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Is the law of supply and demand as strong as the force of gravity? Sometimes it seems like it, but gravity is easier to deal with. Supply and demand is far less predictable than the fact that if you…

The Starbucks marketing department has been all aces in 2011, getting attention from the new logo change (who cares?), incessantly bullying Kraft (stop that!), and going all “Victor/Victoria” on their 15th Avenue space in Seattle. Leggo my logo: “Our…

Breaking overly-litigious news from Aspen, Colorado, America’s nexus of wealthy snow bunnies and hunky ski instructors: An Aspen coffee shop has filed a lawsuit against one of its former employees for turning off an espresso machine on his last…

A fascinating piece on business realities for McDonalds franchise owners over at the Wall Street Journal. Did you know those McCafe things cost like $100,000 to own and install? And that individual franchisees have to pay for them out…

Ghana News Agency, our favorite Ghanaian news agency, reports today on the shocking seizure of stolen coffee bound for the Republic of Togo: Police at Peki-Opokuase barrier in the Volta Region on Sunday intercepted a truck loaded with 72…

Another wrinkle in the Fair Trade / Direct Trade discussion – Illy’s University of Coffee, a training program that sidesteps Fair Trade certification while promising “above-market growing standards”. Read on: “Fair Trade certification is a system which is based…

Feel da riddim! Feel da rhyme! C’mon everybody, it’s massive federal loanin’ time! Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Dr. Christopher Tufton, yesterday (December 14) announced a $310.5 million emergency loan fund for coffee dealers, which will provide them…

Coava’s follow up to the Kone – the Disk. For Aeropress! Mike White at ShotZombies got to try one out: This is a stainless steel Aeropress filter manufactured by Coava Coffee. You could say that it’s a companion piece…

Our dear friend George Howell drops some serious knowledge on his blog today: George Howell File Photo, courtesy of Eric Levin Although retail and wholesale coffee prices have remained quite stable over the past decade, the price of raw…

Juicy gossip! Acquiring Peet’s would accomplish two things for Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX). It would bulk up its portfolio of grocery store-ready brands and deliver a solid distribution network, which is particularly important now that Starbucks’ distribution deal with Kraft…

This is very sad. From our friend Melissa Allison: Tully’s Coffee struggled with debt until it sold its wholesale business to Green Mountain Coffee Roasters last year. Now it is burning through the cash left over from that deal.…

First LaGuardia, now JFK. We’ve written in the past about the World Bean program at LaGuardia Airport Delta Terminal, and we’ll there to see things for ourselves in 2 weeks, but in the meantime check out Oliver Strand’s coverage…

From the Wilco Store: This past Fall, some members of the band dropped by our neighbors Intelligentsia’s Cupping Lab to select their favorite coffee. The unanimous selection is the Single Origin, Organic Ethiopia Sidama Homecho Waeno. This coffee comes…

Just a few days ago, a working barista and certified snark left the following update on her Facebook page: Woo hoo! All ten people sitting in the cafe drinking out of to go cups. You’re sooo green, Seattle! This…

There’s a wacky new gimmick straight outta Crown Heights, where the fine folks at The Pulp & The Bean are offering a 10-shot espresso concoction cheerfully nicknamed “porn in a cup”. More from the Mainstream Media (for whom this…

How did they capture the media’s attention this week? Opening a coffee farm…in China! In the south-west province of Yunnan, steeped in thousands of years of tea production, the Seattle-based coffee chain is hiring and training local coffee growers.…