Photo by Darla Guillen

An affogato at Eatsie Boys Café.

I've always hated the phrase "movers and shakers," but if applied literally, it's an accurate description of our city right now. With locals running around town implacably, outpacing frequent mentions from national publications (which have taken to calling us the new "it" city), it's easy to forget that Southerners are said to keep a leisurely gait.

Blame it on highly addictive frozen and iced forms of caffeine, without which many of us would cede to summer's oppressive heat and humidity. As luck would have it, getting your caffeine fix is becoming more convenient and more interesting.

Although there are plenty of consistently good warm classics -- such as the Valrhona mocha at Blacksmith, a cortado at Southside Espresso or pretty much anything at Catalina Coffee -- there are other less-known, summer-friendly takes on coffee that even the most devout purist would enjoy.

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Greatist

Wrigley stopped selling its caffeinated gum, Alert Energy, after the FDA raised concerns about added caffeine.

Wrigley's new caffeinated gum, Alert Energy Gum, only lasted a couple of weeks on the shelves of supermarkets, grocery stores and convenient stores after the FDA became concerned about the amount of caffeine each piece of gum offered.

With 40 milligrams of caffeine (equal to half a cup of coffee) in each piece, it's no shock as to why the FDA was concerned, especially because we live in a world where energy drinks and coffee thrive. Although other gum companies have released their own caffeinated items, like Mentos's Up2U Gum and Jolt's energy gum, the FDA has become recently concerned with the amount of added caffeine in foods and drinks.

In fact, the main worry the FDA has about caffeinated beverages and foods is that most of the products are marketed to children, who shouldn't be consuming energy drinks and coffee throughout the day. The FDA's limit for caffeine consumed each day is 400 milligrams, the equivalent of four or five cups of coffee. This limit is set for adults, but the FDA discourages the consumption of caffeine or caffeinated items by children and youths.

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tothepointwithbozic.com

The average American doesn't spend $30 a day on coffee, but he or she does have 2.2 cups a day.

A recent Zagat survey revealed that we still consume coffee even if the price of a cup of Joe continues to increase while our economy struggles to get back on its feet. In fact, the average American consumes 2.2 cups of coffee each day, according to the Zagat statistics.

Although we need to cut back on our spending during this economic stage, Americans refuse to give up their daily coffee; in fact, they don't even want to at least cut back. As a coffee addict, I can attest to this mentality. If I don't have any sort of caffeine in the morning, I will have a guaranteed migraine by lunchtime. That's probably a bad thing, seeing as how I am only 21 years old and am that addicted to coffee.

This Zagat survey analyzed coffee consumption in America through how much Americans are willing to spend on one cup, their preference for hot or cold and which vendors they prefer.

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Photo by emmiegrn

The Pig Stand may not be around anymore, but these great spots are.

The last time we compiled a list of Houston's best coffee houses was in February 2011, and things have certainly changed since then.

In just the last several months, Houston's caffeine scene has benefited from several new entrants, all of which are determined to raise the city's coffee profile just as our bar and restaurant profiles have both been raised in the past year.

What makes a great coffee shop? It's not just the brews. The quality of product is important, of course, but so is the atmosphere (the physical feel of the space) and overall vibe (the emotional connection -- do you feel welcome there?). Personally, I don't consider wi-fi as a determining factor although some may disagree. Coffee shops should not be expected to do double duty as your living room or home office. That said, several of the shops on this list do actively encourage patrons to hunker down and stay awhile, starting with the No. 10 pick.

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Photo by Damien M.

Tomorrow is National Irish Coffee Day. And who doesn't like when it's completely acceptable to put a little extra somethin' in your drink in the daytime. I may or may not be doing it right now. What? It's just coffee.

To celebrate this very special holiday, here are five boozy and delicious Irish coffee recipes:

1. The Classic

As legend has it, the original Irish coffee was created at an Irish airship port in the 1940s. On a particularly cold night, the head chef at the port's restaurant added a little kick to a group of American passengers' coffee to keep them warm. When one passenger asked if they were drinking Brazilian coffee, the chef replied, "No, that's Irish coffee."

A special thank you to the chef, Joe Sheridan, and to the American passengers for being so annoying and bratty that he felt the need to give y'all a buzz.

The classic Irish coffee is made by stirring together fresh brewed coffee, brown sugar and a jigger of Irish whiskey, and topping it all off with thick, heavy cream. Try lightly whipping the cream and pouring it over the back of a spoon for that perfect layering effect.

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Starbucks satire has grown increasingly stale as Americans slip into quiet acquiescence to the fact that the omnipresent Starbucks stores are now as much a part of our landscape as stop signs. Even though the coffee giant closed 600 stores in 2008 and then another 300 stores in 2009, it's roared back since then and now plans to open an additional 3,000 locations for North and South America -- with over half of those in the United States.

But how long has it been since you enjoyed your Starbucks experience? At the Starbucks closest to my home and office, half of the tables are occupied by homeless men snoozing or Internet workers who have turned the cafe into their office away from home. The other tables are usually dirty and sticky, prompting me to take my pumpkin spice latte to-go -- but not after struggling to get the latte from the lackadaisical employees in the first place.

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Photos by Katharine Shilcutt

Blacksmith, the new coffee shop from Greenway Coffee & Tea owner David Buehrer, opened yesterday. The cafe and Mary's -- the infamous gay leather bar which once occupied the building at 1022 Westheimer -- have at least one thing in common aside from a shared address: serving the needs of their surrounding communities, albeit during very different times.

After Mary's opened in 1972, it quickly became the nexus of Montrose and the large gay community that thrived in the neighborhood for the next three decades. Aside from being a hot spot to meet like-minded gay men (who may or may not have resembled the bears on Mary's famous mural), Mary's was also a gathering place for the entire LGBT community.

"Mary's patio and garden -- known as The Out Back -- was the site of many a memorial service for those lost to AIDS during the '80s and '90s," wrote Marene Gustin in OutSmart two years ago. "According to the Houston ARCH Project, as many as 300 services may have been held there, with ashes scattered or buried in the garden."

When Mary's finally closed in 2009, however, it was after years of poor finances and a shrinking customer base. It's no longer taboo to be gay in Houston -- our mayor is gay, after all -- and the Internet has made it much easier for people of all sexual orientations to meet and hook up, no bar tab required. Between these advances, the gentrification of Montrose and a growing gay diaspora throughout the city, Mary's was no longer "needed" in the same way it once was.

So what does a newly gentrified neighborhood full of shopping, art galleries, popular bars and restaurants need? Coffee shops. And Blacksmith is more than ready to meet and exceed that demand.

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Photo by waferboard

That morning cup of joe doesn't just wake you from a zombie-like state and keep you from being a complete asshole to the guy in the cube next to you. In addition to making you a semi-decent human being, coffee can provide tons of health benefits.

Here are five ways drinking coffee can improve your health:

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Photo by Neil Palmer (CIAT)

Climate change and deforestation could lead to the loss of Arabica beans on a vast scale like these shown on a Nicaraguan farm.

If you believe the news from over the weekend that coffee beans are in danger of extinction, you're probably hoarding all the Arabica you can find today and envisioning a future in which coffee -- already liquid gold for many of us caffeine addicts -- can be used as delicious, fragrant currency.

Not so fast, though: First of all, it's not all coffee that's in danger of a die-out. It's the wild Arabica beans that grow in places like Ethiopia, Brazil and Colombia, according to a recent study between British and Ethiopian researchers published in PLoS One. Granted, this type of bean is used to make 70 percent of the world's coffee -- but that's not a full-scale extinction event.

The study itself even admits that full-on extinction is at the red alert end of the scale. "[T]he most favourable outcome is a...65 percent reduction in the number of pre-existing bioclimatically suitable localities," the study reads, "and at worst an almost 100 percent reduction, by 2080."

What is scary is that the decline of Arabica beans is being linked to man-made occurrences: climate change and the deforestation of coffee-growing regions. Global warming, the study said, will reduce the amount of "bioclimatically suitable localities" while aggressive deforestation in places like Ethiopia and Brazil only serves to reduce those locations even further.

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Photos by Molly Dunn

Dunk a crispy biscotti into this creamy cappuccino.

Today we celebrate a wonderful national food holiday: National Cappuccino Day. This classic creamy and simple coffee beverage is a favorite throughout the world. How can you resist roasted espresso with steamed milk and a beautiful foam layer on top?

One of my favorite parts of drinking creamy coffees is getting to dip a crunchy cookie in them. And my favorite is biscotti.

You could simply celebrate National Cappuccino Day by starting your day off with a wonderful cappuccino, or you could take this holiday to new heights and pair that cappuccino with a cappuccino biscotti. Double the flavor, double the deliciousness.

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