Wednesday, October 08, 2003


is the rainforest alliance being used?

will kraft respect them in the morning? of course, i'm thrilled to hear that one of the so-called "big four" is now working with the rainforest alliance to use some fair-trade coffee.

but will it be a significant amount of sustainable fair-trade beans, or just a token amount? and will they stop when/if coffee prices return to higher levels?

will my friend sabrina at the rainforest alliance wake up in 1 year to discover she's been had for short-term p.r. & marketing purposes? i hope not. . .let's watch closely to see how kraft plays this out!

on the hot coffee-milkshake front: is anyone really surprised to discover that a starbucks drink, the large mocha coconut frapuccino contains 550 calories and 22 grams of fat?

does anyone think the acre of whipped cream on the caramel macchiato is miraculously without calories? as we say in new york, i have a bridge for sale. . .

let me take this moment to note that a more authentic italian-style drink, the 5 oz. cappucino, has usually 2 oz. of coffee and 2 oz. of whole milk. remember, properly steaming the milk increases its volume by about 50%, so you need but 2 oz. milk for 3 oz. microfoam.

this gives us a 5 oz. drink with only about 25 calories and a tiny amount of fat (less than or about 1 gram) for the coffee, while even whole (3-4%) milk would offer just about 40 calories and 2-3 grams of fat. if you want a flavored concoction, many syrup companies make delicious sugar-free products nowadays.

so you're looking at a grand total of say 70-75 calories (with 1/2 oz. sugar-free syrup) and 3-4 grams of fat for a satisfying italian-type breakfast drink. this is why european people are thinner than americans!

honestly, you could add a medium full-butter croissant (231 calories, 12 grams of fat) to this european delight and still suffer approx. 40% less calories and roughly 80% less fat than are packed in that stupid frappuchino . . .

double check my math, dear readers, but i think that anyway you look at it, you're better off with an italian-style beverage and even a little butter treat than one of these american creations.

and which would you rather have?

posted by fortune | 11:08 AM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments