ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 9, 1996 TAG: 9610090007
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 8 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: du jour
SOURCE: ALMENA HUGHES
THE FIRST Java The Hutt opened in a 48-square-foot space formerly occupied by a PhotoUSA booth. The second opened Sept. 30 where an automatic teller machine used to be.
"I've learned how to use space. You learn to be efficient," owner Bob Buckley said of his experiences with his (literally) small-scale gourmet coffee locations.
On opening day, Buckley and veteran Hutt coffee barista Cathy Winkler pondered where to put a plant sent by a well-wisher - as if there were a lot of choices within the attractive new black-and-white 100-square-foot digs.
The first Hutt, opened in '94, is a drive-through on the upper level of Towers Shopping Center. The latest, in the lobby of the First Union Tower at Jefferson and Salem, downtown Roanoke, is Buckley's first foray into walk-up service.
Like its predecessor, the new location will serve fine hot coffees, espresso drinks, iced drinks and baked goods. Although it's within walking distance of downtown Roanoke's landmark coffee klatch house, Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea, Buckley and Mill Mountain manager Kevin Speed anticipate the businesses complementing rather than conflicting with each other.
"We're very different operations. This is a walk-up; at Mill Mountain you sit down. Our coffee is mild roast; our darkest is more like Mill Mountain's house blend," Buckley said.
He said TV shows such as "Frasier" and "Friends" have done a lot to familiarize people with coffee culture. Latte - espresso marbelized with steamed milk - is becoming a household word, he said, naming French vanilla and mocha lattes as hands-down favorites among Hutt customers. He also predicted a bright future for the recently introduced Ultimate Mocha latte, which is topped with a funnel of chocolate whipped cream filled with crystallized Ibarra chocolate.
For people who just gained a pound or got a rush by reading the preceding sentence, Buckley added that beverages are also available in light, sugar-free and decaffeinated forms.
Buckley tentatively plans to operate 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. If you want to double check whether the Hutt is open before visiting, at least you know staff won't have to go far to answer the phone. Call 342-8240.
COOLER WEATHER and all these coffee-connected interviews inspired me to take up H&C Brand Coffee's offer to tour its plant. The tours actually were offered in April in conjunction with the opening of H&C's new retail outlet at Granby and Mary Linda in Statesman Industrial Park.
My visit could undoubtedly have been better timed, because the staff was in the middle of taking inventory. But general manager Ed Wood, one of nine offspring of H&C founder, Harold Wood, graciously gave me an eye-opening walk through the facility anyway, pointing out an equipment-repair section and machines that roast, grind, flavor and bag H&C's internationally famous products.
Wood, who is almost 73, joined the company at age 6, washing cups and pulling tags off boxes so they could be reused. Over time, he's seen changes in the 69-year-old company's ownership and locations, as well as people's palates, he said.
"Gourmet coffees have always been in the big cities. But the flavored coffees are fairly new and they seem to be spreading," he said.
The retail outlet, although small, carries a full line of gourmet coffees, gourmet teas, flavored syrups, coffee condiments, espresso pods, biscotti and related products. It's open 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Attempts to accommodate tour requests are made as often as possible. Call 342-3425.
COFFEE FANS - and tea lovers, too - will warm up to Nanelle StroopWafels and FroopWafels, delicious wafer-thin cookies whose caramel or slightly spicy apple-pear fillings, respectively, are heated and enhanced by placing the cookies for a few seconds atop a steaming hot mug of drink. StroopWafels (150 calories, 6 grams of fat per 33-gram wafer) debuted in 1993. FroopWafels (138 calories, 6 grams of fat per wafer of the same size) won two top honors at their debut at the 1996 Specialty Coffee Association of America Show in Minneapolis, Minn.
Wafel samples were being served at the new Java The Hutt, which will carry them among its bakery items. Some gourmet shops and supermarkets also will sell the products at about $6 per box of eight, or $1 per individual wafel. To find a nearby outlet or to place a mail order, call (800) 745-4658.
CRAVERS of coffee-like, caffeine-free drinks, who are seeking something new, should quaff a cup of Raja's Cup, an interesting blend of Ayurvedic herbs said to provide antioxidant health benefits. The combination of winter cherry, clearing nut, kasmard and licorice is equally at home in latte, cappuccino, an almond cheesecake or cookies. It's sold in bulk for brewing or in tea-bag type single-cup packaging. To receive a free sample, call (800) 255-8332, ext. 0422.
PEOPLE TOO YOUNG to drink coffee will enjoy a free booklet of fun decorating, activity and food ideas for Halloween. To get a copy of "Gobblin' Up the Fun," send a self-addressed envelope with 64 cents postage to Hershey's Halloween Booklet Offer, 1500 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10036.
FINALLY, an ongoing battle over a natural sweetener for coffee and other things continues to brew. Stevia, an extract from leaves of the South American plant Stevia rebaudina, is used in many countries including Israel, China, Brazil, Mexico, Korea, Germany, and most widely, Japan. It once was used in the United States, too. But in the early '90s, in what some people allege was a response to powerful lobbying by artificial-sweetener manufacturers, the Food and Drug Administration declared stevia an unsafe food additive and restricted its importation to the United States. In '95, the FDA declared that the herb could be sold if labeled as a dietary supplement, but not as a sweetener. And so Stevia is once again for sale in the states.
Politics aside, one teaspoon of refined stevia extract is equivalent in sweetness to about three cups of sugar, yet contains only about eight calories. The powder, which has a slight aftertaste on its own but is quite sugarlike in beverages, is stable at all temperatures and can therefore be used for cooking and baking. It is said to have a positive effect on the pancreas and not create a "sugar high." The antifungal is touted as usable by people with yeast conditions and as an antibacterial suitable for topical use, as well.
The controversial herb is available in some health food outlets or through stevia advocate Donna Gates' Atlanta-based company, Body Ecology. Gates sells a two-ounce bottle (roughly a two-month supply) for $24.95. For more information, or to order, call (800) 478-3842.
DuJour runs occasionally in the Extra section. If you have an interesting food item or event, tell us about it. Write to DuJour, c/o Features Dept., The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, Va. 24010.
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