Love is in the Air at Java Love Montclair

It’s spring. Finally. And love is in the air. And if you love coffee, you will love the fact that Java Love Coffee Roasters (founded in 2011 by Jodie Dawson and Kristine Petrik in Bethel, NY) has opened in Upper Montclair, New Jersey. This funky little café is located at 244 Bellevue Avenue, right next to the Bellevue Theater and Anderson Park. 

It’s been open about a week and there’s already a scene building. First and foremost, the coffee is good. Jodie and Kristine only source green beans that are sustainably farmed, organic, fairly traded, rain forest certified—and in the case of decaf bean, water processed. Plus, in addition to coffee, tea, espresso drinks, chai and juices, there is a nicely stocked array of gluten-free vegan, healthy, yummy food---from baked goods to salads to sandwiches. The vegan orange cranberry organic cookie is especially delicious. 

According to Jodie, “We try to source as many healthy, natural products as possible. Freshly baked goods, sandwiches, and salads arrive every morning from Little Daisy Bakery and Montclair Bread Company.  Other food products are sourced as locally and regionally as possible from NJ and NY purveyors and artisans. All our dairy is from Five Acre Farms, which sources its dairy from local farmers that only have sustainable practices.”

Evidence of Java Love’s artisanal coffee-related sensibilities are everywhere. On display and on sale are coffee soap, mugs, Java Love t-shirts and coffee-sack pillows. The space is comfortable, wood-planked, airy and well-lit. The vibe is positive, productive and very coffee- and tea-focused.

Now getting back to the coffee, it’s really very good. They pay close attention not only to how the beans are sourced and roasted, but also to the attributes of each cup, with specific attention paid to acidity, flavor, body and aroma.

It’s going to be a fun summer at Java Love Montclair. They are hoping to have special events, music, coffee tastings and more! 

Here's an interesting piece of metaphorical coffee wisdom from Jodie and Kristine...

"Like wines, coffee from different regions tastes uniquely different. The sweet, fruity taste of a Riseling is a world apart from dry, hard Bordeaux. Similarly, the wake-me-up snap of a Kenya AA is  distinctively different from a smooth, deep-bodied Sumatra Mandheling."

Paradoxical Musings from a Coffee Lover/Medical Writer (Generic Coffee & a Breast Cancer-Coffee Update)

Spring break is a special ritual for many families, including mine. Often, it means a chance to travel, a bit of sun, and the perfect chance to combine leisurely fun with purpose.  We look forward to it all year long. Last year, we basically stayed home because my husband had a major work project. The previous year, we went to Paris—when my youngest was only four months old. This year, we went to Washington, D.C. and to Virginia. It was a great trip. We stayed in decent, but not super- fancy, hotels and had an absolute blast, once we got past the initial drama of not being able to check into our first hotel in Dupont Circle due to plumbing problems.

At Hotel Harrington on 11^th and E in D.C., we were literally only a few walkable blocks away from the Smithsonian Museums, the Supreme Court and the Metro. We woke up early every day and packed in quite a bit---the zoo, the National Museum of Natural History, the Supreme Court, the Museum of American History, even D.C. Coast—an exceptionally good restaurant on 14^th and K.  I needed coffee just as much on my vacation as I do in every-day life.

The Adventure of Coffee in Terra Incognita

One of my favorite things about traveling is the adventure of getting coffee. During the day, I got coffee at various places---Starbucks, Pret a Manger, various museum cafeterias---but at night and early in the morning, I was basically on my own. The coffee options seemed grim, compared with my which-gourmet-coffee-am-I-going-to-drink-today lifestyle (one of the few areas I actually splurge!).

But I am flexible. This is what I know about myself: I must have morning coffee before leaving wherever I happened to sleep the night before. In our D.C. hotel, which had a decidedly Eurochic-meets-faded-70’s-glory aura, there was no coffeemaker in our room when we arrived. (Ugh!!!) When I requested a “coffee maker” for our room, which was otherwise fairly well appointed, the front deck sent up an electronic water boiler and several packs of instant Maxwell House. Still, it was coffee. It had caffeine, and we had a fridge to store skim milk. It would be sufficient to get me up and out.

                So after several days of purposeful discussions with our children about civil rights, the difference between moths and butterflies, the merits of duck versus salmon as an entrée,  neoclassical architecture and the mating habits of middle-aged pandas, we decamped for a more leisurely, playful mini-vacation (a vacation within a vacation). We landed in a nice, comfy, standard faire Comfort Inn on the highway in Woodbridge, Virginia. It cost much less than our hotel in D.C., but there was a coffee maker in the room---and the coffee was delicious. Not only that, but downstairs there was coffee EVERYWHERE, with sweet, little white standard-issue ceramic mugs. You could literally grab a cup of coffee whenever you went to the pool, the hot tub or decided to hang out in the “library” or the front-lobby computer suite. Pleasant all around.

Coffee and Breast Cancer-a Relevant Update

                Some of my favorite moments from this last spring break involve watching my children marvel at butterflies in the Butterfly Pavilion at the NMNH, watching the shock of recognition in my daughter’s eyes when we showed her Thurgood Marshall’s Portrait in the front hall of the Supreme Court, drinking a leftover latte in bed in our hotel room while watching CNN---and drinking hotel coffee by the side of a hot tub, watching my 2-year-old frolic in her swim ring, while my 10-year-old practiced diving. 

                Now, perhaps this is a leap, but it makes sense to me---and I hope it will to you too. When I watch my children play and I marvel at the terrific investment of raising children, I often think about my own mortality.  Like many women, I worry about breast cancer---especially considering that my own mother died in her forties from this terrifying disease (which we are now learning is more than one disease, with variations and nuances that make it more complex than we originally thought).

                New data from researchers in Sweden at Lund University shows a positive association between coffee and preventing breast cancer recurrence in survivors.  In a placebo-controlled study of 600 breast cancer survivors, 300 received Tamoxifen, an estrogen-blocker used to prevent recurrence.  Among those women, higher levels of coffee consumption (at least 2 cups a day) was linked to a lower risk of their breast cancer recurring. They literally had half the risk, compared with non-coffee drinkers.

                What’s the link? Though it’s not entirely clear, the Swedish researchers hypothesize that coffee somehow “activates” Tamoxifen and makes it work more efficiently. Or it could be something about the wallop of antioxidants and chlorogenic acids that come with each cup of coffee. Regardless, it’s good news.

                Another important takeaway: Sometimes, coffee is just coffee, but it can still be good. Live happily today---and drink coffee!

There are Moments When You Must Wait for Coffee---Just as People Wait for Justice

There are many interesting things to know about the Supreme Court. Any good docent will tell you that it was built in 1935, when Justice Taft insisted that the Supreme Court should have its own building---after 146  years of residing in various locations (including the Capital Building). 

What is difficult to capture in words, however, is the ineffable sense of majesty of this building. The power of inclusive democracy, with all of its gravity and rigorous discipline.

This is where Brown versus the Board of Education of Topeka was argued in 1954---the case which would eventually officially desegregate education, and change our lives forever. The karma of that decision and that energy lives in that building. You feel it like a strong breeze when you walk in, enter the front hall and see the portrait of Thurgood Marshall (the lawyer who argued the case and later became the first African-American justice.) With Chief Justice Warren at the helm, the court decided unanimously on May 17, 1954 that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”

Architect Cass Gilbert designed the building in perfect harmony with the surrounding landscape using a classical Corinthian architectural style. It is the perfect setting for the serious judicial work that goes on here---of the 10,000 cases requested each year, 80 are heard. It is a great privilege to have a case heard at the Supreme Court.

While visiting Washington, D.C., we had the chance to visit the Supreme Court---a short walk from our hotel. The day was temperate, but somewhat sad, happening just two days after the bombing at the 2013 Boston Marathon. Cherry blossoms bloomed all around us as we walked down Pennsylvania Avenue resolute in our determination to stand in line so that we could attend an oral argument in the Great Hall. (Court was in session!) We had not had anything to eat or drink—including coffee. We were determined to get through security and hear the arguments. Coffee and food had to wait.

I went through the morning elated, but without coffee. As I sat in the Great Hall, my eyes filled with tears when I saw Justice Ginsburg, Justice Sotomayor and Justice Kagan sitting next to their male colleagues. The proceedings reflected that unique quality of judicial forbearance and spirited innovative determination to find the truth of the matter—based on principle, but willing to set precedent. All of this---and no coffee!

So later, when we had finally sat through the arguments, we went to the cafeteria, where we had a lovely lunch---including dark roast coffee. It was a low-key and healthy lunch---rice bowls, coffee, yogurt, salad---and we felt incredibly nourished intellectually and nutritionally.

The coffee was so invigorating that I literally felt as if I could spend the day touring museums. We stayed at the court for another hour, watching a film and hearing a lecture, and left feeling lucky to be Americans in 2013.

The takeaway on the coffee situation on the Federal Mall: There is no Starbucks, but there is always coffee---and it’s often good. 

Celebrating the Spring Holidays By Drinking Coffee and Tea Against the Backdrop of a Green-and-White Landscape

March in the tri-state area (NY, NJ, CT) has been an interesting hodgepodge of green and white.  Buds started sprouting during a welcome mild spell a couple of weeks ago, and then a sudden snow storm (the second in two weeks) weighed down the saplings with heavy white flakes. As beautiful as it was (and still is) to look at, it was inconvenient, messy and dangerous.

Snowflakes even fell as revelers marched through the streets of Manhattan on St. Patrick’s Day---a happy day where many people I know drank a lot of coffee. And other stuff too!

We bought more firewood, drank more coffee and tea---and tried to hunker down in small doses before picking up our shovels and laptops and heading back out into the wild, wild world of eclectic weather.

Perhaps we got healthier as we tried to stay warm by consuming more hot beverages…I think that most likely we did.

A study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association on March 15^th 2013, confirmed something good about coffee and green tea: drinking these beverages may very well decrease the risk of stroke. In a study of 83,269 Japanese adults between the ages of 45 and 74, the more green tea and/or coffee consumed, the lower the risk of having a stroke. In fact, people who drank at least one cup of coffee or two cups of green tea a day had a 32% lower risk of having an intercerebral hemorrhage (also known as a ‘brain bleed’), compared with people who consumed less coffee and tea.

Why, I continue to ask when I read these studies, are coffee and tea so good for us? Many reasons, but in the case of this study, researchers hypothesize that the benefits derived from coffee and green tea come down to what I like to call the two C’s: chlorogenic acids and catechins---both of which contain a healthy serving of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory activity.

So as you prepare for spring holidays and continue to get out and keep moving, have fun. Stay fit! Be happy and drink lots of coffee!

Chag Sameach!

Happy Easter!

Summer is coming. Yay!

The 2013 MLK, Jr. Coffee-Drinking Party:Brewing up Happiness and Fun in Honor of MLK and Obama

It’s become a tradition: Each year, on the Sunday before Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (MLK Day), we host a coffee-drinking party. There is also tea, hot chocolate and sweet treats. We do it for several reasons. It gives us a chance to honor MLK, Jr., who loved coffee, in a way that is human, inclusive and festive all at once. We also enjoy seeing friends and neighbors and letting the kids play.

Over the years, the party has grown from a handful of friends posing for a picture in Starbucks, holding up cups in honor of MLK, to more than 60 people at our house this year, including lots of families.  This year was extra special, because in addition to celebrating MLK Day, we were also celebrating the second inauguration of President Obama. It was impossible not to feel good about the perfect intersection of persistent striving, high-minded ideals and concrete ceremonial reality---Obama being sworn in for another four years.

The party was great. People arrived early with little gifts and sweet treats to offer. There was baklava. There were apple tarts and zucchini cookies; pigs-in-blankets and potato puffs; dried apricots and gingerbread muffins---and even a quiche. 

Thanks to the perks of Pandora, the music varied wildly ranging from Carly Rae Jepsen to Dave Brubeck, and then to disco.  Kids ruled, with the majority being between the ages of 9 and 11, but there were toddlers, and even a 14-month old in the mix. There were a lot of writers roaming around, as well as a couple of high-level editors, a wine-maker, an artist (who sold us two pieces, including an astonishingly moving depiction of MLK, Jr. and a picture of our youngest daughter), some lawyers, and lots of talented people who dedicate their time to various community-based causes.  The coffee flowed with ease, the hot chocolate was drunk within the hour and a few people were not shy about opting out of the coffee and heading straight for the Red Zinger. The theme of the evening: diversity---in every sense of the word.

Right before we attempted to take a group photo (that effort turned into an epic fail, though we did get some interesting shots of various people toasting MLK or just hanging out), we decided to take time out to read quotes from Dr. King and other like-minded individuals about equality, tolerance and freedom.

“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.”—MLK, Jr.

“Whoever debases others is debasing himself.”----James Baldwin

“Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.”----MLK, Jr.

By the end of the night, people were getting really amped from coffee and chocolate and (healthy) sweets. We turned up the music---and a whole gaggle of girls born in 2002 rocked it out to disco hits that peaked in 1972. Another year, another celebration. Thanks to everyone who shared this event with us.

Thank you to OnlineCollegeCourses.com for this remarkable timeline of MLK, Jr.'s life!

It's 2013: Make Your Resolutions Stick---and Use Coffee to Get Moving and Stay Healthy

Only a couple of weeks into the New Year, and we are still hoping for the best. Resolutions---both documented and unacknowledged---drive us to achieve our goals and make good on the annual quest to have a “happy, healthy (new) year.”

When I woke up this morning, I was still fatigued despite 8 hours of sleep, eating healthy food and daily exercise. I just wasn’t feeling like myself. Immediately I thought, “Time to get that flu shot, for myself and everyone else.” It’s that time of year---and the flu has been especially difficult this year. In fact, the CDC reported that there were 22,049 cases of flu between September and the end of December 2012, compared with only 849 during the same period in 2011---and the pace and intensity have continued.

So in order to kick-start my engine, I brewed not one, but two pots of coffee, starting first with Seattle’s Best Breakfast Blend, and then moving onto Allegra Espresso Coffee Blend. I added a bit of skim milk and allowed the hot, antioxidant-laden beverage to wake me up, nourish me and energize me. By 11:30, things were definitely looking up!

The day was foggy and overcast, with bits of mist floating around. Still, I got out and walked about 3 miles, stopping for a latte at Starbucks. The sky was undeniably gray, but as I walked, I felt calm and invigorated. The wind was just cool enough to chafe and the forward movement was easy. Coffee opened the door, and I walked through.

When it’s comes to being happy and healthy, coffee is the answer. Two new studies attest to its efficacy in both areas.  The first study, conducted by the National Institutes of Health, focused on people between 50 and 71. Among more than 250,000 people studied, those who consumed sugary beverages were 30% more likely to be depressed, while those who drank at least 4 cups of coffee were 10% less likely to be depressed.

Data from another study, first published in December 2012 in the American Journal of Epidemiology, looked at the effect of drinking coffee on the risk of developing oral cancers. The American Cancer Society funded this study, which included approximately 1 million people. The researchers found that people who drank 4 cups of coffee per day or more decreased their risk of oral cancer by about half.  These results are a big deal, especially considering that 35,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with an oral cancer each year, and almost 7,000 end up dying.

So while I am not counting on coffee to protect me from the flu, I am counting on coffee to give me the energy to head to the doctor for a flu shot. I also appreciate its ability to decrease my risk of depression, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, liver cancer, diabetes and stroke.

So stay happy, stay healthy---and drink coffee. Keep moving towards your resolutions. Cheers!

                        

Dreaming of Warm Coffee on a Cold Day--Research Breakthrough from the Netherlands

When Irving Berlin wrote “White Christmas” in 1940, he was tapping into the zeitgeist of the moment---the desire to watch snow fall, temporarily turning the world into a magical paradise, while seeking warmth indoors---from a blazing fire, from human companionship and often from a cup of coffee or tea. Turns out that “White Christmas” is timeless not because it is about Christmas per se, but because it captures something in the human spirit. People like to be cozy and warm. Everyone wants to feel loved, and there is something about snow that brings out the child in (almost) everyone.

As snow has been falling across the nation this week, and in New York City today, pursuit of coffee has continued at a happily frenzied pace. I myself had exactly 3 coffee/espresso drinks today, starting with a skim latte at NewsBar Café on University Place (it had a nice spicy aftertaste), followed by a skim caramel brulee latte at Starbucks (hold the whipped cream), and finally capped off with a cup of under-$2 black coffee (perfectly plain and perfectly serviceable) at the Washington Square Diner.

I was driven not only by habit to drink coffee (this blog is about drinking coffee every day, after all), but also because I was slightly chilled most of the day (the radiator heat has been a bit inconsistent), I was a bit tired (this is a very busy time of year for everyone), and because I love consuming caffeine in the company of other people.

A group of researchers from the Netherlands were recently quoted in the New York Times discussing their research, which shows that when people feel excluded their body temperatures drop. One way to reverse this feeling of ostracism is to hold a warm drink (they cited coffee specifically and used Starbucks as an example of how people try to feel better). Their data shows that not only does holding a cup of warm coffee make people feel better and raise their body temperatures, but it also makes them more social.  

So while many people will be holding glasses of wine, champagne and sparkling cider as we count down to the new year, I will make sure to make coffee, tea and hot chocolate available---so that everyone will feel happy, warm and loved. Happy New Year!