A new study has warned that Ethiopia's coffee production is at risk over climate change, forcing farmers to move their farms or lose their crop. The troubles result from a combination of increased temperatures and decreased rainfall, reducing the number of places in which coffee can be grown. In just a handful of decades, 60-percent of Ethiopia's coffee farm land could become unusable.
Millennials are coffee junkies, and their boundless love for the brewed beverage has resulted in consumption outpacing production for a second time. Is the coffee apocalypse upon us? Probably not, though prices are already high and it's likely they'll continue to climb in coming months. This latest coffee season ended on September 30, and saw coffee drinkers around the world consuming more beans than crops produced, that itself partly being due to droughts affecting farmland where coffee is grown.
Caffeine is serious business, and if you're anything like me then coffee - and plenty of it - is your delivery mechanism of choice. Over the years we've seen a growing number of ways to bring not only brewed coffee but cafe favorites like lattes and cappuccinos into the kitchen, some more straightforward than others. Now, Starbucks has arrived with its new Verismo system, with redesigned pods and all-new brewers.
Some people prefer cold brew coffee, saying the flavor is better when the coffee beans haven't been exposed to high temperatures. The problem, however, is that cold brew coffee takes a long time to make -- usually 12 or more hours, which means you're going to have to put a lot of foresight and planning into your morning habit. Prisma Cold Brew aims to change this reality; the coffee maker is said to produce cold brew coffee in less than ten minutes, doing so in part using vacuum infusion.
For some, coffee is akin to art, a daily ritual deserving of one’s special attention and a little extra time. The Auroma One coffee brewer is aimed at those who feel that way, promising high-quality coffee in a single-serve fashion. The maker hawks Auroma as being a “coffee science machine,” and it has a design flavor to match. Counted among its features is the ability to learn the owner’s taste preferences.
Coffee is a serious matter, and a lot of what you get in the cup is about timing. Breville's Grind Control brewer may not have the steaming bells and whistles of an espresso machine, but it proves that drip coffee needn't be dull - or anything other than delicious. It's also the first full-sized brewer I've seen that's just as happy preparing coffee for one cup as it is for twelve.
A new bit of coffee tech may one day make it to your favorite coffee shop to bring a bit of caffeine and art to your morning cup of Joe. A new coffee machine has surfaced that takes advantage of 3D printing tech to make works of art in the foam at the top of a cup of coffee. The printer is called the Ripple Maker and it uses birth 3D printing and inkjet tech.
Life is busy business and coffee is the fuel upon which it runs (for many of us, anyway). Coffee shops have their place, but discerning coffee drinkers know making their own cuppa is the best way to make sure it tastes just right...and that there's enough for a second or third cup when needed. Coffee makers are nothing new, but the three we've detailed are -- and they're smart, too, able to accommodate your tech-filled life. Fancy a cup? Read on.
Coffee is coffee. You either love or hate it, and if you’re like most people, your feelings probably skew towards fondness. There’s never a cause to be out of coffee, necessarily — there are always cafes, of course, but if you prefer to brew your own cup, discovering you’re out of fresh coffee beans sets the mood for a disappointing day. Enter the ‘Fresh Coffee Jar’, which is a smart coffee jar that works to ensure you never run out of fresh coffee. When the level gets low, the jar detects that you need more and automatically orders some.
Keurig’s K-Cups are a strange phenomenon in tech and coffee. Reviled by their creator, their DRM circumvented by creative coffee lovers, K-Cups stand as a necessary evil for many. Keurig’s reasoning for DRM K-Cups was control; they wanted to control the hardware, content, and output. As consumers grow weary of the games Keurig plays, sales are starting to take a hit (always the surest sign a company will re-position themselves). In their most recent earnings call, Keurig CEO says a fan favorite, refillable K-Cups, are coming back.
La Marzocco may be famous in coffee but the Italian espresso machine company has never been what you'd call affordable. That's not quite going to change with the arrival of the new La Marzocco Linea Mini, but it will bring the famous nameplate (and some of its most appealing qualities) within reach of a broader enthusiast audience. Distilling the style of the classic Linea - mainstay of many a coffee shop - not to mention its consistency and ease of use into a version scaled and suited to the domestic kitchen, the Linea Mini may still carry an eye-watering price tag but it's potentially a breakthrough in mainstream coffee geekery.
Starbuck’s in-app ordering is great for when you’re on-the-go and need to be caffeinated in a pinch. Limited to Portland for a beta trial, the in-app coffee ordering has now rolled out to more of the Pacific Northwest, and includes Starbucks’ home, Seattle. Starbucks says more than 650 locations will now have access to the in-app ordering, which lets users order, customize, pay in the Starbucks app ahead of picking their coffee up at a retail store of their choosing.
