Coffee News Roundup: Week Ending August 25th

This week, in coffee:

• While certain unnamed companies release luxury watches containing tiny amounts of coffee grounds, researchers in Australia have discovered that adding coffee grounds to concrete not only saves on sand (a precious and depleting resource) but actually makes the concrete stronger.
• World Coffee Research has launched an open-access coffee genetic fingerprinting database, which among other things could put an end to variety mislabeling (so you can be sure that gesha you bought is actually a gesha).
• Coffee capsule manufacturers in Europe are worried about new EU legislation that could force them to produce more sustainable pods. The horror.

Read the full Roundup over at Fresh Cup Magazine:

In case you missed it, here’s my latest piece:

From A Concerned Farmer

In July the Kenyan government shut down the country’s main coffee auction platform, the Nairobi Coffee Exchange, as part of a series of reforms to the way coffee is traded.<br /><br />A few days ago a contact of mine, a Kenyan coffee farmer, sent me a letter giving their perspective on the situation. I would like to share this farmer’s (anonymous) opinion directly on a topic that seems to have mostly been ignored by the wider coffee industry.

The PouroverFionn Pooler

I’ll be back next week, but until then please enjoy this photo of Merlin caught in the act of eating a piece of ham: