In a world trying to go green, from electric cars to eco-friendly fashion, brothers Dave and Mike Hartkop are making their mark with a kitchen staple. In 2004, the siblings created a solar-powered coffee roaster--made from an old satellite dish, mirrors, and a broccoli steamer. Their vision has since grown into Solar Roast Coffee, the only "commercial solar-thermal coffee roaster in the world"--replacing gas burners normally found in traditional roasters with a large solar reflector, capable of generating 900 degree Fahrenheit temps to bake the beans. The resulting coffee is carbon neutral, 100% USDA Certified Organic, and eco-friendly. Solar Roast Coffee currently has 12 different kinds of coffee--ranging from the ever-popular Sumatra to the exotic Bolivia Organic.

Given that the coffee culture is steeped in tradition...Are the rituals of roasting too sacred to mess with or are you willing to give Solar Roast Coffee a test sip?

Tho
Writing Department

Antilock brakes, XM radio, and a coffeemaker. For years now, car and espresso machine manufacturers have toyed with the idea of merging the two passions--creating a coffeemaker that could become standard automotive equipment. Audi even tested a concept car, the Roadjet, featuring a fully functioning, single-serve WMF espresso machine built into the armrest. And, it wasn't so long ago that a Nepresso InCar Single Serve Coffee Machine Concept took home the top prize at the manufacturer's annual Design Contest. The InCar was designed to fit into the center console of a vehicle and used existing Lungo capsules to deliver beverages on the road.

It appears there may be a market for mobile coffee. A factoid on wholelattelove.com featured coffee enthusiast Dan Haller's tricked out Audi A6, with a Jura Capresso 1500 mounted to the back seat. (What is up with the Audi-espresso combo?) Why is it taking so long to make the automotive-coffeemaker marriage a reality? Please, don't make our graphic designer strap her Tassimo to a car seat!

Tho
Writing Department

Talk about ambitious! A team of eight recreated the world-famous Mona Lisa in only three hours. And, here's the kicker, they did it with coffee!

This year's The Rocks Aroma Festival in Sydney, Australia welcomed more than 130,000 coffee lovers to the day-long java celebration. The undisputed toast of the town was the 20'x13' rendering of Leonardo DaVinci's Renaissance masterpiece. Created using cups containing long blacks, flat whites, and lattes, the coffee sculpture delighted visitors from across the world by capturing the spirit of the painting, including... yes, Mona Lisa's enigmatic smile.

Event organizer Elaine Kelly, of the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, told the Daily Telepgraph "Each coffee cup was filled with varying amounts of milk to create the different sepia shades of the painting." Regarding the decision to recreate the Mona Lisa, Kelly said, "Once we had the idea of creating an image out of coffee cups, we searched for something iconic to reproduce--and opted for the most iconic painting in history...The Mona Lisa has been reproduced so many times in so many different mediums but, as far as we know, never out of coffee."

If you missed your chance to see the "Coffee Mona Lisa" live at The Rocks Aroma Festival, don't worry, we've got you covered. See it for yourself; check out the photo and video of the sculpture. Such craftsmanship! Even DaVinci would surely be impressed.

Seen any other works of java art or created some of your own? Got a coffee stain on your shirt resembling Elvis? We'd love to see them, post the pics on our Facebook page here.

Tho
Writing Department