Science backs coffee as a healthy part of your diet
Popular YouTube medical investigation series Healthcare Triage recently featured coffee and its impact on health. The results are not surprising to those of us working in the coffee or medical industries but still, the image of coffee as a vice persists despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary.
Falling coffee prices threaten supply
Last week’s interview with the New York Post was a quick one: J.M. Smucker, major producer of American grocery store retail coffee brands Millstone, Dunkin’ Donuts, Folgers and others announced a 6% price cut and smaller package sizes in order to attract customers lost in recent years’ price hikes. It’s a straightforward story of a major consumer packaged goods seller reducing retail costs for the purpose of wooing back customers lost to competition… or is it?
Bulletproof coffee: latest coffee health craze
The Bulletproof Coffee offering seems entertaining but harmless enough, particularly when compared to other more insidious gimmicks like kopi luwak, green coffee diets and multi-level marketing schemes featuring other fungi, herbs and detritus misleadingly marketed as coffee, which unlike this one may do real environmental or health damage while separating fools from their money. So why has this latest caffeinated reincarnation of the fountain of youth concept gaining any attention from reputable media whatsoever?
Yemen Coffee Sector Featured at U.S. Trade Events
A delegation from Yemen and representatives of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Competitive Agriculture Systems for High Value Crops (CASH) program will participate in two specialty coffee trade-focused events in April. The engagements will feature Yemen’s distinctive coffees and place emphasis on USAID Yemen’s commitment to coffee development activity in order to create food security and promote peace.
Thoughts on the Upcoming SCAA Symposium in Seattle
I recently watched Aaron Davis’ 2013 SCAA Symposium lecture in Boston, “Arabica — from Origin to Extinction,” and found myself reflecting on the profound impact of his research and also feeling grateful for the opportunity to share that knowledge, which has reshaped my view of the world relating to coffee.
Korea re-exports coffee house concepts
Successful Korean coffee retail cafe chains like Caffe Bene and Paris Baguette already have dozens of locations within the United States and are eyeballing thousands of units in the next decade. What makes these brands so appealing to American consumers and can they beat Starbucks at the game it invented?
Coffee cupping: where 100 point systems fail
The latest issue of Cafe Culture Magazine includes my article, “Coffee Cupping: The Good of Taste Subjectivity,” that looks that the shortcomings of traditional 100-point coffee cupping systems and urges the industry to be more inclusive with its descriptions.
Starbucks Korea Rides the Seoul Train
It may come as a surprise to the average consumer that Seoul, Korea boasts the largest number of Starbucks in a single city; approximately 300 according to a recent report. Those working in the specialty coffee, however, are probably far from shocked by the statement....
Uganda Announces Center of Robusta Excellence
Robusta has substantial potential that shouldn't be ignored because of its market stigma as the less expensive coffee species of choice for soluble coffee production. Whether for its genetic diversity, disease- and pest-fighting resistance, potential as a second...
Coffee App Offers Bottomless Cup of Coffee
As reported in the Wall Street Journal Metropolis section this morning, a smartphone coffee app offering subscription-based pricing at participating New York cafes will soon be available. The program, called "CUPS" is already popular in Tel Aviv and will be launching...
SCAA 2014 / 2015 Election Results
The Specialty Coffee Association of America today announced results for the 2014 / 2015 Board of Directors, as follows: Ben Pitts, 2nd Vice President Aida Batlle, Director Juan Luis-Barrios, Director Rachel Peterson, Director Chad Trewick, Director For all of my...
Will climate change cause coffee to go extinct?
This morning I was interviewed for a cable network television show about climate change and more specifically about its connection to coffee leaf rust. It was a short piece and it's hard to say how much of what we discussed will be aired but I found the reporter's...