Coffee News Roundup

Coffee News Roundup: Week Ending September 20th

Fionn Pooler

20 Sep 2019 — 4 min read

Today is/was the Global Climate Strike, involving millions of participants all across the world and led by some genuinely remarkable young people.

I went to the rally in Ann Arbor and it was really striking to see the number of articulate, passionate, angry teenagers who feel like their futures are in jeopardy because of the avarice of a small number of rich, powerful people, and the indifference of everybody else.

It was at once inspiring, moving, and gave me a twinge of hope that all is not lost. Let’s see if this momentum continues.

Unfortunately I also have a head cold, so this week’s news roundup is going to be short. Luckily, there’s very little news.

Costa Coffee lobbied government against 25p ‘latte levy’ before proposals were binned - via The Independent

Happy Climate Strike day, everyone.

Costa Coffee lobbied to get the proposed “latte levy” dropped before it was, well, dropped by the UK government last year.

A takeaway coffee cup held up in front of a wall.

Costa claimed that charging customers for disposable cups “deliberately targeted coffee drinkers” and that the scheme wouldn’t work, even though trials showed that it definitely would.

Costa, in its lobbying efforts last year, said: “Taxation of cups would only add an additional unwelcome tax burden on UK consumers and currently there is no clear evidence as to how a tax will improve the recycling infrastructure or affect behaviour of those who litter.”

Costa sells nearly half a billion drinks in takeaway cups each year.

It should be noted that both McDonald’s and Coca-Cola, which recently bought Costa, also lobbied against the latte levy.

Because, as we’ve found time and again, big corporations are just awful.

And, because the UK government is craven and in thrall to said corporations, they immediately backed down.

Democracy in progress, friends.

Read the full story here.

Decafino Promises to Decaffeinate Any Cup of Coffee in 3 Minutes - via The Spoon

I feel as though “claims” is a better word than “promises” for that title. Will it actually decaffeinate your coffee? We’ll have to wait until mid 2020 to find out.

The idea is that, instead of decaffeinating green beans pre-roasting, the little bag of magic crystals can simply be dropped into an already-brewed or currently brewing coffee.

Once suspended in the hot bean juice, the mineral beads use a process called “adsorption” (yeah I thought it was made up too, but apparently not) to attract caffeine molecules and trap them, removing up to 200mg per bag.

Will it work? Who knows, but you can kickstart them and find out, I suppose.

Read the full story here.

Blue Moon Releases Iced Coffee Blonde Beer Nationwide - via Food & Wine

Why is this still happening.

Seriously, who is the target market for what Food & Wine says is “the biggest brand to bring a pale coffee beer nationwide.”

Pale coffee beer.

Read the full story here.

The week in corporate greenwashing

I mean, *gestures vaguely at the world*.

Is coffee good for you?

Well, you probably shouldn’t put collagen in it.

Collagen + thing is a new wellness trend, and collagen coffee creamer/additives are popping up all over. Influencers and Kardashians are telling people to drink it, so people are drinking it.

But does it do anything?

Brooke Russell, Assistant Professor of Microbiology at Texas A&M University, concludes in the Conversation that, nah: “I have asked other collagen-knowledgeable colleagues what they think of everyone putting it in their coffee, and I get some smirks.”

Collagen’s molecular structure melts at high temperatures, so putting it into coffee ends up “diminishing or even negating the desired health benefits.” It basically just turns it into gelatin.

Russell suggests instead getting collagen in your diet, by eating “leafy green vegetables, citrus, eggs, berries, tomatoes, cabbage, pumpkin seeds, avocados and garlic, which can provide your body with nutrients to support collagen growth.”