Used grounded coffees may not be drinkable but there are plenty of usage for it. Curbly.com listed down Top 10 Uses For Used Coffee Grounds. Among them include using them as Deodorizer to get rid of food prep smells on your hands, as nutrients for your plants, as insect repellant (yes, you heard me right) and whole lot more.

Read the rest of Top 10 Uses For Used Coffee Grounds

Popularity: 7% [?]

Would you pay 1,000 yen or 8 US Dollars for a cup of coffee? At least it’s not as expensive as cat poo.

An employee of Tsukioka Co. Ltd poses with a cup of coffee which contains floating gold characters (© REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (JAPAN))

As part of the 20th Interphex Japan, Asia’s largest pharmaceutical industry exhibition, in Tokyo June 20, 2007, a staff poses with a cup of coffee which contains floating gold characters - in Kanji, which simply means “longevity”. According to the company, the edible pure gold helps to refresh human body.

(Via News on Japan)

Popularity: 6% [?]

Who said you need to queue up in Starbucks every morning for your dose of Espresso?

Now, you can get Starbucks “Doubleshot” Espresso in the can. It tastes just like the real thing. The espresso may not be as strong but it still can give some good dose of caffeine boost in the morning, especially for the sleepy hogs. This is not black coffee as it contains milk and of course, espresso.

Starbucks “Doubleshot” Espresso

Really good stuff from Japan. Available at Isetan supermarket.

Popularity: 11% [?]

A range of French Café coffees - from left, Caramel Macchiato, Cappuccino and Café au lait

Recently, I saw a few coffee drinks from Isetan supermarket and decided to buy them. The name is French Café but I believed it’s made in Japan with all the Japanese wordings on it. Some of the flavors include Caramel Macchiato, Cappuccino and Café au lait. There are at least a couple of other flavors.

The Cappuccino tastes quite strong with a deep and rich flavor. You can actually taste the aroma of the coffee despite the fact that it is a can version. It’s almost like a freshly-brewed coffee! Whereas Caramel Macchiato has a sweeter flavor than the others. While, Café au lait tastes like latte (au lait means latte in French), not bad at all. In English, it means milk coffee.

Definitely “must-buy” for coffee lovers.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Starbucks Azuki Frappuccino Blended Cream

Yesterday, my friend and I went to try the most anticipated Starbucks Azuki Frappuccino @ Starbucks KL Sentral but turned out disappointed.

Reasons? First of all, both of us were not awared that Azuki Frappuccino has two type of flavors as the print ad shows only one drink. Thus, we anticipated a coffee + red bean (Azuki) flavor but somehow, we found out that “blended cream” actually only means milk + red bean. I don’t usually go to Starbucks for non-coffee drink except Hot Chocolate. Furthermore, a newspaper advertorial has written that Azuki Frappuccino is coffee mixed with red bean. I was dumbfounded. The print ad could be clearer than it is.

I was quite furious and went back to the barista to exchange for a blended coffee version. At first, he refused. After much hesitation and negotiation, he finally agreed to give me the Azuki Frappuccino blended coffee with a sour face. I always thought Starbucks hire friendly people. I was wrong.

However, Azuki Frappuccino blended coffee tastes a lot of better than the blended cream version. Not as sweet as you can actually taste the red bean better. Maybe it ain’t as sweet because of the sour face the barista gave me. LoL!

Popularity: 100% [?]

Starbucks Azuki Frappuccino Blended Cream

Starbucks Azuki Frappuccino Blended Cream is a new drink from Starbucks that uses red bean mixed with coffee bean. Perfect drink for the summer.

Have you tried it yet?

Please note this drink is only available at certain countries (i.e. Malaysia, Singapore) and not at every Starbucks.

Popularity: 43% [?]

Have you tried “Wong Lo Kat” Herbal Drink in can? I have tried it numerous times and found it quite soothing. Unlike the traditional herbal drink, “Wong Lo Kat” is sweetened even though it says no preservatives on the can.

Wong Lo Kat Herbal Drink

The writings on the can says:

The origin of Chinese Herbal Drink dating from the Qing Dynasty, made from selected herbal ingredients using advanced scientific technique based on traditional recipe.

Currently retailing at MYR 2.20 at most supermarkets, mini markets and groceries stores in Malaysia.

Popularity: 37% [?]

Bongsen is a French-Vietnamese restaurant located on Level 4 in Suria KLCC, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This was a good place to try out not only the Vietnamese cuisine with French flavor but also the Vietnamese coffee!

Vietnamese Drip Coffee is one of its kind type of coffee. Like the name, the coffee is served with a small pot on the top that has coffee dripping down to a cup. Vietnamese Drip Coffee has an option of black or white. I chose the white coffee and despite having milk in it, the coffee tastes really strong and bitter even for a coffee lover like me. Overall, it’s pretty good.

Vietnamese Drip Coffee

While I had Vietnamese Drip Coffee, my friend ordered Vietnamese Coffee with Ice-cream as she preferred a cold drink. I believe the Vietnamese Coffee with Ice-cream is the same coffee as Vietnamese Drip Coffee except it is filled with lots of ice and ice-cream. As usual, the ice and ice-cream dilutes the aroma of the coffee.

Vietnamese Coffee with Ice-cream

Popularity: 11% [?]

Real Power is Real Madrid C.F. Official Drink. It’s an energy drink and contains high level amount of caffeine. Like most energy drinks, Real Power contains taurine (carbohydrates), Glucoronolactone, caffeine, vitamins B12 and B8.

Funny though, the drink has a very strong flavor of jackfruit, a native fruit of southwestern India and Sri Lanka and Malaysia. Unless you love the taste of jackfruit, you won’t like this energy drink for sure.

Real Power Energy Drink

Alternatively, there is a Sports Drink version of Real Power.

For more information, visit www.realpowerenergy.com

Note: The Official Sports Drink is in white while the Energy Drink is in blue. However, the Energy Drink available in Malaysia is in white can.

Popularity: 14% [?]

As of May 2007, all U.S. company-owned Coffee Bean locations (in the U.S.) are Certified Green Restaurants. Coffee Bean claims to be working with Green Restaurant Association to improve their environmental practices. But Starbucks has already long practices “green”.

As a Certified Green Restaurant™, The Coffee Bean® has already implemented the following steps in all of its domestic company-owned locations:

• Recycling in all stores possible.
• Installed Energy and Water Efficient Spray Valves.
• Installed High Efficiency Lighting, Summer 2007.
• Implemented Mug reuse policy for Team Member to cut down on paper cup use.
• Changed napkins to non-bleached 30% post consumer recycled paper.
• Changed all paper towels to 82% post consumer recycled paper.
• Changed all bathroom paper products to up to 49% post consumer recycled non-bleached paper.

Though, it does not seem very convincing, at least, it is a good start towards a better and greener environment.

Popularity: 7% [?]