Brewpoint Coffee, Elmhurst

Brewpoint Coffee is located in Elmhurst, Illinois, 45 minutes west of Chicago.  Brewpoint buys their coffee from Counter Culture, a company that works with coffee farmers and cooperatives to provide customers with a sustainable and quality beverage.

This coffee shop gains its character from travel themed upholstery, inspiring quotes, speciality drinks named after explorers, and  

 locally crafted mugs.

Lots of very comfortable seating.

An afternoon of Counter Culture demos—I especially liked Kamavindi. 

I learned that the reason why it is so hard to describe the taste of beverages like coffee and wine is because smell first triggers our memory center.  The physiological link between our language and olfactory centers is actually very weak. Thus, you need to drink A LOT and practice describing what you are tasting to become a proficient taster.

Coffee is a fruit and is referred to as a cherry due to its bright red appearance on the branch.  What we call "beans" are actually the seeds from inside this fruit. In Yemen, the hulls (above) are combined with spices and sugar to make qishar, a traditional, caffeinated infusion.

Nutrition Highlight: Coffee

Heart

Coffee has been linked with lower risks for heart rhythm disturbances, which translates to decreased risk of stroke.

Brain

Coffee has been linked to lower rates of dementia and Alzheimer's.

Caffeine

Up to 400 mg of caffeine a day has been found to be perfectly safe for healthy adults. This is the equivalent of 4 c of brewed coffee.  

Melissa (second from left) is the owner.  She became disenchanted with corporate America and decided to open a coffee shop with the goal of adding a positive element to society that would promote development of relationships.  What started as a search on Craig's List for an espresso machine ended in the purchase of this building.  One year later, Brewpoint is thriving and getting ready to expand its drink selection, beginning with offering the choice of French press—yes!