Will.i.am, Wake Up and Smell the Coffee

How we love our coffee. Coffee fans can talk coffee all day, and coffee metaphors probably pop up quite often in our talk. We all occasionally say, “Don’t cry over spilled coffee”, or “Don’t spill the (coffee) beans”, or “Wake up and smell the coffee”. We could go on, but the point is, we know how to use coffee as a descriptor in many contexts.

Recently on an online gossip site, celebrity Will.i.am was quoted as making a comparison between "x Factor" star Cher Lloyd and coffee beans. He was thinking of the saying about comparing apples to oranges, but he digressed into a little speech about coffee. In so doing, he revealed that he actually is unaware of the history and versatility of coffee. No geek he, obviously.

In stating that apples could be eaten or juiced, but coffee beans can only be used for a drink, he is missing out on a world of delicious tastes offered by coffee in its many uses. Will.i.am - put this in your coffee cup and drink it: Besides a brewed drink, coffee beans can be eaten as a roasted bean, usually coated with chocolate. Ground beans can be used in a meat baste/marinade for meat - such as in the Coffee Glazed Turkey recipe on ROASTe. Coffee beans add a hint of sweetness to spaghetti sauce. Coffee flavoring is used in many kinds of candy and cakes, not to mention coffee liqueurs.

If Will.i.am were a coffee geek, he might know of many non-edible uses for coffee as well. It can be used in dyes for hair, paper and fabric; garden mulch; fireplace cleaning; exfoliating the face; in cosmetics; cleaning greasy pans; cleaning various parts of the body, and on and on. Apples have a variety of uses as well, but coffee really is a tremendous bargain when we realize how many ways we can enjoy – and speak - it.