A few links and a picture

Coffee economics: The Wall Street Journal has an article about how even the big coffee companies are having to pay above-market prices to make sure they have a stable supply of quality coffee beans. link

Coffee roasters in Spokane, Washington are doing their best to deal with high green coffee prices. link

The alleged accomplice of the robber who was shot and killed at a Eugene Dutch Bros. Coffee kiosk was acquitted this week. link

In an example of how attitudes change year to year, a poll by the National Coffee Association found that the amount of young people who drink coffee on a daily basis rebounded significantly after a one-year dip. link

The Street has a report and analysis of all of Starbucks’ recent news. link

If you want to be successful in the coffee business in Sydney, you cannot stop moving. Just ask Salvatore Malatesta. link

Drought is severely affecting the coffee crop in Tanzania. Geography enthusiasts will notice a pretty big mistake in the last paragraph of the article. link

Don't forget! The Walk for Water is happening on Sunday in downtown PDX! 

And finally, some bumper sticker philosophy:

Well said--normal people worry me too. Enjoy the weekend.

March 18 Links

Another week has come and gone,
Alas, the rain’s still here.
So grab a cup and read the links
And pray that spring is near.

Here's a selection of coffee news for the week:

A group of rebellious Swedish senior citizens has been asked to not come back to the dance hall unless they agree to stop pouring coffee grounds on the floor. link

Have you tried an AeroPress yet? The LA Times has a great article about the technology and the people who swear by its coffee. Sounds to me like the cult of Apple. link

Philadelphia’s “Third Wave” coffee movement is picking up steam, and it sounds quite a bit like Portland’s. link

Tuition is rising in Canada, where a government minister recently said that students could afford the increase by drinking less coffee. link She later backtracked on the statement. link

Howard Schultz, Starbucks’ CEO, has learned many lessons over the years, and according to the New York Times, one of these is humility. link

Schultz recently blamed ‘speculators’ for coffee price increases. One wonders if he blamed speculators when the prices were low too. link

Nespresso’s CEO also blames speculation for coffee price increases, but expects them to come down soon. link

From the ‘strange lawsuits’ category, a Missouri family is suing Starbucks for keeping the tip jar too close to the cash register. I bet this one gets dismissed. link

Another one from the lawsuit category. The Aspen barista who was sued for turning off a café’s espresso machine the last night he worked at the café will not have to worry about missing anymore ski days. The suit has been dismissed. link

Many workplaces provide coffee for their workers, but these days some are providing stronger beverages too. link

Links for March 11

It’s that time of the week again. . .

Changes in weather patterns are creating problems for Colombian coffee growers in both output and quality, according to the New York Times. link

The Seattle Times investigates how climate change is affecting Costa Rican coffee producers. link

On a related note, coffee prices touched a 34-year high this week-FT. link

The rise in coffee prices is making coffee a more attractive crop to grow for Mexico’s opium poppy farmers, as reported in this article from the WSJ. link

Democrats in the House, led by Oregon’s Earl Blumenauer, wrote a letter to the Republican leadership asking them to reconsider their decision to reintroduce Styrofoam cups to the House cafeteria. link

After much speculation over the last few months, it appears that Starbucks is going to work with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters to put Starbucks coffee in the K-cups after all. link

US News has some good news about the health effects of drinking coffee, and some concerns about caffeine-drinking kids. link

MSNBC has an article about cafés that cater to bikers. The author mentions Portland as a bike-friendly city with bike cafés, but does not bother to interview anyone here. Too bad. link

This headline from Australia has a logical flaw in it. Can you figure out what it is?

Corby Kummer of The Atlantic has a great assignment—searching Rome for pizza, coffee, and gelato.  How does one get paid to do that? That is the question. . . link

For my Korean friends, an article about coffee in Korea. link

Enjoy your weekend. Hopefully it is sunny where you are. Spring is almost here!

News and Links for Friday

Fresh from the search engines, here are your coffee links for the week. Enjoy!

In the least surprising news of the week, Seattle and Portland were voted the best coffee cities in America by Travel & Leisure. link

Baristas beware—there’s a new robot pour-over master in town that might brew better coffee than you do (with video). link

Generosity is alive and well in Lampedusa, Italy, where a café owner offers free coffee to Tunisian migrants who cannot pay for it. link

Dunkin’ Donuts signed a deal last week to put its coffee in the K-cups. This week, there is speculation that Peet’s will do the same. I do not foresee Stumptown joining the stampede to sell K-cups, thankfully. link

Nespresso was dealt a blow this week when a Swiss court ruled that Denner could sell coffee capsules that are compatible with Nespresso’s machine. link

In other Nespresso news, the company did manage to be one of the first companies to place its products in a British television show. This is a new and controversial new practice in the UK that has been around for years in the US. link

Starbucks and Kraft, one step closer to finalizing their divorce. link

In Massachusetts, a mini-van crashed into a coffee shop (includes video). Oops. link

David Sarasohn, editor of the Oregonian, gives his take on the Republicans’ decision to bring back Styrofoam to the House cafeteria. link

If you regularly drink any of the drinks on this list, you might want to reconsider, for your health’s sake.

Fox News does not like the fact that the town of Orange, Connecticut was ordered to reinstate casual Fridays and pay for workers’ coffee. link

Melissa Ward Aguilar does mention that she stops at a coffee plantation on her trip to Costa Rica, but it’s the zip lines through the rain forest that sound like the most fun to me. link

Another report about rising coffee prices, this time in the Wall Street Journal. link

Fair Trade is not the same as Fairtrade, and neither might be the guarantee of ethical business practices that you think they are. link

Coffee links - February 25

Links for February 25, 2011

Is it possible to grow coffee in Portland? Marrowmag.com has an interesting article about Coava’s Matt Higgins trying to grow coffee in his basement. link

Coffee futures reached their highest price in fourteen years this week. Of course, it could be worse for consumers—cocoa prices are the highest they have been in thirty-two years. link

Brazil’s government is holding onto its coffee stocks, in anticipation of even higher prices to come this year. link

After seeing Starbucks make a deal with Tata to enter the Indian market, Dunkin’ Donuts decided it wants some of the action too. link

Dunkin’ also made a deal this week with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters to put its coffee into the K-cups. The question is, should you short Green Mountain’s stock? That’s what Steven Syre, writing in the Boston Globe, tries to figure out. link

If you like Bollywood films and you like coffee, you might like Kudirithe Kappu Coffee. link

The Calgary Herald sees a parallel between the coffee and the chocolate industries. link

Even as worldwide demand for coffee has increased, Kenya’s coffee production has decreased over the last two decades, according to Business Daily Africa. Richard Gitonga, the author, proposes some solutions. link

Growing higher-quality coffee has brought a higher standard of living to coffee farmers in Uganda. link

I just like the picture in this coffee article.

Did you know that you can make oatmeal in your coffee maker? A better question might be, why would you want to?

Friday's Links - February 18

Friday has come quickly again this week. Hope you are ready for a good weekend. Here are your Friday links:

Reuters has a story about the coffee culture in Iran. It sounds like the country has a small but growing coffee industry that is catching on among young people. link

In the article, the author mentions an Iranian coffee chain called Raees, which Starbucks unsuccessfully sued for infringement of trademark. You can see the logo for yourself here. I cannot imagine why Starbucks was upset (sarcasm intended).

As you know, single-serve coffee is the fastest growing segment of the coffee market. Starbucks wants in on the game too. There was speculation that Starbucks was in talks with Green Mountain Coffee over using the K-cup technology that Green Mountain owns. This week, however, Howard Schultz wrote a very cryptic memo to company employees about those rumors. It appears that Starbucks is either trying to create leverage in its talks with Green Mountain, or the company has plans to develop its own technology. Either way, it does not seem like you are going to have Starbucks K-cups for a while. link

Here’s an article about Maryland coffee shops, posted on a Kitsap, Washington site. Sounds like lots of Laptopistanis are out there working in coffee shops. I can relate. link

If you’re traveling through Forsyth County, Georgia, you might want to avoid stopping at this particular Starbucks, as it has been hit by a car twice in the last month.

Good.com has an interesting map of the world’s coffee consumption. Most of the coffee is not consumed in the places where it is grown. link

If you like the toasted smoky taste of coffee but are tired of caffeine, you could always try roasted barley. link

Want to know more about the history of coffee? Prague has a good museum to visit. link

An Irish traveler visited Portland and came away with a very favorable opinion. Surprisingly, the visit was in January. link

February 11 Links

It's that time again. Here are some coffee highlights from the last week:

There’s “Portland Weird” and then there’s “Silicon Valley Weird”. When you go to this link, be sure to watch the video of the robot that visits a local coffee shop in Mountain View, California. It’s kind of cool—and kind of creepy. link

Smuckers is raising the price on Folgers coffee, the third price increase in the past year. Just one more reason to stop drinking Folgers. link

Growing middle classes around the world are bound to have a long-term effect on coffee prices, as consumers demand better quality. MarketWatch has a short article about the effect the expanding middle class in Brazil is having on coffee prices. link

Coffee won’t make you fat, but what you put into it, might. link

Oliver Strand of the NY Times admires the pour-over culture that the US has imported from Japan. link

Starbucks’ CEO Howard Schultz has joined the board of directors of Groupon, which is reportedly planning an IPO later this year. Is there half-priced coffee in the future at Starbucks? I doubt it. Hopefully the company will have better TV commercials. link

Speaking of Groupon, Colin Smith does not think the company should have rejected Google’s $6 billion takeover offer. He raises some good points. link

It might be possible to find some wicked good coffee in Boston after all. link

The BBC has a video report about how rising coffee prices should be good for India’s coffee growers. link

A coffee shop in New York City is taking the direct-trade model of coffee sourcing very seriously, only selling Rwandan coffees that it buys directly from farmers. link

A Winlock, Washington artist paints swirling figures rising from coffee cups in sepia tones. His paint? Coffee grounds mixed with water. And you thought you were obsessed with coffee. link

And finally, in time for Valentine’s day, an ode to “Timeless Coffee Love” from Portland Roasting Coffee’s blog. link