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Feeling adventurous, I ordered a fancy-pants coffee at Starbucks. A "lite" caramel macchiato, tall, extra foam. I could taste the artificial sweeteners in the sugar-free, vanilla syrup, but otherwise, it was pretty tasty.

Leave your manners at the door when attending a coffee tasting or "cupping." Slurping is a vital part of the process.

Award-winning barista Katie Carguilo discusses the best ways to brew coffee and explains why coffee is seasonal.

Since giving up decaf coffee 16 days ago, I've found it tough to enjoy coffee shops. The delicious smell of the roasted coffee is a distraction. And it's hard not to feel deprived when looking at a menu board full of coffee options (cappuccino, espresso, americano, red eye, latte), but little to say about tea except "black" and "herbal."

In the afternoons, around 5 P.M., I'm really Jonesing for a cappuccino. Even a decaf one, made with foamy, hot soy milk, in keeping with my detox efforts for 12 more days. But I can't. I must resort to tea.

I love coffee. Not for the caffeine -- I've been drinking decaf for several years now -- but because I like the strong taste and the creaminess of coffee with frothy, warmed milk. So, it's been a big drag to have to give it up for my 21-day detox. I've switched, for the time being, to tea.

Motor City Blight Busters, a Detroit-based non-profit around for over 20 years, opened a community coffee house on the northwest side of the city last February. Proprietor Alicia Marion said that she approached the organization about a decade ago with the suggestion to turn an empty storefront near the Redford Theatre into a coffee shop.

“No matter where I went, whether it was locally, Royal Oak or Ferndale or New York or New Orleans and New Jersey, there’s always a neighborhood diner or coffee shop,” Marion said. “I wanted to bring that back here to Lasher and Grand River.”

When it comes to my afternoon decaf soy cappuccino habit, I'm a creature of habit. I go to the Starbucks on Spring Street that is one block down the street from WNYC's studios on Varick Street. But it closed several days ago for renovations, and now I'm forced to go to the one that is on Hudson Street.

Global prices of cotton, coffee and chocolate are on the rise. WNYC business and economics editor Charles Herman talks about the possible effects on inexpensive t-shirts, your morning latte, and candy bars.

Your morning cup of coffee could start costing a bit more as prices for green-coffee, or unroasted beans, are now more than 50 percent higher than they were a year ago. The increase has already led to price hikes for many coffee brands and even higher prices are expected in the months ahead.

They traded on nostagia and faded out in the 1980s. But now they're back. Today, Chock Full o'Nuts, the self-proclaimed purveyer of "heavenly coffee," is opening its first eatery in New York City in almost 30 years.

• CONGRESS TAKEOUT:  We speak with our Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich about how Congressional Democrats are regrouping on health care reform in the wake of losing the Massachussetts Senate race.
  
• MONEY TAKEOUT: Starbucks was hit hard by the economic crisis, closing hundreds of stores across the country. New York Times reporter Louise Story explains why things are looking up for the coffee company.
• RESPONSES: Listeners weigh in on why Democrats lost their Senate seat in Massachussetts.