Zero gravity coffee cup
image from NASA TV
Those guys at NASA are at it again. Not satisfied with ink pens that write upside down, now they have coffee cups that won’t spill that last drop.
NASA astronaut Don Pettit loves his coffee. So it comes as no surprise that he found a way to drink coffee from a cup, instead of the traditional straw, on his day off Sunday aboard the International Space Station.
Drinking any liquid in the weightless environment of space could be a messy affair. With hot coffee, it could be a potentially scalding affair. So astronauts use silver pouches and plastic straws to sip anything from water to orange juice to Pettit’s beloved space java.
“We can suck our coffee from a bag, but to drink it from a cup is hard to do because you can’t get the cup up to get the liquid out, and it’s also easy to slosh,” Pettit told Mission Control while sending a video of his new invention to Earth.
Starbucks red cup can only mean one thing
We must be getting close to the holidays.
Starbucks does a great job of marketing. They extend their brand in many directions, perhaps expanding too quickly and outgrowing their markets. However, they typically have a good grasp on the seasons and their customers’ tastes during certain periods of the year.
So now when you pull through a drive thru at Starbucks – and let’s face it, the drive thru at Starbucks is remarkably fast, compared with Subway for example – your coffee is contained by the festive red holiday design, complete with pine trees and doves.
Maybe it’s the little things, commercial as they may be, that you notice at the end of a long week.
Just smell, don’t drink, the coffee
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New Starbucks logo
So what do you think of Starbucks’ new logo? The mermaid shows more. The logo is brown instead of green.
Free coffee from Starbucks
Starbucks will now serve up an everyday brew. Hmmm, and I thought the lattes I ordered there were of the everyday variety already. This seems a little too marketing driven.
But you can get a free cup tomorrow.
“To celebrate the launch, it will give away free 8-ounce cups of Pike Place Roast — named after its first store in Seattle’s famed public market — at more than 7,000 U.S. stores from 11 to 11:30 a.m.”
Now we’re talking.
Starbucks recently opened a location at Britton and Broadway, diagonally across from the OPUBCO building. I know I spend enough money at the McDonald’s across the street, and I certainly buy my share of Starbucks at any number of their locations.
Seems the everyday variety coffee is a big deal to Starbucks. They embargoed the story on their web site. I doubt they care that word has leaked out.
Here’s more on the coffee:
“Chairman and Chief Executive Howard Schultz touted Pike Place Roast for its bold flavor, smooth finish and “subtle, rich flavors of cocoa and toasted nuts.”
It will be freshly roasted, hand-scooped, freshly ground and brewed in small batches that sit for no longer than 30 minutes. It will be brewed, both regular and decaf, alongside rotating coffees of the week, and sold by the whole bean for $9.95 per pound.”
Apparently this is why Starbucks shut down its stores for a few minutes in February: to train its baristas.
It’s cold in Orlando
I won’t lie. It’s cold today. Overcast, breezy and cold. How cold? iPhone weather reports 48, and I’m pretty sure it’s warmed up in the past 3 hours I’ve been up.
And what’s up with people’s dedication to Starbucks? Nothing against Starbucks, I’ve spent my share of cash on their brew. But here at the Marriott World Center, there is a Starbucks in the lobby. And people will line up 20 deep and wait forever for their drink. That’s crazy.
Maybe they don’t know there is a coffee shop downstairs that isn’t as busy. $2.50 for a large.
I know, it’s not the same.
