La Cimbali’s Elstree Office Have a Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day

Because it's almost Christmas, La Cimbali has jumped into the Christmas Spirit of the season. What better way to celebrate the season than to share the blessings with the community and then some.

Just last Friday, 12th December 2014, we celebrated the third Save the Children's Christmas Jumper Day. We are happy to report that it was a record-breaking year thanks to the overwhelming support of the people who popped on their pullovers up and down the country.

The concept is simple: individuals and businesses to take part, all that is needed is to wear a Christmassy woolly jumper and donate some money to the very worthy cause. 

This year the UK government also revealed that they would double the money by matching every pound donated.  All money raised will go towards helping save children’s lives worldwide, including those affected by Typhoon Haiyan in The Philippines, and just £2 could pay for potentially life-saving antibiotics to treat three babies with infections.

A couple of months ago, La Cimbali’s London Regional Service Coordinator Kate Burford decided to get the Elstree office in the Christmas spirt and help with this very good cause. 

Kate says “I asked everyone who was working on Friday 12^th to put on their favourite Christmas jumper and bring in £1 or more if they wished.  To make it more fun and raise even more money, we also decided to run a competition in the form of a sweepstake to ‘guess the picture on the jumper’"

So the day finally arrived and after constant badgering, Kate managed to get an amazing 30 people from the office to take part! Kate’s enthusiasm paid off as the office raised £40 for the Save the Children charity which was impressive as the office is fairly small. 

Kate summed up the day; “It was very festive with everyone getting involved creating a relaxed atmosphere but also a productive day at work.  There was Christmas music playing all day long and even Christmas croissants for breakfast too!  We had all sorts of jumpers being worn, from a Christmas Minion through to a reindeer that lit up!  The big reveal took place at 3pm – and Contract and Invoicing Administrator, Chelsea Ryder was the lucky winner of the ‘guess the picture on the jumper’ competition, receiving £30.  The day was really successful and we are looking forward to doing it all again next year!”

Truly, what better way to celebrate Christmas then having fun with friends while helping others as well!

For more information regarding the Save the Children charity please visit:

www.savethechildren.org.uk

Why it is easier to spill your coffee than your beer this Christmas?

Celebrations for this Christmas and New Year will be sure to fill restaurants, bars and cafes as these places serve as areas for reunions or just to take a break and catch up with friends and family. 

The staff at these establishments will be busier than usual as they carry yours and your friend's full drinks to your table.  You think this is easy?  It's actually considered treacherous!

If you ask anyone who has had the experience of carrying coffee through a very busy café, they will tell you that spilling drinks on the sides of the cups is really easy.  But carrying beer – even if you have had one too many….. is so much easier! 

Scientists think they know why, and it’s all to do with the beer’s foamy head!

Researchers have recently studied the waves created by people carrying different drinks to demonstrate that foam reduces sloshing, and dampens the waves themselves.  This knowledge could one day be used to work out better ways of transporting huge quantities of liquid more safely and efficiently. 

Using a high speed camera, the study set out to prove that coffee is tricky to carry, whereas beer is so much easier. 

It filmed a moving stage and fluid with, and without a head of foam, and the creation of sudden movement.  The research showed that just a few layers of bubbles are all that is needed for the effect to work, and it doesn’t matter if it is foam on a pint of Guinness or Heineken – it reduces the sloshing and is very efficient at damping the waves. 

The foam is efficient because of viscous dissipation where the ‘thickness’ or viscosity of a fluid takes energy from its motion and transforms it into heat energy.  As the waves form and the beer travels, the foam on the beer rubs against the walls of the glasses, and this rubbing causes a lot of energy, which results in damping. 

The effect is not seen in cups of coffee, which do not have any foam on top of them.  That's why coffee spills more easily than beer.

To conclude, the more foam a drink contains, the less likely it is to slosh around. 

Although the liquid used for this study was beer, this study could one day be the way to help create better ways of transporting large quantities of liquid with more safety. This should be applied more to industrial loads in the form of cargo.

So, this festive period when you are crossing a busy room with a few beers in your hand, trying not to drop them – be thankful that it’s not hot coffees you are carrying!

Tea vs Coffee….. La Cimbali look into the different health benefits they can provide

That first cup of coffee or tea of the day is always something to look forward to as it helps wake us up in the morning. We always hear of people who cannot start their day without either of the two. Are you one of them?

So of these two popular drinks, which do you think has the most number of health benefits?

There is currently constant debate on the risks, benefits and dangers of consuming these drinks regularly, that it's hard for us to know which one is really better. However, it was shown in recent studies that coffee and tea can be good for you in various ways.

The study draws together key facts from a range of studies on the health benefits of tea and coffee, giving connoisseurs of both a reason to stick to their favourite drink. 

Tea time

It states that tea may prevent the development of type 1 diabetes, cut the risk of a heart attack and protect against obesity, heart disease and cancer. 

The results of one study also found that people who drank black tea four times a day for six weeks were found to have lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol.  However, one word of warning from one study said that by simply adding milk (which many people do) may stop the benefit that it has against cancer.

• The main health benefits of tea drinking that the studies revealed included:
• 3 to 4 cups of tea a day can cut the chance of a heart attack 
• It helps to prevent type 1 diabetes and slow its progression once developed
• Contains fluoride which protects teeth 
• Green tea may protect against lung cancer
• Green tea can reduce the risk of oesophageal cancer in women by up 60 per cent 
• Green and white tea contains anti-oxidants which may have anti-ageing potential
• Tea is hydrating

The Coffee Cup

In the past, coffee was normally thought to be the less healthy drink of the two. However, the recent studies show that coffee also has a number of health benefits.

The studies revealed that coffee too may help prevent diabetes but not type 1 (the same as tea) but type 2.  It can also protect the liver against damage – especially cirrhosis and liver cancer, plus reduce heart disease and the risk of Alzheimers.

• The main health benefits of drinking coffee that the studies revealed included:
• Decreasing the risk of gout in men over 40 
• Reducing the risk of Alzheimer's disease
• Reducing the risk of dying of heart disease
• Improving short term memory and reaction times especially in the elderly
• Chemicals found in coffee can be used to make new drugs to treat heart disease and insomnia 
• Caffeine in coffee increases the effectiveness of painkillers 

So what are you waiting for? Why not grab a cup of hot, great-tasting coffee brewed from your favorite La Cimbali espresso maker?

Start your day right today. A coffee a day, according to these studies, helps to keep the doctor away. But remember, moderation is always the key.

La Cimbali UK reveals the impact of Ebola on coffee supplies and prices

Ebola has certainly made headlines this year. The world watched in sadness and fear as news of the virus spreading in affected areas killed people.

The Ebola virus outbreak, which has now killed more than 4,000 people, has left the residents of countries like Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea struggling to cope with food shortages and spiking prices. 

In these countries where poverty rates are already high, economists have said that these problems could have an impact on the trading of such commodities as coffee and cocoa long after the outbreak is over.

This is due to the restrictions on the movement of people and goods as well as the death toll, as supply of agricultural products fall and prices rise which is commonly in demand and supply.

The outbreak has had a major effect on all commodities from these areas.  Coffee production has fallen by half, cocoa is down by a third, while palm oil production is down 75%.  In addition to this, many foreign companies have withdrawn their workers, and airlines have reduced their flights which has caused further related problems in the service sector.

However, it is not only these three countries that have trading problems stemming from Ebola. The neighbouring countries of Ghana and the Ivory Coast – the world’s largest cocoa-producing nations could also be affected soon too as the virus could hinder transportation etc.

La Cimbali’s Coffee Specialist Rob Ward says “Most of the countries around the affected places of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea are predominantly Robusta producers so the crisis may have the potential to affect lower grade coffee, instant coffee, and even some more traditional Italian coffee blends. 

Then there is the danger that the price may go up even more on speciality coffee as demand increases.  However, the good news is that other areas of the world (outside of Africa) currently unaffected by the Ebola outbreak produce large amounts of coffee that could fill the gap including; Vietnam who produce 24 million bags (60 kg a bag) of Robusta a year, Brazil who produce 36 million bags and Columbia who produce 11 million bags.”

Rob continues “Thankfully, the Ebola crisis seems to be slowly getting under control so I am confident that coffee supplies and prices will remain to be relatively unaffected by the crisis.”

This is certainly good news for coffee lovers around the world.

So while the medical professionals continue their search for further control of Ebola, coffee makers around the world make sure that researchers' coffee don't ever go out of stock!