After years of not trying, those Seattle-ish coffee merchants are really scrambling, aren’t they? Heck, I’m all for it. Anything beats that left-in-the-oven-for-days flavor of the corporate giant’s burnt coffee.

David Miller, Savant Fine Dining:
Sweet Potato Soup: Big Fire 2006 Pinot Gris, $15
Heirloom Tomato Salad: Columbia Crest 2007 Two Vines Rose, $10
Braised Lamb in Peach Gastrique with Sweet Potato Scallops and Baby Eggplant: Jaboulet 2005 “Parallele 45” Cotes du Rhone, $15

Fabrizio Schenardi, Pelagia Trattoria:
Polenta with Sauteed Mushrooms: St. Francis 2004 Red, $12
Open-Faced Ravioli: Masi 2006 Masianco Venezie, $15
Seared Salmon with Green Beans: Beringer 2006 Pinot Noir, $20
Fruit Crepes: Banfi 2007 Rosa Regale, $18

Seble Gizaw, Queen of Sheba:
Mashed Potato Salad: Bonny Doon 2005 Le Cigare Blanc California, $20
Lentil Soup: 7 Deadly Zins 2004 Zinfandel, $13
Lamb Tibs: Onix 2006 Priorat, $12

Grass Root Tofu Scramble: Sokol Blosser Evolution #9 11^th Edition

Elements, vegetarian menu:
Mushroom Medley: whatever red wine you use in the recipe OR Campo Viejo 2004 Rioja Crianza, $12
Ravioli: S.A. Prum 2006 Riesling, $12

“There’s an interesting smell coming from the can… Hm. It’s not wholly offensive….Actually, there’s a really profoundly bad aftertaste…Ew, it’s like Newark in my mouth.”

I drop one off on arts writer Amanda Schurr’s desk, the pink can With a Blast of Strawberry Melon Flavor and Ginseng. “Thanks. Ew,” she says, upon looking at the can. “I can hardly wait.” Several minutes later I hear her open the flip top. “Oh, God,” she says. “Some little drops got on my finger and I actually tasted some of it.” She adds, “It tastes like fake strawberry and melon flavor and Mountain Dew, which is to say it tastes repulsive.”

I try the one in the black can, which is Charged With Raspberry Citrus Flavor and Ginseng. Mmm. It reminds me of popsicles from the ice cream man on my neighborhood street when I’d been working hard all day building forts and assaulting my younger brother. “Dew drinker designed,” it says on the can.

Food science is kind of scary that way when you think about it. So invasive is their market analysis, so powerful are they in commandeering our nostalgia, that they’ve managed to replicate the sensation of a tri-color Mr. Tasty Time popsicle from the mid-‘90s and package it in a little black can that they mail to my place of business. I’m trying to become a man, Mountain Dew, to live a brave and productive life without reverting to my helpless childhood. Don’t even try this shit. We are immune.

-Justin Richards 

A Japanese brewer is planning to brew beer using grain that descended from barley grown in space aboard the International Space Station.

Here’s some footage of the winners in action:

1. I mistakenly gave a wrong address for Kahwa Roaster’s new shop in last week’s paper. It’s on 2nd AVE. N, not 2nd St. N. My specific apologies go out to an irate woman who spent some pedal power trying to find the place on her bike. My bad.
2. That piece also prompted a letter from Anne Vela, owner of Cafe Hey. Here’s what she said:
   “Just to re-emphasize something I’m sure you know, an accepted localvore practice is to allow items that have been traded over the centuries from far distances, such as olive oil, some grains and also coffee. So Kahwa who yes trades its beans internationally, gets the seal of local approval.
   As a plug for my own shop, Cafe Hey (through which I go through much effort to purchase locally traded and produced items as well as organic and fairtrade foods whenever I can) serves Sweetwater Coffee roasted in Gainesville, FL. Being that they are located within 200 miles of Tampa, it also counts as locally produced! Sweetwater Roasters is also currently certified USDA Organic by QCS and Florida Organic Growers, certified FairTrade by Transfair USA, Rainforest Alliance Certified, a participant in the Eco Q system, is Smithsonian Bird Friendly AND lastly is certified by Utz Kapeh!!!
   They also roast some pretty damn fine coffee. Hope you’ll try it sometime.”
   I will, Anne.
   
3. Finally, in CL’s Urban Explorer issue a few weeks ago, I wrote the section on downtown St. Pete and referred to the Globe Coffee Shop as a “bohemian cafe.” Accurate, sure, but it’s also a tad inconsiderate to a little place a few blocks away called Cafe Bohemia (937 Central Ave., 727-895-4495). That shop also has an urban bohemian crowd, with good coffee, good beer and live music or DJs most weekend nights. Check it out and tell them I sent you to apologize for me.

According to Beer Advocate, Wayne Wambles will be brewing Cigar City Brewing’s first batches of beer, slated to be released in September of this year. Wambles recently worked for Foothill’s Brewing in  North Carolina.  According to the press release, Wambles makes a mean  strong scotch ale and is a fan of Belgians, while Redner loves him some stout and porter, so look for those to be in Cigar City’s early line-up. If they can find some hops.

Since he’s a writer as much as a beer entrepeneur, Redner has a blog chronicling his path towards craft brew success. You may also want to check out last year’s CL Beer Issue for the rags to brews success story of Bob Sylvester and Saint Somewhere.

And that’s not all. Brew Your Own Magazine explains how the shortage will likely result in growers planting higher-yield and hardier hops used mostly by big breweries, phasing out the small varieties prized by home and craft brewers. This short-term shortage may result in very long-term problems for small-batch brewers.

Recently, Sam Adams came to the (short-term) rescue by offering craft-brewers the opportunity to buy 20,000 pounds of hops from their surplus supplies. Why help the competition?

“As the largest craft brewer, Samuel Adams has a little more leeway than some of the smaller craft brewers. We buy our hops under long term contracts with select growers. This hops shortage could be extremely difficult for some of the very small breweries in our industry. We have contracts for 2007, 2008 and beyond for most of our varieties, and in a way, we are betting on a strong 2008 crop.”

Even better, they’re selling them at cost — under $6 a pound — which is drastically lower than what they could get for them on the open market. What’s to stop nefarious brewers from buying what they don’t need, or re-selling the hops?

“The purpose of doing this is to get some hops to the brewers who really need them. So if you don’t really need them, please don’t order them. And don’t order them just because we’re making them available at a price way below market. Order them because you need these hops to make your beer. We’re not asking questions, so let your conscience be your guide.”

Maybe all those commercials showcasing the happy, dedicated, beer-lovin’ folk of the Boston Beer Company are more than just a marketing campaign.