried-and-true brew?

With temperatures rising and spring rain steadily giving way to the dog days of summer, it’s the perfect time to experiment with cold coffee treats. Today, we’re talking affogato, a traditional Italian dessert, with countless possibilities.

Effectively, an affogato is a shot of espresso poured over gelato (ice cream). You can keep it simple, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and your favorite espresso, or shake things up a bit with an exotic flavor -- think pistachio, caramel swirl, chocolate, mint, etc. This treat is great for spring and summertime entertaining. Instead of an ice-cream or coffee bar, why not give guests the chance to enjoy the best of both worlds?

If you’re looking for an affogato that’s a bit out of the ordinary and will impress, consider giving this recipe a try:

Tiramisu Affogato

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup heavy cream, chilled
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1 pint coffee-flavored ice cream
• 1 pint vanilla ice cream
• 9 savoiardi or ladyfingers, crumbled
• 10 ounces of fresh espresso
• 1 piece of bittersweet chocolate, grated

Instructions:

Combine the cream and sugar. Beat the mixture until it holds stiff. Portion the vanilla and coffee ice cream into six glasses and sprinkle with the ladyfinger crumbs. Pour espresso over the ice cream and crumbs. Top with cream and grated chocolate.

Hi everyone, I came across an Aeropress in our kitchen and decided to mess around with it. With weather pretty much having gone from winter and straight into summer, it's gotten rather hot lately. After seeing a post on Reddit about cold brewing with the Aeropress, I decided that I would give it a try myself. Being relatively impatient, I really hoped that it would work, so I'd have a lazier way to make iced coffee. Sadly, I don't know much about the Aeropress, so I snagged Andrew, our CS manager to help me.

For starters, here's what we used to conduct our test (I apologize in advance for our Cinco de Mayo tablecloth).

• 6oz of cold water and 2 level tablespoons of coffee, espresso grind, 1 minute steep time, inverted brew - Relatively weak cup, somewhat tart.
• 8oz of cold water and 4 level tablespoons of coffee, espresso grind, 1 minute steep time, inverted brew - Somewhat stronger cup yet more bitter cup, not quite to our tastes though.
• 6oz of cold water and 3 heaping tablespoons of coffee, espresso grind, 2 ½ minute steep time, regular brew - Looked like coffee, tasted like coffee, didn't melt any ice!

Cup 1

Cup 2

Cup 3

So, was our experiment a success? I'd say yes it was. It took us a bit of tinkering, but in the end we managed to produce a drinkable cup of coffee using cold water and an Aeropress. Would I do it again? Maybe--the Aeropress is extremely easy to use and easy to clean up. I suppose that what I liked best was how potent and smooth the coffee was after adjusting the variables to our liking. It was too cold to melt much of the ice, so the flavor wasn't diluted. It's definitely something to try if you want some cold coffee and have an Aeropress laying around.

Conveniently, we had some surplus Ghirardelli Caramel sauce, a Jura Froth Pro and a near-expiration gallon of milk that we were able to combine to create a smooth cold foamed sweetened milk drink. We present to you the iced cappuccino pictured below.

Here are some "fun" pictures for your enjoyment!

For some of us, having a cup of coffee is as routine as putting on our shoes every morning. We drink it for the pick-me-up and, of course, the taste. But is it possible for our daily coffee, espresso, latte, or cappuccino to do someone else a bit of good? The short answer is yes. However, identifying a bag of beans to a particular cause can prove to be a daunting task. To help you out, we’ve put together a no-nonsense guide to common cause-related coffee certifications and the motivation behind each of them.

Rainforest Alliance Certified In order to bear this seal, the coffee farm must: Adhere to sustainable farm management practices Ensure conservation of the ecosystem, wildlife, and waterways Guarantee ethical, non-discriminatory hiring and work practices - children under the age of 15 are prohibited from being employed by the business and proper protective gear must be provided for workers Provide guidelines about agrochemical use Ban transgenic, or genetically modified, crops
Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center "Bird Friendly" Certification This logo can be found on coffee from Latin American farms that: Provide proper habitat for birds Grows shade-grown coffee, planted under a canopy of trees -- not land that has been cleared or deforested for farming purposes Cultivates organic coffee, grown without the use of chemical pesticides
Fairtrade International Certification This certification is normally granted to small farms that have been organized into co-ops or associations that are owned and governed by local farmers. Among other things, fairtrade standards for coffee ensure that: Coffee producers have been paid at least a fairtrade minimum price for their crops, currently $1.40 per pound for washed arabica and $1.35 for unwashed arabica with a minimum 30 cent differential for organic coffee A premium of 20 cents is added to the product price to be used by the producer, with 5 cents earmarked for quality and productivity improvements The use of agrochemicals is restricted and sustainable practices are encouraged The system fosters fair negotiations and reduces speculation Producer organizations are granted lines of credit -- up to 60% of the purchase price, if requested
USDA Organic Certification Granted by the United States Department of Agriculture, this seal certifies that the coffee has met the following requirements: Produced without the use of USDA excluded methods -- including genetic engineering -- ionizing radiation, or sewage sludge Produced per the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances The farm is regularly inspected by official USDA Organic Program agents The farm uses ecologically-based practices and biological pest management systems and the land has not been exposed to pesticides or other prohibited substances for at least three years Organic and tradition crop must be separated by a buffer zone

Ask the experts and many of them will tell you the same thing: the single-serve coffee category is hotter than freshly brewed java. Fueled by convenience, the time-saving system that lets users prepare drinks by the cup is gaining popularity worldwide. Yet, since their inception, single-serve cups and capsules have had to dodge the criticism that they’re inherently bad for the environment.

Since single-serve capsules are discarded after each use, the brewing method is not as green as preparing drinks with ground coffee or espresso. And, we’re talking about a lot of cups and capsules. According to the National Coffee Association, single-serve coffee is the fastest-growing sector of the home market, as well as the second most popular brewing method after conventional drip coffee makers.

So, what’s an environmentally conscious coffee lover to do? Must eco-concerns be set aside in favor of fast, convenient, and reliable drinks by the cup? Fortunately, leading single-serve manufacturers are addressing the issue head on. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR), the maker of K-Cups for Keurig, conducted a life cycle analysis to assess the environmental impact of its single-serve packs. Highlights of the study are as follows:

• "The most significant environmental impacts are associated with materials production/packaging, the use phase, and the coffee cultivation phase for the impact categories examined."
• "End-of-Life (EoL) is a small part of the K-Cup® pack life cycle, representing only 5% of GHG emissions. EoL represents only 1% of the energy demand, and 1% of the acidification potential."
• "The K-Cup® brewing system uses less energy in an office environment than a traditional batch brewing system. This translates into reduced environmental impact in all impact categories over the entire life cycle."

According to the study, even though the end-of-life cycle -- when a K-Cup is used and discarded -- is the most visible, it actually only accounts for only 5% of the potential global warming output. Nevertheless, GMCR has put together a program to allow workplace customers in the contiguous U.S. to collect and return spent K-Cups for composting and energy from waste processing. The Grounds to Grow On program is estimated to have recovered 4.1 million K-Cup packs and composted over 85,000 pounds of ground coffee in the same year. The plastic from spent K-Cups saved approximately 139 kilowatt hours.

Want to take matters into your own hands, give the Keurig My K-Cup filter basket a try. It is a reusable filter that lets you brew with any ground pre-ground coffee you choose. No hassle, no mess, and no waste.

At Nespresso, the talk centers around recycling as well as developing more sustainable aluminum for their single-serve capsules. In the U.S., the company has capsule collection systems in place in cities with Nespresso boutiques including: New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Nespresso has also launched the AluCycle, partnering with mining, refining, retrieval, recycling organizations to improve the sustainability of aluminum. The company has also teamed up with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to promote environmentally sound aluminum practices.

Taking its commitment one step further, Nespresso has equipped some of its single-serve machines with an ECO button, which will automatically turn the machine off after 30 minutes of inactivity to conserve energy. The feature is available on the latest generation of the CitiZ machines. As an added bonus, purchase any Nespresso single-serve machine over $199 from now until June 17, 2013 and you can register for a $50 Nespresso Club credit good for free capsules.

Illy iperEspresso fans can take heart in knowing that their capsules are made from recycled plastic. The company is working on a method to allow consumers to open, clean, and recycle their capsules.

While single-serve systems may not be as eco-friendly as other more traditional brewing methods, the leading manufacturers are taking notes and continually making improvements to their products. Don’t write them off just yet.

A graphic on the consumer update section of the FDA's website reads, "Caffeine. It's not just in coffee anymore. It may be in your: jelly beans, waffles, gum, water, syrup."

While coffee and tea have naturally occurring caffeine, a growing trend that has food and drink manufacturers adding the substance to their products is rattling the Food and Drug Administration. The announcement that the agency is investigating the matter came in the wake of Wrigley's promotion of its new gum - each piece contains as much caffeine as half a cup of coffee! Production of the gum in question has since been halted, due to the FDA investigation, but questions still linger.

Although it's to be expected in energy drinks, caffeine has also started to pop up in jelly beans, sunflower seeds, marshmallows, syrup, and potato chips. There's even an instant oatmeal that contains as much caffeine as a cup of coffee.

The FDA defines 400 milligrams, the equivalent of four to five cups of coffee, a day as safe for consumption. Without paying attention, you may exceed your daily recommended limit while consuming food or drinks that you thought were caffeine free. Even though most of these products are said to be marketed to adults, they may appeal to children who are less able to handle the effects of the stimulant.

If you had a cup of decaf and are wondering why you're still wide awake in the middle of the night, check those bedtime snacks. Caveat emptor.