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Gizmodo explains the ins-and-outs for making a truly great cup of coffee.  There’s a lot of great advice! But.  For most people who buy already-grinded beans from the supermarket and throw it into Mr. Coffee the best thing you can do to take your coffee experience to the next level is to buy a conical-burr grinder and a Bodum French Press.

Drink it black until you’ve developed a palette for the varying tastes of coffee beans (buy good beans too from a place like Stumptown or your local coffee house) and then go back and read Giz’s piece and use their advice to then take your coffee making/drinking experience to a whole’nother level.

I’ve been using the French Press/burr grinder (mine’s not conical and on the low-end at $50) method for a few years now and I haven’t been disappointed.

Turns out there isn’t much of a difference at all, according to Maud Newton, who made this realization while on his book tour stop in Portland.

As we were walking back to my hotel, it occurred to me that strippers and writers aren’t very different. Both of us demonstrate our skill for the benefit of others, never knowing exactly how we will be repai… No, no. It didn’t occur to me. That’s ridiculous. Strippers and writers are nothing alike, except for their common humanity, and their outsized expectations, and their sadness when those expectations aren’t met, and their essential fragility. I hope her finals go well.

It’s also worth reading because he manages to succinctly sum up what I love about Portland, why it’s so magical if you will.

There at the coffee shop, I heard two things about Portland that would condition the rest of my time there. The first was from an older woman talking on her phone. “It’s beautiful here,” she said, even though there it was pouring rain outside. An optimist. The second was from a young guy talking to a friend of his. “Portland has tons of strip clubs,” he said. Also an optimist.

You won’t really understand unless you live hear, but no one here in Portland really wants that.  So you’ll just have to trust us when we say this is the best city in America.

“I know what people want. People like nudity, and coffee is profitable. Sure, I’d start a coffee shop, but I’d be out of work in a week,” – Donald Crabtree, proprietor of the newly opened Grand View Topless Coffee Shop in Vassalboro, Maine.

Just don’t spill.  That’s all.  Protect the puppies at all costs.  Though one wonders if women from Maine should go topless, in the winter, wouldn’t want to make assumptions about their physical appearance.

You know things are tough when the poster child for burnt-tasting expensive coffee is humbled enough to introduce not just a value menu, but now they are rolling out instant coffee.

The new product, called Via, will be sold at Starbucks stores in packs of three for $2.95 and packs of 12 for $9.95, according to the Wall Street Journal. Customers can “brew” the coffee by emptying the granules into hot water.

Vivek Varma, senior vice president of public affairs, told employees in an e-mail that Via will “absolutely replicate the taste of Starbucks coffee,” and that it is a “transformational product.”

The problem with this, however, is still the expensive price point and the notion that instant coffee tastes terrible.  It’s scraping the bottom of the coffee barrel.  In other words, what’s the target market for this product?  If you’re paying that much for instant coffee at Starbucks, then chances are you’d just as likely drop $10 buck for coffee beans to grind.

The people who are buying instant coffee, like Folgers for $2.95 a bottle, aren’t going to drop $10 for Starbucks instant coffee regardless of the taste.

Starbucks’ claim that Via tastes just as good as brewed coffee will be put to the test soon enough. Coffee guru Andrew Hetzel, who owns a coffee consultancy called Cafemakers, is skeptical.

“I have an expectation of what it will be like, and I think it will be harmful for the brand,” he says. “They’re really looking to generate revenue in the short term to meet the expectations of investors.”

Instant coffee doesn’t jibe with the Starbucks brand, but it does represent a short-term solution to sagging profits and closing stores.  But it’s not a good solution to the Seattle coffee company’s woes.

There’s no shortage of ideas on Web sites such as mystarbucksidea.com or the snarkier starbucksgossip.com, a popular rumor site for tipsters and baristas. Suggestions range from free Wi-Fi to the buzzed-about 8 oz. coffee for $1, which has already gone through trial runs but has yet to be institutionalized.

Dollar coffee makes more sense than instant coffee.  Another suggestion is to start franchising the brand and see what individual owners could do by creating a unique Starbuck’s experience.