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The coffee Gods have aligned and brought together two of our favorites from the coffee industry: Handsome Coffee Roasters and Joe the Art of Coffee.  For two days, Handsome co-founder Michael Phillips is running the coffee bar at Joe’s Pro Shop in Chelsea (131 West 21st Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues).  Phillips will be on the bar today, from 8am-11am, and is hosting a public cupping tomorrow at 10am.

While this hookup won’t last until the end of summer, or the weekend for that matter, it is one you certainly don’t want to miss.

No, I’m not talking about the early AM hours of a frat house.  I’m talking about a one-of-a-kind breast cancer fundraiser going down tonight at Joe the Art of Coffee’s Pro Shop in Chelsea (131 West 21 Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues).  You can help raise money by entering the $20 latte art contest or, if you’re like me and can barely brew French press coffee, you can make a donation and enjoy free beer, coffee, and help raise money for a noble cause.

Contest sign-ups begin at 7pm, and the first pour is at 7:30pm.  See you there! (photo courtesy of Sprudge.com)

Beginning today and running through August 24, Handsome Coffee Roasters and its founder, World Barista Champion Michael Phillips, will dole out free iced coffee at Brooks Brothers’ new Flatiron Store at 901 Broadway (corner of East 20th Street) from 2pm-5pm.  I always imagined Brooks Brothers as a hunting-dog-and-single-malt-on-the-rocks kinda place but, hey, I’m not one to turn down free iced coffee.  (photo courtesy of the Greenists)

If you missed the Mermaid Inn’s Sunday night Lobsterpalooza, you can redeem yourself by heading to their Tuesday night Crab Boil.  For $24, you get a bucket of Maryland Blue Crabs, potatoes, corn, and corn bread.  Wash it down with a Brooklyn Pilsner, Sixpoint Sweet Action and/or a Blue Point Toasted Lager, and you’ll swear you’re in seafood heaven.

One bit of advice: wear the bib they give you!  I had to replace the shirt I wore the first time because I was too proud to wear the bib.

Not so fast on that $1 billion buyout for Peet’s Coffee & Tea.  Apparently, Peet’s shareholders feel the company is worth MORE than $1 billion, and have filed a shareholders’ derivative suit against Peet’s board of directors to put the takeover on cold brew status, at least for the time being.  You can read more about the suit, here: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/peets-coffee-tea-inc-peet-investor-lawsuit-to-stop-takeover-announced-by-shareholders-foundation-2012-07-31

Have these plaintiffs/shareholders tasted Peet’s?  I can’t believe they got a $1 share, let alone the reported $73.50 a share.  I’ve had Peet’s several times on the Left Coast, but my favorite experience has to be at this year’s NYC Coffee and Tea Festival, when their sales rep insisted I put milk and sugar in my coffee before I even tasted it.  You know your coffee sucks when you recommend doing that. If Peet’s is worth a $1 billion, can you imagine what a company that produced great, hell, even good coffee, would be worth?!?

Oh, and of course, now Starbucks wants in on the Peet’s action: http://community.nasdaq.com/News/2012-07/market-chatter-peets-coffee-and-tea-rumored-to-attract-starbucks-bid-shares-trade-above-buyout-price.aspx?storyid=160095

Summertime in SoHo just got hotter: as of this morning, Café Integral is carrying Ovenly baked goods—scones, “shorties,” etc. Unlike most hookups, this one is based on commonsense and non-impaired judgment, and is sure to last; unlike TomKat.

Café Integral is located inside American Two Shot (135 Grand Street), and is on a mission to source, roast, and deliver the highest quality Nicaraguan coffee in the City, and beyond. You can read more about them, here: http://wp.me/P2j9Nt-d. Ovenly is rapidly ascending the ranks of premier bakeries in the City, and recently opened their first brick and mortar at 31 Greenpoint Avenue. I’m addicted to their sugar-free scones (read more about that, here: http://wp.me/p2j9Nt-bc) and challenge anyone to find a better sugar-free scone, or any scone for that matter.