Paid bonus articles
For paid subscribers to The Pourover. These pieces offer extra analysis and opinion around major stories in coffee.
Starbucks vs the Union: A Tale of Three CEOs
For paid subscribers: From Howard Schultz’ hostility to the relatively more amenable Laxman Narasimhan and through to Brian Niccol’s current intransigence, Starbucks' response to its union over the years has mirrored the CEO’s position.
Will Sky High Retail Coffee Prices Ever Come Back Down?
For paid subscribers: retail coffee prices have soared in recent years, driven by climbing commodity costs and tariff stupidity. Some of those pressures have now started to ease, and yet retail prices continue to rise. Will they ever come down?
Whatever Happened to IBM’s Coffee Prediction Drone?
For paid subscribers: Eight years ago, the media got very excited about a patent for a drone that could monitor and deliver coffee to the those it deemed under-caffeinated. It never became reality—why not?
What’s in a Coffee Shop Name?
For paid subscribers: Naming a coffee company is tricky, and choosing the wrong one can result in controversy. Just ask Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii.
Starbucks and ChatGPT Offer a Glimpse Into Coffee’s Dystopian Future
Chatbots telling us what we want. Robots making our coffee. Baristas reduced to smiling servers. If Starbucks and other brands get their way, this is the future: a frictionless, interactionless, lifeless coffee experience.
Buddhist Brews
For paid subscribers: A fascinating academic paper delves into the ways Korean Buddhists, after centuries of drinking tea, have started to embrace coffee.
Howard Schultz and the Folly of the Starbucks Oleato
For paid subscribers: One of Howard Schultz’ final acts as Starbucks CEO was inflicting upon us a line of olive oil-infused coffee drinks. He was so confident the Oleato would change the world. It didn’t.
On Becoming a Coffee Luddite
For paid subscribers: The coffee industry is embracing automation, and consumers increasingly demand convenience and speed. Me? I’m happy to wait for my coffee to be made by a human.
Who Mourns the Corporate Cafe Closures?
Even Starbucks and Peet’s stores have regulars who are sad when they close.
Space: The Final Coffee Frontier
For paid subscribers: From the preposterous tech startup that wanted to roast coffee in space to espresso on the International Space Station, there’s a lot of coffee up there.
Coffee Brands Continue To Use X, the Right-Wing, Deepfake-Creating Social Media Platform
For paid subscribers: Since Elon Musk’s purchase, and especially in the wake of the Grok CSAM deepfake scandal, it has become impossible to defend staying on X. And yet, many coffee brands and organisations are still there.
Why Do So Many Celebrities Claim To Have Never Tried Coffee?
For paid subscribers: What do Naomi Campbell, Tom Brady, Sydney Sweeney, and Ice-T have in common?