The Reading Room

Kenyan coffee factories are battling a coffee theft ring which has stolen an estimated 10,000 metric tons of coffee beans, costing farmers millions of dollars and several security guards their lives. Last week it was reported than an agricultural economist...

It’s a new year and maybe you’d like to take up a new hobby. If you have some leftover coffee in your pot and feel artistic, grab a paintbrush and try painting. For inspiration, you could travel to England to...

“Savannah Now” ran a story this week about a driver losing control of his car and ending up in a Georgia pond. What did the twenty-something driver blame for the loss of control? The coffee did it! Again, another food...

In a country where tea used to be so important that the afternoon High Tea has long been a tourist attraction, coffee is challenging the status quo. The coffee shop boom begun a few years ago continues to echo in...

In the true spirit of the season, a Tennessee barista has shared his expertise and specialty coffees with the homeless who spent the Christmas holiday at a Nashville shelter. Java Breeze, a coffee bar owned by a volunteer at the...

We’re a few days away from turning the page to 2011. As you practice writing the new date in your checkbooks, you might like to think of the new flavor trends predicted for the new year. At least, Comex, a...

With New Year’s Day only a week away, many of us are contemplating those yearly resolutions to do - or refrain from doing - a list of activities. If weight loss is one of your resolves, a recent study on...

Though you might have missed it, there was an important meeting in Nuremburg Germany last month which generated a lot of interest in food flavorings. Döhler, a large European food flavoring manufacturer, discussed a wide range of ways to add...

Not all caffeine is the same. A recent article on healthmad.com discussed the findings that it is cola drinking that is related to high blood pressure in women, not coffee drinking. The article dealt with two studies which involved about...

For years the Coffee Berry Borer (CBB) has been plaguing Hawaiian coffee farmers. The Kona farmers had noticed that the dry years brought on the worst borer damage and now they know why. Turns out that a fungus has been...

In a recent BBC article, the coffee break or not to break issue was shown to be a hot one with British office workers and bosses. Statistics of various aspects of office protocol dealing with taking a break from work...

In a flurry of web articles several months ago, Burger King made the news with its decision to replace its popular Burger King coffee Douwe Egberts coffee with Seattle’s Best. The news is still being discussed online in comment forums,...

Economics is a complicated field of study as it is, but when you are less than subjective because you enjoy the subject being analyzed, it becomes more so. David Kestenbaum recently reported on the dilemma faced by Tim Harford, the...

Some Samoan farmers, recovering from the tsunami of a year ago, are being given hope by newly planted coffee seedlings. Coffee plants are being provided to participating farmers to both help them and to revive the coffee industry begun by...

Need a DIY Christmas gift idea? Lots of folks think making your own gifts is much more meaningful than going to a store and buying something anyone can buy. Joseph Thibodeau wrote about a one-of-a-kind coffee maker that Christian Fingers...

If 38% of Irish drivers have their wish, Irish highways will soon be sprouting coffee stations. To celebrate the release of Gran Turismo 5, PlayStation 3 conducted a survey recently among Irish drivers. Among the topics on the survey were...

Down the lane, snow is glistenin’… we’re walking in a winter wonderland…..straight to the local coffee shop. Among coffee shop owners, it’s commonly agreed that the winter chill brings more customers into their shops for hot drinks. Stephen Pytak reported...

This week, Serious Eats writer Erin Meister had chicory on her mind. Café du Monde, a New Orleans coffee, is known for its blend of coffee and chicory. Chicory is similar to endive: its root is used for brewing, while...

They are a veritable parade of beauty. Each is decked out in holiday best. Not a detail has been overlooked in an effort to entice. Come on – it’s only once a year. Are you going to fall for it?...

What do you do if you are inspired to start a little Facebook club, only to find out that club already exists? If you’re David Del Mundo, you merge with the other group. This week, Del Mundo began a good...

How we love our coffee. Coffee fans can talk coffee all day, and coffee metaphors probably pop up quite often in our talk. We all occasionally say, “Don’t cry over spilled coffee”, or “Don’t spill the (coffee) beans”, or “Wake...