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BOSTON (AP) -- Six Harvard University medical researchers were poisoned in August after drinking coffee that was laced with a chemical preservative, according to university officials. In an internal memo first reported in the Boston Herald's Sunday editions, the school said the coffee came from a machine near their lab that later tested positive for sodium azide, a common preservative used in labs.

You’re standing in your kitchen making coffee. You are naked, but no one else is home. It’s early in the morning and you are in the privacy of your own home. All right, so maybe you’re a little bit odd, and maybe not everyone makes coffee naked. But your house, your rules, right? That’s probably what Virginia resident Eric Williamson was thinking last Monday morning as he made himself coffee while dressed in nothing but his birthday suit. Unfortunately for Williamson, he wasn’t quite as alone as he thought. Walking through his yard were a woman and her seven-year-old son,...

BOSTON — Six Harvard University medical researchers were poisoned in August after drinking coffee that was laced with a chemical preservative, according to university officials. In an internal memo first reported in the Boston Herald's Sunday editions, the school said the coffee came from a machine near their lab that later tested positive for sodium azide, a common preservative used in labs. The six reported symptoms after drinking the coffee Aug. 26, ranging from dizziness to ringing in the ears, and one passed out. They were treated at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and later released.

Eric Williamson, from Springfield, Virginia, was brewing coffee in his kitchen when a woman and a seven-year-old boy walked past the window and saw him. The woman complained to police who arrested Williamson shortly after the incident on Monday morning. Williamson, 29, insisted he did nothing wrong and that any exposure of his private parts were accidental. "Yes I wasn't wearing any clothes but I was alone, in my own home and just got out of bed. It was dark and I had no idea anyone was outside looking in at me," he said. Williamson, who has a five-year-old daughter,...

A naked man gets arrested for making coffee in his home. Apparently, 29-year-old Eric Williamson woke up Monday at 5:30 a.m. and went downstairs to make coffee in his Virginia home. At the same time, a neighbor was out walking with her 7-year-old and passed by the house. They saw Williamson brewing up a cup of joe in the nude and called police. He was arrested for indecent exposure. Cops say they believe he wanted to be seen naked by the public. Williamson, who is father of a five-year old girl, says he's the victim. Now he's meeting with a...

An American man who made coffee in his own home while nude is facing charges of indecent exposure. Eric Williamson, from Springfield, Virginia, was brewing coffee in his kitchen when a woman and a seven-year-old boy walked past the window and saw him. The woman complained to police who arrested Williamson shortly after the incident on Monday morning. Williamson, 29, insisted he did nothing wrong and that any exposure of his private parts were accidental. "Yes I wasn't wearing any clothes but I was alone, in my own home and just got out of bed. It was dark and I...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Researchers in the United States have found another good reason to go to the local espresso bar: several cups of coffee a day could halt the progression of liver disease, a study showed Wednesday. Sufferers of chronic hepatitis C and advanced liver disease who drank three or more cups of coffee per day slashed their risk of the disease progressing by 53 percent compared to patients who drank no coffee, the study led by Neal Freedman of the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) showed. For the study, 766 participants enrolled in the Hepatitis C Antiviral Long-Term Treatment...

SPRINGFIELD, Va. A Virginia man said he is fighting the indecent exposure charge brought against him after he was spotted making coffee naked in his kitchen. Eric Williamson, 29, of Springfield, said he was home alone Monday when he walked into the kitchen naked to make coffee at about 5:30 a.m., WTTG-TV, Washington, D.C., reported Tuesday. "Yes, I wasn't wearing any clothes but I was alone, in my own home and just got out of bed. It was dark and I had no idea anyone was outside looking in at me," Williamson said. Police said an unidentified woman who was...

Don't trust the expiration dates on supermarket coffee. If you're unsure of whether you're really getting fresh-roasted coffee for the best possible cup, use a zipper-lock bag for an overnight test. If you don't want your coffee to taste like the last pot at an all-night diner, you can take a lot of steps to brew the best cup without spending a bundle. Unless you're roasting yourself, though, you're at the mercy of whoever's selling you your beans. If you're unsure the quality, or how long you've had them stashed in your cupboard, Cook's Illustrated has a good test:

Tim Hortons' coffee is as good as gold. Now the Canadian coffee giant has a restaurant secured inside the fort famous for guarding America's gold bullion. The iconic doughnut chain announced today it had opened a restaurant at Fort Knox. Open 24-hours a day, the Kentucky army facility's Tims will serve the 30,000 soldiers, relatives and civilians who live and work on the base. U.S. civilians have already had a taste of Tim Hortons with 500 locations south of the border. “Tim Hortons is privileged to serve at Fort Knox, one of the world’s most respected military bases,” David Clanachan,...

No wonder President Obama came away from Copenhagen empty-handed. Let's face it: the president doesn't have lots of experience in saying good things about the United States. The POTUS explained that he wanted the Olympics in Chicago because America needed to repair its image after what was going on during the past few years. In other words America sucks because of George Bush. This transcript of a meeting before the Denmark disaster was released by the White House, after Chicago was eliminated. One of the legacies I want to see coming out of Chicago 2016 hosting of the Games is...

There is a great movie scene from the movie Glengarry Glen Ross that most people involved in sales can recite verbatim. In the movie, Jack Lemmon is salesman, who gets up to get a cup of coffee during a sales meeting. The new Sales Manager (Alec Baldwin), screams at him “Put That Coffee Down!” Lemmon looks at him quizzically. Baldwin screams at him again, “Put That Coffee Down! ---Coffee is For Closers.” Even more than coffee, foreign policy is for closers, and unfortunately for the future of the United States, the man running our foreign policy is not a closer.

TAMPA, Florida – A Florida coffee house is brewing up a buzz by selling the rarest type of coffee in the world—‘Cat Poop Coffee’. ‘Cat Poop Coffee’ comes from the Indonesian Civet which resembles a cat and eats coffee cherries off of trees. The beans end up in the animal’s feces and the next step is to sift them by hand. The end result is a coffee bean considered a delicacy and only 500 pounds are made each year. The coffee is one of the rarest in the world. The Tampa coffee shop, shown in the attached video, paid $190...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Starbucks unveiled a brand of instant coffee Tuesday that the high-end chain says "will change the way people drink coffee." The Seattle-based company will begin selling a "ready brew" coffee called Via at all of its U.S. locations in a move designed to tap a growing market for instant coffee. "With a $21 billion global instant coffee business, and instant coffee representing 40% of overall global coffee sales, we believe Starbucks is uniquely positioned to capture a significant share of this market," said Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz, in a statement.

EVERETT — Business was brisk just before noon Thursday at the Grab-N-Go Bikini Hut, where a lone barista, clad in a skimpy pink string bikini, served up steaming vanilla lattes and an endless supply of cheerful chitchat from behind the counter of the espresso stand. Customers who waited patiently in pickups and SUVs seemed unaware that the stand — no larger than the master closet of a suburban tract house — has become ground zero in one of Everett's most pressing civic conundrums: What is appropriate behavior at drive-up businesses that serve coffee with a view? The city, inundated with...

Call it Bagelgate. The controversy involves a Larksville coffee shop, a Plymouth police officer and a $1.30 bagel. On Wednesday afternoon, witnesses say an on-duty officer in a Plymouth police sport utility vehicle held up the drive-through lane of the Curry Donuts on Route 11 waiting for a toasted bagel with a coffee he was given free. When told he had to pay for the bagel, the officer claimed he didn't have his wallet, said "If it's not free, I don't want it" and drove off. The bagel went to waste. The flap over the bagel has placed a spotlight...

Call it Bagelgate. The controversy involves a Larksville coffee shop, a Plymouth police officer and a $1.30 bagel. On Wednesday afternoon, witnesses say an on-duty officer in a Plymouth police sport utility vehicle held up the drive-through lane of the Curry Donuts on Route 11 waiting for a toasted bagel with a coffee he was given free. When told he had to pay for the bagel, the officer claimed he didn't have his wallet, said "If it's not free, I don't want it" and drove off. The bagel went to waste. The flap over the bagel has placed a spotlight...

EVERETT — Five baristas are accused of engaging in prostitution at an Everett bikini espresso stand following a two-month undercover police investigation into complaints that the women were selling more than coffee. Detectives say the women were charging up to $80 to strip down and flash customers while fixing lattes and mochas. Investigators saw the women expose their crotches, lick whipped cream off their co-workers’ private parts and pose naked for pictures inside the Grab-n-Go Espresso stand on Broadway, according to police reports obtained by The Herald on Wednesday.

CARACAS, Venezuela -- President Hugo Chavez's government is preparing to nationalize the nation's largest coffee producers, claiming the companies have refused to comply with federal price controls. Commerce Minister Eduardo Saman said he is recommending the nationalization of coffee plants belonging to Caracas-based companies Fama de America and Cafe Madrid. He did not say when the nationalizations could take place But Chavez told journalists that his government has not made a final decision on the nationalization of the plants. "If they give me an excuse, I'll nationalize them," he said. Saman said the measure had been encouraged by workers displeased...

Put down that coffee, and come out with your hands up! The owner of a Financial District tobacco shop was amazed to learn he was violating the law by offering his customers a free cup of joe while they legally puffed away on his cigars. Vince Nastri III, the third-generation owner of Barclay Rex -- where bankers, City Hall staffers, lawyers and detectives smoke while sitting in plush leather chairs or browsing in the walk-in humidor -- complained that the city is "trying to take away my livelihood over a cop of coffee." Health officials had no problem with all...

Coffee chain Starbucks, which for years raised prices without any customer pushback, said on Thursday that it is cutting prices for the first time on some drinks while boosting prices on others. The company, which announced in April that it would join other restaurant operators in fine-tuning pricing amid weak consumer demand, will cut the price of popular beverages like small coffees and lattes by 5 to 10 cents in every market, spokeswoman Valerie O'Neil said. Prices for large, complex drinks such as frappuccinos and macchiatos could go up by as much as 25 cents in some markets, but on...

Materials to keep drinks cold or hot for longer have been around for quite a while. Now a pair of German scientists has come up with a high-tech mug they claim keeps coffee at the perfect temperature. The idea came to the researchers at the Christmas market in the Bavarian town of Rosenhiem. "We got upset because the mulled wine" -- Glühwein, in German -- "was always either too hot or too cold," say Klaus Sedlbauer, the head of the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics (IBP), and his colleague Herbert Sinnesbichler. "We had to find a solution." And find a...

Oh, don't you hate it when doughnuts decide to go homophobic? The Canadian mega-giant Tim Hortons (which in Canada is the largest coffee chain in the country), has decided to co-sponsor a rally in Rhode Island next week hosted by the National Organization for Marriage. Yup, the same National Organization for Marriage that is currently leading campaigns to take away the civil rights of gays and lesbians in Maine to marry, and the same group fighting marriage equality in places like Washington, D.C., New York, New Jersey and elsewhere.

Several dozen militant backers of Hugo Chavez on Monday stormed the headquarters of an opposition TV station that the Venezuelan president has threatened to shut down amid his crackdown on private media. Activists with the UPV, a radical left-wing party that backs Chavez, forced their way past security guards to enter Globovision headquarters in Caracas and fired tear gas inside the compound, images broadcast by the TV station showed. Globovision, a small but critical station, broadcasts news programing and has been highly critical of Chavez. Chavez's government condemned the attack, although Globovision's owners said they suspected the president was behind...

CARACAS, Venezuela — The government of President Hugo Chavez has seized control of two of Venezuela's largest coffee processing plants and threatens to expropriate the businesses. Commerce Minister Eduardo Saman says officials suspect that Fama de America and Madrid might be illegally smuggling coffee out of the country to sell it at higher prices. Coffee is subject to strict government price controls in Venezuela. If investigations reveal violations of the law, Saman says officials will "propose the expropriation" of the plants.

In experiments with lab mice especially bred to develop symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, University of South Florida (USF) researchers at the Florida Alzheimer's Disease Research Center ADRC gave the aged animals the equivalent of the caffeine in five cups of coffee a day. The results? Their severe memory impairment was reversed. This study, along with other AD research by the same group of scientists, was just published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. Both studies show that caffeine significantly decreased abnormal levels of beta amyloid (the protein linked to AD) in both the brains and blood of lab rodents who...

A marathon deportation case against two Palestinian immigrants, pursued by the administrations of four U.S. Presidents over 20 years, has been dismissed. The ruling closes a Byzantine legal saga that wound its way through federal appellate courts, the U.S. Supreme Court and federal immigration boards, breaking new legal ground along the way. It ended at the Department of Homeland Security, where the dismissal order was entered Tuesday. One of the defendants, Khader Musa Hamide, said in an interview that he will never get over the experience of being under suspicion for 20 years but now "I can breathe better." A...

Some iced coffees being sold on the high street contain as many calories as a hot dinner, a cancer charity warns. The chief offender had 561 calories, others contained more than 450, and the majority had in excess of 200. It is the combination of sugar, full-fat milk and cream which appear to push some of the cool coffees into the upper echelons of the calorie scale. The World Cancer Research Fund, which identified the drinks' calories, noted healthier versions were available. The "venti" or largest version of Starbucks' Dark Berry Mocha Frappuchino - a limited offer for the summer...

Starbucks is still losing customers, but not as many as it has for the last two quarters. These days, that qualifies as welcome news. On Tuesday, Starbucks, which is based in Seattle, reported that net income in the third quarter, ended June 28, was $151.5 million, or 20 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $6.7 million and a penny a share in the same period last year. Revenue fell 6.6 percent, to $2.4 billion, from $2.6 billion a year ago. “The transformation of Starbucks business — including the success of our consumer-facing initiatives and the permanent changes...

Coffee has been in the news as being a good-for-you and bad-for-you substance, and nobody really knows what to believe. There's good news for java drinkers, which is coffee is good for you as long as you don't drink five cups in one sitting. What are the benefits? Brain: Antioxidants help prevent cell damage associated with Parkinson's disease, and caffeine prevents inflammation associated with Alzheimer's disease. Teeth: Coffee that is caffeinated breaks loose bacteria on teeth that cause enamel erosion. Oral cancer risk is also greatly diminished for coffee drinkers. Skin: Caffeine does more than stimulate your nervous system. It...

Ordering an espresso beverage can be intimidating. It may seem like everyone but you knows the lingo. They rattle off long and complicated drink orders without taking a breath. I’ll have a double tall decaf breve latte, easy foam, one Splenda. Double cupped. There could be many reasons why you have not yet been assimilated into the coffee culture. Perhaps you're more of a tea drinker. Perhaps you usually like the ice blended drinks, but today you want something hot. Or maybe four dollars for a drink always seemed excessive, until your boss gave you that Starbucks gift certificate. Whatever...

Everything Bad Is Good for You Don’t swear off stress—or chocolate or booze or tanning the natural way—just yet By Jeryl Brunner Turns out, your guilty pleasures (red wine, video games) may not be so guilty after all. And those pesky side effects of being an adult—stress, anyone?—can actually benefit you too. Read on to learn the positives of your seemingly negative habits. http://www.elle.com/Living/Society-Culture/Everything-Bad-Is-Good-for-You

Have you ever wondered why Americans drink coffee and British tea? In 1773 the Boston Tea Party went down in history as a revolt against the unfair taxes, fines and fees of King George. Secret meetings were held throughout churches in the New World seeking the wisdom of God and discussing strategies to throw off the unrestrained thievery of liberty from Britain and its cronies. The colonist believed that something had to be done and there came a time when our Founding Fathers said enough. It is said that history often repeats itself. Are we getting close to that time...

Enlarge Caffeine treatment removed the beta amyloid plaques from the brains of the Alzheimer's mice. Credit: Photo courtesy of Florida Alzheimer's Disease Research Center Coffee drinkers may have another reason to pour that extra cup. When aged mice bred to develop symptoms of Alzheimer's disease were given caffeine - the equivalent of five cups of coffee a day - their memory impairment was reversed, report University of South Florida researchers at the Florida Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. Back-to-back studies published online today in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, show caffeine significantly decreased abnormal levels of the protein linked to...

Scientists have uncovered powerful evidence that caffeine not only helps to stave off the disease but can treat it. They hope soon to follow up the initial results from animal experiments with human patient trials. US neuroscientist Dr Gary Arendash, who led the research, said: "The new findings provide evidence that caffeine could be a viable 'treatment' for established Alzheimer's disease, and not simply a protective strategy. "That's important because caffeine is a safe drug for most people. It easily enters the brain, and it appears to directly affect the disease process." A key aspect of Alzheimer's is sticky clumps...

Drinking five cups of coffee a day could reverse memory problems seen in Alzheimer's disease, US scientists say. The Florida research, carried out on mice, also suggested caffeine hampered the production of the protein plaques which are the hallmark of the disease. Previous research has also suggested a protective effect from caffeine.

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's health authorities have seized over 20,000 dollars worth of coffee mixed with sildenafil, the main ingredient in erectile dysfunction drug Viagra, a report said Sunday. "The coffee mixture had been distributed in sachets nationwide," an official was quoted as saying by the New Sunday Times newspaper. "Officers found 900 boxes containing more than 9,000 sachets of the coffee mixture which retailed for more than 80 ringgit (23 dollars) per box," the officer added without naming the coffee brand in question. Enforcement officials said the coffee was mixed with sildenafil to "perk up" drinkers beyond the usual...

We all know why Starbucks puts boxes of breath mints close to the cash register. Your morning latte can create a startling aroma in your mouth, strong enough to startle your co-workers too. But intriguing new research from Tel Aviv University by breath specialist Prof. Mel Rosenberg finds that a coffee extract can inhibit the bacteria that lead to bad breath. New laboratory tests have shown that the extract prevents malodorous bacteria from making their presence felt ― or smelt.

Coffee could hold the secret to keeping bad breath at bay. The beans contain compounds that prevent bacteria releasing the gases behind halitosis, research shows. Pinpointing the key chemicals could lead to coffee 'mints' or pastilles that stop bad breath at the source. Professor Mel Rosenberg, who has spent two decades studying the diagnosis and treatment of halitosis, actually set out to investigate why coffee causes bad breath. But his work at Israel's Tel Aviv University showed that while it may cause problems in our mouths, it has quite the opposite effect in the test tube. Adding black coffee to...

Looks like coffee is starting to perk up on Wall Street. While the broad market is struggling to hold its recent gains, shares of five of the largest publicly traded coffee companies are on a high boil. Shares of Diedrich Coffee (DDRX) are up 4,525% this year, Green Mountain (GMCR) has doubled and even Starbucks (SBUX) is up 50%. That shows that investors think consumers, despite the recession, still crave their coffee fix, though they're looking for ways to spend less, says Michael Podhorzer of research firm Sidoti. "Coffee is recession-resistant," he says. "Whether they go out for it or...

It's like something out of a barista horror movie--Poltergeist, Grounds for Dismemberment perhaps. Your fingers are caught in the demonic coffee grinder that switched on all by itself. If you own a device like the one shown in the photo, that fiction could become reality. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced that Starbucks Coffee is voluntarily recalling the Starbucks Barista® Blade Grinders and Seattle’s Best Coffee® Blade Grinders. About half a million of these were sold in Starbucks and Seattle’s Best Coffee stores nationwide from March 2002 through March 2009 for about $30. Since then, 176 people reported...

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Uganda's coffee exports and output have been unaffected by the global economic downturn and prices are expected to remain stable in the short term, its agriculture minister said on Monday. Uganda is Africa's second biggest coffee grower after Ethiopia, and exports its coffee beans mainly to Europe. "There has been no impact that we have seen from the drop in the global economy ... we forecast that prices will be stable in the short term," Aggrey Bagiire told Reuters on the sidelines of an agribusiness conference in Cape Town. The east African country earned $35.6 million...

There is no doubt that coffee is one of the world's most popular drinks. In 2005, the average Canadian drank 92 litres of coffee, or about 370 cups. However, there are many questions about coffee related to our health, particularly concerning its impact on cardiovascular disease and cancer. There is no doubt that coffee is a huge stimulant: coffee beans represent a huge source of caffeine, a substance that acts on the central nervous system to elicit stimulating effects, particularly heightened awareness and reduced drowsiness. Aside from caffeine, coffee also contains at least 800 other chemical compounds. Coffee beans also...

Bay City, Michigan - In 1994, a jury awarded a New Mexico woman $2.9 million after she was burned by spilled McDonald's coffee. Now a Bay County woman claims she's steamed at Starbucks for the same reason. Irene Bruno alleges she endured severe burns and permanent scars three years ago when a worker at a Midland County Starbucks Coffee outlet improperly secured a lid on a large cup of coffee, causing the hot liquid to spill onto Bruno's lap, inner thighs and legs. Bruno, in a lawsuit filed in May in U.S. District Court, claims the lid on the coffee...

Study: Drinking Coffee Reduces Risk of Developing Alzheimer's Finish and Swedish scientists found that middle-aged people who drink a moderate amount of coffee may significantly reduce their risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease later in life, Agence France-Presse reported. "Middle-aged people who drank between three and five cups of coffee a day lowered their risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer's disease by between 60 and 65 percent later in life," said the study’s lead researcher, Miia Kivipelto, a professor at the University of Kuopio in Finland and at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. Conducted in collaboration with the National Public...

Who knows what nightmares haunt the makers of a dream brand in trouble? Maybe trouble is too strong a word to describe Starbucks' situation. But the days of easy growth are long past and this icon of Seattle is tarnished by brutal competition, a nose dive in profitability and no clear path to regaining its groove. Maybe the worst nightmare is this: What if Starbucks is an artifact of an economy that's not coming back?...

Most people when asked about coffee will say ‘don’t drink too much, it’s not good for you’, ‘don’t drink it at night, it will keep you awake’. That might be true for a small minority, but for the majority of us there are many positive reasons why drinking a cup of coffee could well be doing us good. Coffee is one of the drinks available to keep us alert and to keep the brain firing on all cylinders. There are other drinks that can provide caffeine, the compound responsible, but none offer the other health benefits of coffee. In recent...

Drinking coffee may be good for your health, U.S. researchers say. Researchers say a cup of java might protect against diabetes, liver cancer, cirrhosis and Parkinson's disease, The Boston Globe reported Monday. "Coffee was seen as very unhealthy," said Rob van Dam, a coffee researcher and epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health. "Now we have a more balanced view. We're not telling people to drink it for health. But it is a good beverage choice." Terry Graham, chair of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Guelph in Canada noted that coffee and caffeine are not...

Caffeine addicts face higher prices for their daily fix as the wholesale cost of both coffee and sugar rise sharply because of poor crops and robust demand.

WARSAW -- After the new Starbucks opened, I walked by the place a couple of times, just to see the crowds. Strategically located midway between the university and the stock exchange, the world's best-known coffee franchise immediately attracted a well-heeled clientele. Lines twisted around inside the shop and out the door. Up and down the street, blue-jeaned students and dark-suited stockbrokers carried their white paper cups with pride, the famous green label facing outward. Yes, Starbucks has come to Warsaw at last. The brand might be out of fashion in the States; the company might be losing money. Its shares...