Bid on a California-Grown Gesha

Hello, and welcome to the Roundup. Every week, I read all the coffee news and write about the best bits for Fresh Cup Magazine. Then, I summarise those bits for you in this newsletter.

Compass Coffee, the Washington, D.C.-based specialty chain, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Compass has received plenty of publicity, both positive and negative, over the years. The company, which listed upwards of $50 million in liabilities in its filing, is being sued by creditors, landlords, and one of its co-founders. Since 2024, Compass has also been aggressively fighting its workers' attempts to unionise, including by "hiring" CEO Michael Haft's friends right before a union vote.
"Don't drink coffee on aeroplanes" is stock advice from flight attendants, advice that has been repeated countless times in tabloid-y articles. Water quality is the concern—where it comes from, how it's stored, and how often it's cleaned. A new report looked at EPA data from U.S. airlines, and found that advice to be worth heeding.

The U.S. produces a tiny fraction of the coffee it consumes each year, and most of that is restricted to Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Over the past few years, however, more farms have been popping up in California. Now, a California-grown gesha is going up for auction, the first time a continental U.S. grower will take part in an international coffee auction.

For more on all these stories, plus the latest coffee unionising news, check out the full Roundup over at Fresh Cup Magazine:

Last week, paid subscribers received a piece of incisive and timely journalism to start the year off: an exploration of quite why so many celebrities proudly claim never to have tried coffee:

I'll be back on Friday with a new feature article, but until then it's goodbye from my sister's cat Maru, who is practising for his circus audition (or something):