Not so long ago, if you ordered a cup of coffee in South Africa you needed to specify "filter" to avoid getting instant.

A decade ago, there was no cafe culture, nowhere to go for a flat white and certainly no expectation of locally roasted beans.

Those days are gone. Specialist coffee shops did nearly four times the business here in 2012 as in 2007.
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Dunkin' Donuts' bid to tout their java exclusively as "Best coffee in America" has been refused by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on the grounds that the desired trademark is "merely laudatory and descriptive of the alleged merit of applicant’s services and the goods featured therein," according to the Boston Globe.

For those readers not in the habit of deeply perusing the USPTO's website as part of their leisure reading, "coffee" is defined as "a hot, slightly bitter drink made by pouring hot water over brown powder consisting of coffee beans that have been ground" and "best" as "used for referring to the person or thing that is the most satisfactory, appropriate, pleasant, effective, of the highest quality, etc."
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While you're frying up some eggs and bacon, we're cooking up something else: a way to celebrate today's food holiday.

November 23 is National Espresso Day!

NATIONAL ESPRESSO DAY! NATIONAL ESPRESSO DAY! NATIONAL ESPRESSO DAY! NATIONAL ESPRESSO DAY! NATIONAL ESPRESSO DAY!
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On pins and needles awaiting the results of November's election, or falling asleep combing through the latest polling data? The answer might be more convenient than you think.

The 7-Eleven chain of stores is running a fourth "7-Election" campaign to predict the winner of the 2012 presidential election. While the method - having customers select either a red Romney or blue Obama cup for their coffee - is decidedly unscientific, the results in previous installments have closely mirrored those of the last two elections, and accurately predicted the winner in all three.
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Two years ago, I met Square CEO Jack Dorsey at Third Rail, one of his favorite coffee shops in downtown New York. He held up a small plastic square and told me that the future of payments was in this tiny device.

The entire industry was about to change, he said.

Dorsey was in the middle of a major change himself. Recently ousted from Twitter, the company he cofounded, he rebounded by shifting his famously intense focus to a new pain point: the way we pay.
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Samantha Reichman is an intern on CNN Early Start and Starting Point. She is a senior at The College of William and Mary, a coffee fiend and a trained barista. She blogs at Alimentación. All pictures taken at Blue Bottle Coffee in Manhattan.

As local coffee culture seems to be approaching critical mass, the need for a superior, distinctive product is becoming even more pressing.

Caffeine aficionados are also experiencing a phase of experimentation. Myriad styles of coffee preparation and presentation combined with selective sourcing allow for unprecedented levels of personal flair. But can individuality truly be achieved at an espresso bar?
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Drivers love fancy technology extras packed in their car and Fiat is hoping their latest innovation may be the best yet – one that can save you a trip to your favorite coffee store.

But the car designers new innovative addition to their latest line, due out in Italy in October, is landing them in some hot water with some consumers concerned about it adding to a mounting list of things that distract drivers. However, the car maker says, don't rush to judgement, you can't brew up a cup unless your car is stopped.
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Good news, java junkies: Researchers have found the more coffee you drink, the more you may be protecting yourself against skin cancer.

According to a new report published in the journal Cancer Research, drinking more caffeinated coffee could lower your chances of developing basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer.
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5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe.

With temperatures climbing on the first day of summer, more people are reaching for a cooler version of their morning java. Instead of watered down iced coffee, try something that's cool from the start: cold-brew coffee.

Cold-brew coffee is indicative of its name: coffee grounds are brewed with cold, cool or room temperature water for a period of time (much longer than your average hot brew), and upon completion, served over ice.

"Cold-brew coffee is perfect for summer," says Ross Beamish of Caffé Vita. "It has a remarkably low acid content, maintains a caffeine content similar to traditional hot processes, lasts a long time and is very easy to prepare. It’s surprisingly mild, refreshing, and perfect for a warm day. It also makes a delicious addition to mixed drinks."

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