Articles
Guides, explainers and straight answers — written twice a week and wired into the same graph as everything else, so every claim links to an origin, a process or a coffee you can actually buy.
What is Pink Bourbon coffee? The Colombian variety with a misleading name
Pink Bourbon is a rare, floral Colombian Arabica with salmon-pink cherries. Genetic testing says the Bourbon in its name is a myth, and the cup is closer to Ethiopia than you'd guess.
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Coffee this week: Brazil's record crop drags arabica toward 270 cents
Arabica slid all week as Sucafina lifted its Brazil crop outlook to record levels. Plus Starbucks' Snoopy drop, Tim Hortons goes airborne, and US specialty demand hits a record 48%.
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How to make coffee with an AeroPress: a foolproof recipe and two dials
Start with one upright, weight-based baseline, then learn the two dials, temperature and grind, that let a cheap plunger mimic espresso, filter coffee or a championship cup.
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Did the Colombia earthquake damage coffee crops? What it means for supply
A magnitude 7.4 quake hit Colombia's coffee belt in August 2026 and briefly froze exports, but the trees and mills largely held. The bigger threats to this year's crop are El Nino and a strong peso.
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Coffee this week: Brazil's next crop pulls arabica to a 10-week low
Arabica dropped to a 10-week low as Brazil's harvest wrapped and traders looked to 2027, while Abu Dhabi's Mubadala backed China's Luckin Coffee in a $1 billion deal.
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What temperature should water be for brewing coffee?
The simple answer is 90 to 96 °C, with about 93 °C as the safe middle. Here is how to tune it by roast, and why it matters less than you think once your extraction is right.
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Whole bean vs ground coffee: should you grind your own?
Whole bean plus a grinder wins on freshness and flavour control, and the science is stark. Here is why it matters, when pre-ground is a fair call, and what to buy first.
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Coffee this week: Brazil's harvest and exports pull arabica to a five-week low
Arabica slid to a fresh five-week low as Brazil's harvest wrapped up and exports picked up, while Keurig Dr Pepper reshuffled its portfolio and Starbucks teased its fall menu.
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What is SL28 coffee? The Kenyan variety behind that blackcurrant taste
SL28 is a near-century-old Kenyan selection bred for drought survival that turned out to taste extraordinary. Here is where it came from, why it tastes of blackcurrant, and how it differs from SL34.
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How to use a moka pot (and stop it tasting bitter)
A moka pot makes bold, espresso-adjacent coffee, but bitterness is nearly always a heat and grind problem. Start with hot water, keep the flame low, and pull it off at the gurgle.
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Coffee this week: arabica spikes to a 7-month high, then slumps
Arabica broke out to its strongest level since winter on Monday, then gave the whole rally back by Thursday as Brazil's harvest eased supply fears. Plus Starbucks' pumpkin return and Nestle's soil bet.
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Will coffee prices go up in 2027 because of El Niño?
A record Brazil crop is capping prices now, but forecasters see a greater than 90% chance of a very strong El Niño hitting the 2026/27 and 2027/28 harvests. Here is what that means for your cup.
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Coffee this week: arabica firms as ICE stocks hit a near two-year low
Arabica futures climbed as deliverable stocks drained to their lowest since 2023, even as Brazil's record harvest sped up. Plus Starbucks job cuts and UCC's robusta bet.
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Why does my coffee taste sour (and how to fix it)?
Sour coffee is almost always under-extraction, not a defect. Here is what causes that sharp, incomplete tang and a one-variable-at-a-time checklist to fix it.
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Light roast vs dark roast coffee: which should you buy?
Roast level is a trade between origin clarity and roast comfort, not a strength setting. Here is how to pick the right bag for your brewer, your milk habit and how fast you drink.
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Coffee this week: Brazil's harvest weather pulls arabica lower
Arabica had a choppy, slightly lower week as dry Brazil weather promised a faster harvest, even with ICE stocks at a 2.5-year low. Plus Starbucks, Keurig Dr Pepper, Luckin and Best of Panama.
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What is wet-hulled coffee (giling basah)? The earthy Sumatra taste explained
Wet hulling is the climate-driven Indonesian process behind that unmistakable earthy, full-bodied Sumatra cup. Here is how it works and why it divides drinkers.
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How to make coffee in a French press: a foolproof weight-based recipe
A simple 1:15 French press recipe by weight, why a coarse grind matters with a metal filter, and the no-plunge upgrade for a cleaner cup.
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Coffee this week: arabica firms as ICE stocks drain below 300,000 bags
Arabica rallied hard, gave most of it back midweek, then closed firmer as certified stocks kept shrinking. Plus a blowout Starbucks quarter and Luckin's looming results.
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Kenya is now shipping premium coffee straight to Italy: what it means
Kenya has sent its first direct consignment of premium green coffee to Italy, a bid to escape the blend trap and pay smallholders more. Here is what the deal means for the cup.
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What is honey process coffee? The sweet middle ground, explained
No honey is involved. Here is what honey processing actually does to the bean, why white, yellow, red and black grades taste different, and how to brew them.
6 min read →Coffee this week: a record USDA crop forecast sends prices lower
The USDA's half-yearly report tips world coffee to an all-time high and knocks futures back, Luckin lands in New York, and Starbucks readies a nostalgia play. Your week in coffee.
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Single origin vs blend coffee: which should you buy?
Neither is better. Single origins let you taste one place; blends give a dependable, repeatable cup. Here is how to match the bag to the job, not the hype.
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What is anaerobic coffee processing (and how it changes the flavour)?
A plain-language guide to oxygen-free coffee fermentation: how sealed tanks work, why the cup tastes so intense, how carbonic maceration differs, and where the funky hype outruns reality.
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Coffee this week: a slow Brazil harvest pushes prices sharply higher
Arabica and robusta both closed the week higher as Brazil's harvest ran behind schedule, while Starbucks beat a shareholder suit and the EU pulled instant coffee into its deforestation rules.
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How to make cold brew coffee at home: a weight-based concentrate recipe
A fridge-first method that treats cold brew as a dilutable concentrate: the right grind, ratio and steep time, plus an honest look at the less-acidic claim.
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Why is coffee getting more expensive again in July 2026?
A rain-hit Brazilian harvest and a freshly confirmed El Niño whipsawed arabica futures back near record highs, so your cup is climbing again despite forecasts of a bumper crop.
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Washed vs natural process coffee: what's the difference?
Two ways to peel a coffee cherry that push the same bean in opposite directions — clean and bright versus fruity and heavy. Here's what actually happens on the farm, and in the cup.
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How to read a specialty coffee bag label before you buy
The six things printed on any specialty bag — origin, variety, process, altitude, roast date and tasting notes — turned into a confident buying decision, with real in-stock coffees as reference points.
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Why is Geisha coffee so expensive? The price explained
A record Panama lot sold for $30,204/kg in 2025. Here's what actually drives Geisha's price — a rare variety, tiny yields, an auction market, and a wine-like cup.
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How to make pour over coffee: a beginner-proof weight-based recipe
A simple, repeatable pour over method — ratio, water temperature, bloom and pour — that lets any specialty single origin taste the way the roaster intended.
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