Coffee Zone

They've got the runs at Dunkin' Donuts. Or something like that.

Dunkin' Donuts today unveiled a new Web site, Dunkin' Run, along with an iPhone application, designed to help customers solicit and submit group orders online [Computer World]. Here's how it works:

"The person making the java run can initiate a group order at her company using a PC, a mobile device or the new iPhone app. Alerts are sent to the runner's list of co-workers or friends informing them that a run is going to be made and that they can place their order online. The runner then can print out the page and take it to the store, or she can bring the page to the local Dunkin' Donuts on her mobile device."

We like our tech here at the Coffee Zone and commend the folks at Dunkin' Donuts for getting all geeky but if you get more than four takers, how do you get the coffee back to the office. And if you only have 3 or 4 takers, wouldn't a post-it note work just as well?

Maybe we need an iPhone app here at the Zone. Stay tuned.

Excuse me, but I seem to have run out of Rocket Fuel

NPR's Scott Simon (Weekend Edition) interview with actor Anthony head.

Hot coffee thwarts carjacking

A cup of hot coffee is credited with preventing a carjacking outside a grocery store in Northwest Indiana. The victim said he had exited the store and, while standing by his vehicle, felt someone's arm at the back of his neck. The bad guy allegedly showed a black gun, pointed it at the victim and demanded the keys to his vehicle, the victim told police.They struggled for the gun and the victim fell to the ground.

Another customer ran up to the assailant and threw a cup of coffee in his face. The patron knocked the guy to the ground and held him there until police arrived. Sun-Times News Group

There's been some discussion of requiring a permit to carry concealed Rocket Fuel.

Why you should always sit in the back

A Blacksburg (Virginia) man is facing charges after he crashed his car through the window of a Starbucks in Blacksburg on Friday evening, police said.

Mohammad Adeel, 19, was attempting to park a 1997 Honda Accord about 5:25 p.m. when he drove through one of the business' large windows, according to a release from Blacksburg police.

Two people inside the Starbucks, located at 880 University City Blvd., were treated for minor injuries at the scene, authorities said.

Adeel is scheduled to face a charge in court April 29 of failure to maintain proper control.

The Starbucks incurred about $4,000 in damages, the release said. Damages to the car were estimated at $1,000. [Roanoke Times]

Rocket Fuel on wheels?

"It takes imagination and dedication to transform a 1978 Toyota Chinook mini-motor home into a pirate-themed coffee house on wheels. But Sydney "Java Queen" Krieger, of Cambridge, has done it and has been navigating her business — the Coffee Pirate — through Dane County communities for about two weeks selling her brews to caffeine-deprived commuters. The 19-foot truck has about 8 square feet of space for the galley-style kitchen that comes equipped with a refrigerator, stove and espresso maker, all powered by either propane or an electric generator. "I can stand completely alone ... in the middle of nowhere and serve espresso," said Krieger, 50." -- WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL.

Taisir's tongue: Priceless

BBC News (VIDEO): "The tongue of the chief coffee taster for Costa Coffee --a worldwide chain of coffee shops-- has been insured for almost $14 million. Gennaro Pelliccia personally tastes a sample of each batch of raw coffee beans at its London plant before they are roasted and shipped to its stores.

"My 18 years of experience enable me to distinguish between thousands of flavours," he says.

Costa Coffee sells 108 million cups of coffee worldwide each year. The insurance policy was taken out with Lloyds of London.

Well, you know we're gonna have to sit T down in front of the camera and do our own version of this story.

Put your shirt on Taisir, we'll find another way

On Monday, Grand View Topless Coffee Shop opened for business in a little town in central Maine. The signs outside say: "Over 18 only," and "No cameras, no touching, cash only."

On Tuesday, two men sipped coffee while three topless waitresses and a bare-chest waiter stood nearby. Not all residents of the little town are happy but local officials say the coffee shop met the letter of the law.

Cold wind blows through Starbucks

AP: "Starbucks Corp. plans to slash nearly 7,000 more jobs during a new round of store closures and other cuts, the company said as it reported Wednesday that its profit dropped by more than two-thirds in its fiscal first quarter.

The gourmet coffee chain plans to close 300 underperforming stores around the world _ including 200 in the U.S. _ by the end of the fiscal year in addition to the 600 U.S. stores it began closing this summer."

We're pleased to report no layoffs here at the Coffee Zone. In fact, Taisir Yanis has been named Full-time Employee of the Month for the 64th month in a row. Congratulations, Taisir!

Sharp as a tack, jittery as hell

Drinking coffee may be linked to lower risk of dementia, according to a new study, published this month in The Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. From NY Times:

"A team of Swedish and Danish researchers tracked coffee consumption in a group of 1,409 middle-age men and women for an average of 21 years. During that time, 61 participants developed dementia, 48 with Alzheimer’s disease.

After controlling for numerous socioeconomic and health factors, including high cholesterol and high blood pressure, the scientists found that the subjects who had reported drinking three to five cups of coffee daily were 65 percent less likely to have developed dementia, compared with those who drank two cups or less. People who drank more than five cups a day also were at reduced risk of dementia, the researchers said, but there were not enough people in this group to draw statistically significant conclusions." [Thanks, Kevin]

Editor's Note: The photo has nothing to do with this story but we've been dying to use it.

Dog hits controls, drives van into coffee house

ST. JAMES, N.Y. (AP) — A dog left inside a running van put the vehicle in drive, causing it to crash into a Long Island coffee house. Suffolk County police said no one was injured in the incident, which damaged the glass window and some patio furniture at Cool Beanz coffee shop in St. James. Police said a 60-year-old Port Jefferson resident left the van running while he went into the shop. His dog, Bentley, somehow knocked the controls. The Associated Press