By Angela Howe-Dicker

I've been so deliriously happy drinking coffee all these years, it never occurred to me to eat it.

Thanks to the combined efforts of Tease Restaurant & Bar and Noble Coffee, coffee lovers are not limited to an after-dinner cup-a-joe. Chef Trey Hansen of Tease and Noble's Jared Rennie have paired up to give taste buds a buzz as Tease hosts a special dinner on Sunday featuring coffee as the secret ingredient in every course. Fans of the TV show "Iron Chef" won't want to miss it, and neither will anyone else who enjoys fine food and java.

Noble Coffee partner Caleb Peterson explains how coffee and food can be combined. "Unlike wine, which accompanies food, we prepare food with coffee and coffee-like things," he said.

Some of the coffee combinations include Bacardi Bugiso, a cocktail of ice-dripped Ugandan coffee with Bacardi Elite rum, a watercress and arugala salad dressed with a coffee-infused vinaigrette, cold-smoked beef tenders rubbed with an espresso spice blend, and for dessert a dark chocolate and raspberry beignet with espresso-flecked sugar. Peterson described this last confection as a twist on the classic coffee and donut treat.

Dinner will include a description of the coffees served and answers to lots of coffee questions.

For example, ice-dripped coffee is a method of brewing that avoids the molecular changes and subsequent bitterness that happens when coffee is heated. It involves dripping cold water over the coffee grinds or melting ice over the grinds, a process that takes 12-24 hours but results in a smoother coffee.

An item on the evening's menu that caught my eye was the Q'isher tea-poached salmon. Q'isher is just plain fun to say, sort of the way one might pronounce "kisser" after too many Bacardi Bugisos. Q'isher tea is made from the dried skins of the coffee fruit. "It has a sweet, tea-like flavor," Peterson said.

The Tease event, Peterson said, is a good time to learn about coffee and get those burning coffee questions answered. It's also just good business.

Peterson said Tease and Noble are very similar: "We both want to offer people something unique, to give them a variety of options they maybe didn't have before. It's great for local businesses to work together, especially in this economy and especially when they can do it creatively."

I'm a fairly unadventurous coffee drinker, and I asked Peterson what coffee drink he recommends to customers at Noble. I thought he'd name some complicated beverage made from rare beans or brewed in a solid gold filter, but surprisingly he recommends Noble's cappuccino.

"It's a perfect combination of creamy organic milk and delicious coffee. I had one today and it made me really happy," he said.

The coffee dinner is June 28 at 6:30 pm. The cost is $50 per person for five courses. Tease Restaurant & Bar is located at 303 E. Main St., at the corner of Second and Main. To take part in the coffee experience, call 488-1458. For more information and to see the complete menu, visit www.tsashland.com.

Tidings staff writer Vickie Aldous and Tidings correspondent Angela Howe-Decker alternate as author of the weekly column Quills & Queues.