Coffee News

Luckin's multibillion path to becoming the 'Chinese Starbucks' By Tim Sandle Coffee startup Luckin is continuing to draw investors as it continues its mission to become the leading chain of coffee shops in China. The company has just closed a Series B-plus funding round, gaining $150 million.

Caffeine addicted? Just seeing coffee stimulates the brain By Tim Sandle Toronto - Our brains can become sufficiently ‘wired’ to drinking coffee that just seeing the brown liquid is sufficient to trigger a brain stimulation on par with drinking the bitter tasting beverage, according to new Canadian research.

Startup's mission to make the best coffee in space By Tim Sandle What is the perfect cup of coffee? There will be different views in beans and water temperature. How about beans held microgravity and then roasted on orbital re-entry? This is what one intrepid startup is planning.

Essential Science: Can coffee help fight Parkinson’s? By Tim Sandle A new compound identified in coffee can be combined with caffeine to help to fight neurodegenerative conditions like Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia, according to new research.

Reusable coffee cup with in-built contactless payments By Tim Sandle Costa Coffee, a major British coffee chain, has launched a reusable coffee cup that comes in-built with a contactless payments function. This not only provides payment convenience, it also helps to promote recycling.

Essential Science: We shouldn’t like coffee, but we do By Tim Sandle It may seem like a strange question and one that could be posed at any food or beverage. However, with coffee the bitter taste means that humans should not really like the drink. But we do, and science offers an answer.

Caffeine hit: South Korea bans coffee in schools By AFP Seoul - Students and teachers in South Korea will need to find new ways of staying alert through the long school day, after the government said Friday it will ban coffee sales in schools.

A Starbucks rival in China raised $200 million in Series A round By Lisa Cumming Luckin Coffee, a serious (and possibly the only) challenger to Starbucks in China, has been given a big funding boost in their first-ever round.

Study: four cups of coffee protects the heart By Tim Sandle A new study finds that caffeine, at the level equivalent to four standard cups of coffee, protects the heart with the added help of mitochondria.

Essential Science: Where coffee works like cannabis By Tim Sandle Coffee is well known as a psychostimulant, however its effect on the body’s metabolism, in dozens of different ways, such as of steroids and the neurotransmitters, in a similar way to cannabis, is a new medical discovery.

Starbucks opens first cashless store By Tim Sandle Seattle - Ubiquitous coffee chain Starbucks is to open its first cashless store as a pilot. The store is located in the company's birthplace of Seattle. If successful this alternative retail model could be rolled out to other coffee shops.

Workers flock to coffee harvest in Colombia By AFP Ciudad Bol - The coffee crop splashes the green mountains of Colombia with red, attracting a floating workforce of indigenous people in the fields of South America's second-largest producer after Brazil.

Ghana wakes up and smells the coffee By AFP Kintampo - Like many people around the world, 80-year-old Kofi Afadi can't start his morning without a cup of coffee.

Climate change threatens Latin America coffee producers By AFP Washington - Climate change is threatening the Latin American zones most favorable for growing coffee, according to a study out Monday that warns seed production could drop by nearly 90 percent by 2050.

Meeting the consumer half-way: Starbucks goes digital By Tim Sandle Seattle - Starbucks has undertaken a host of digital innovations, from reward schemes to online pay and collect ordering. The coffee chain has undertaken valuable innovations, helping it compete in the retail sector.

Herbal coffee recalled due to erectile dysfunction additive By Tim Sandle Bethesda - A brand of herbal coffee has been recalled from the market after it was discovered that the product contained an unintended active pharmaceutical ingredient, designed to control erectile dysfunction.

Hot Docs Podcast Festival brings Science Vs to Toronto By Jack Derricourt The inaugural Hot Docs Podcast festival was a definite success. Fans of podcasting flocked to the Hot Docs cinema on Bloor St. over the weekend to enjoy the wide range of programming on offer.

Climate change creating 'A Brewing Storm' in coffee production By Karen Graham Climate change is going to have a dramatic impact on the quality, price and production of coffee, from consumers to the farmers growing the coffee beans.

Essential Science: Is coffee drinking good or bad for you? By Tim Sandle One problem with many health-related stories is that they fluctuate: one day something is good for you, the next day it is bad. One area that flip-flops is coffee drinking. Digital Journal assesses the scientific evidence.

Best coffee comes from chilled beans By Tim Sandle Bath - Coffee lovers have different views on the best coffee. Now University of Bath scientists have entered the ring, claiming brewing more flavorsome coffee arises from chilling the beans before grinding.

Dunkin' Donuts goes for the cold with new coffee offering By Nathan Salant Canton - Dunkin’ Donuts heated up the coffee rivalry with its larger competitor this week by launching its own cold-brewed drink just a year after Starbucks did the same.

Nespresso announces plans to sell Cuban coffee in United States By Nathan Salant Havana - Coffee grown and roasted in Cuba should be available in the United States this year for the first time in five decades, European coffee giant Nespresso announced this week.

Starbucks customers leave more than $1 billion on coffee cards Special By Nathan Salant Seattle - Customers of Starbucks, the world's largest coffee chain, deposited more than $1 billion on store-issued debit cards in the first quarter of 2016, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday.

Kenya wakes up to coffee By AFP Nairobi - Africa's best barista doesn't drink coffee, nor even really like it, yet two-time Kenyan champ Martin Shabaya won the Africa round and next month competes at the World Barista Championships.

Remarkable history of coffee and chocolate yeast By Tim Sandle Wild strains of yeast are necessary for the natural fermentations required for chocolate and coffee production. New genetic data indicates that the yeasts associated with coffee and cacao beans have had a special history.

Want free coffee in Dublin? Write a poem By Tim Sandle Dublin - For World Poetry Day this year, several cafes in Dublin agreed to provide free coffee for any person who came armed with a poem.

'Shockingly high' levels of sugar in cafe drinks By Tim Sandle London - The drinks sold in many high street and shopping mall cafes contain very high levels of sugar, especially those that contain syrup. Consumers could be unaware just how much sugar is in some drinks.

Drink coffee to avoid cirrhosis: Study By Tim Sandle Drinking coffee on a regular basis lowers the risk of developing cirrhosis of the liver, according to a new research study.

Do medical doctors drink too much coffee? By Tim Sandle Ever wondered about the coffee drinking habits of others and wanted to compare them to your own? If you do and medical profession comes to mind, you can read on to find out which doctors drink the most coffee.

For coffee entrepreneur, troubled Brazil still worth the grind By AFP Rio De Janeiro - Opening a gourmet cafe in a country deep in economic and political hot water might seem risky, but like many foreigners, Australian entrepreneur Duncan Hay still thinks Brazil is a tasty investment.

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