PODcast Newsletter, Issue 11

Pronouncing Italian Roaster's Names
Miscela d'Oro... Just how do the Italians pronounce "Mixtures of Gold"? Misk-el-a-DUH-or-oh? Not quite. Being born and raised in Texas, Italian is hardly my native language. But let's try to get a reasonable approximation of how these wonderful products are pronounced by native speakers. With the help of Hausbrandt's Sergio Panu — a native of Genoa — PodMerchant presents our...

Italian Roaster (Torrefattore) Name Pronunciation Guide:
When possible we've used common words (e.g. "love") to convey the sound. Also, the use of the tilde ("~") indicates that the sound is held for a little extra time as the leading syllable bridges to the next syllable.

Amigos Caffe : ah-MI-ghos cuff~FAY (Not Italian, but Spanish, of course)

Attiassi : AHT~tee-BAHS~see

Caffè Bristot : cuff~FAY brees-TOT

Caffè del Doge : cuff~FAY dell DOE-jay (the Doge was the Venetian Grand Duke)

Caffè Gioia : cuff~FAY joy-yah

Caffè Mako : cuff~FAY mah-koh

Compagnia dell'Arabica : KOHM-pahn-NEE-ah dell ah-rahb-ee-kuh

Danesi Caffè : duhn-nay-zee cuff~FAY

Espressione : Es-prays~see-OHN-nay (an invented marketing name)

Hausbrandt : house-brahnt (an Austrian family name of the original founder — not an Italian name)

Illy Caffè : EEL~lee cuff~FAY

Izzo Caffè : EET-soh cuff~FAY

Jolly Caffè : JAWL~lee cuff~FAY

Lavazza : love-AHTS-ah

Lucaffé : LHOO-cuff~FAY

Miscela d'Oro : Mee-SHAY-lah-DOOR-oh ("sc" always prounced "sh")

Segafredo Zanetti : say-gah-FRAY-doh Zah-NAYT~tee

And lastly, two other very important Italian words for us coffee lovers:

Torrefattore : tohr~ray-faht~toh-ray, which means "roaster," and

Torrefazione : tohr~ray-fahts-yo-nay, which is the roasting process.
 

For your maximized espresso enjoyment, we present this issue's tip:

Tip No. 10:
When powering-up new machine you should immediately run the pump until water issues from the brew head. Failure to do so may cause the boiler heater to burn out prematurely. Without water in the boiler, the heating element can easily overheat and burn out. This applies any time a machine's boiler may be dry — for instance if emptied before moving or storage.
 

Three new products have been placed on our virtual store shelves this month.

PodMerchant is pleased to be carrying the extremely exclusive 100% Kona espresso pods from Aloha Island. This coffee is single estate, 100% Arabica, low acidity and pesticide free. Aloha Island produces hand crafted products from cherries grown only on their plantation in Kona on the island of Hawaii. All phases of production -- growth, harvesting, washing, drying, sorting, and roasting are controlled by this small company dedicated to extreme quality. The result is a truely exquisit — and justifiably expensive — cup of coffee.
 
We've carried Compagnia dell'Arabica products from the day we opened. We are now adding their "Biologica" — Organic Agriculture espresso pods. 100% pure Arabica, organically grown and pesticide free. This coffee comes exclusively from certified and controlled plantations in which small holders have been growing their coffee without the aid of chemical fertilisers and pesticides for generations. These farmers create mixed plantations where coffee grows together with huge fruit trees helping to keep a clean and fertile soil while respecting the earth's natural cycles.
 
Urnex has just come out with a home version of their industrial descaler. Dezcal Activated Scale Remover is specifically formulated to quickly and effectively descale the hot water tanks and components of coffee and espresso machinery. By removing mineral deposits which clog and impair brewing equipment, Dezcal allows machines to perform at optimal levels. Dezcal is non-toxic and bio-degradable.
 
A reminder of last month's news: We've added the option of a customer log-in screen in the checkout process. This can save you the effort of repeatedly entering your billing and shipping info. We wish to reiterate that we do not save your credit card number — it must be entered each time (your credit card number is not stored nor can we read it. It is transmitted securely through an encrypted connection — shopping with PodMerchant is safe!).
 

PODcast has previously reported the anti-oxident properties of coffee / caffeine, and on coffee's benefits for liver disease. Further good news for coffee drinkers are coffee's possible roll in preventing or delaying Parkinson's Disease, as reported by WebMD:

"...a new study was released showing that men who don't drink coffee are two to three times as likely to get the disease as are men who do drink coffee."

Want more info? Check out this Google Search on coffee's benefits for Parkinson Disease.
 

PODcast subscribers get a 10% discount coupon with each issue. Just enter the code below on the Shipping Selection screen during checkout.

• Only one coupon per subscriber per issue.
• PODcast coupons cannot be used with other coupons.
• Coupon expires 35 days after the newsletter is published, or when the next issue is published, whichever comes first.
• Coupons are only valid for PODcast subscribers — we check use of coupons against the subscriber list.

10% off your next order. — Enter code: XXXXXXXX (subscribers only)