For paid subscribers: A fascinating academic paper delves into the ways Korean Buddhists, after centuries of drinking tea, have started to embrace coffee.
Demand for coffee is growing, and climate change threatens supply—yet consumers don’t want to pay more. In an intensified and unequal industry, however, someone always pays.
Americans love coffee, but are they drinking more or less today than they did in the past? The USDA says it’s less—half as much compared to the 1940s, by volume—while the National Coffee Association says that daily coffee consumption is at a two-decade high. Essentially, they’re both right.
Australian researchers are trialling a concrete footpath made partially from waste coffee grounds. Not only is it more sustainable as a material, but it’s also stronger which means less of it is needed for building projects. Win-win!
Would you drink an iced spring onion latte? Me either. But it’s a big deal on the internet, part of China’s “dark cuisine” trend that has the goal of “challeng[ing] conventional notions of what is considered appealing food.” For those interested, other options include oyster coffee and soy sauce lattes.
Read more about these stories and the rest of the coffee news over at Fresh Cup Magazine:
I'm a coffee writer and creator of The Pourover. Based in Scotland, I have over a decade of experience in the specialty coffee industry. Ask me about coffeewashing. It's pronounced Fin (he/him)
Fionn Pooler
