That shot of espresso might be good for your liver. Plus, how Spokane’s coffee shops are supporting their wildfire-affected community, and thermal energy stored in rocks might be the future for solar-powered roasting.
‘Spokane Coffee Shops Open Doors To Those Impacted By Wildfires’ – via Sprudge
Wildfires have been raging across Spokane County, Washington, for over a week now. The fires have burned through thousands of acres of land, destroying entire neighborhoods, and forcing more than a quarter of the city’s population to evacuate.
As Zac Cadwalader reports for Sprudge, Spokane-area coffee shops have been stepping up for their communities. Some have opened their doors to those evacuated, while others are offering free coffee to first responders and free meals to anyone impacted.
Others have started raising money. Wake Up Call Coffee, a mini-chain with locations in Spokane and throughout Washington and North Idaho, announced that they would donate 100% of proceeds from sales on August 8 to a local wildfire response fund.
Read the full story on Spokane’s coffee community response here.
‘Hundreds Lured Into US$13.71mil ‘Fun Coffee’ Scam in Hong Kong and Macao’ – via Asia News Network
Hundreds of people across South East Asia have lost millions in an alleged crypto scam and Ponzi scheme posing as a coffee investment venture.
The venture was called Fun Coffee, and appears to have originated in Vietnam. The brand purported to have developed various coffee technologies and sought investors, according to the Asia News Network. The tech ranged from brewing machines and irrigation systems to something the outlet describes as “optimized coffee-gene technology” (we don’t know what that means either). The company claimed to have more than $1 billion in assets, and said it hoped to go public within three years.
Users engaged with the brand via an app, where they were encouraged to invest via cryptocurrency. If that wasn’t enough, the app incentivized them to recruit others to join. The more people they recruited, the higher their returns could be—some were promised returns up to 278% on their original investment. From Vietnam, the company expanded to Hong Kong in 2025, as well as to Macau, China, and Singapore.
Fun Coffee also pitched itself as a health club and fitness company, hosting group exercise meet-ups which included encouraging attendees to film promotional videos. Participants were promised bonuses if they could recruit other members, who were also encouraged to download the app and invest in the venture.
But it was all a scam. The app went offline on July 20, and investors were unable to withdraw their money. Hong Kong police officials, in conjunction with Macau authorities, launched an investigation and arrested eight suspects. Victims lost more than $13 million in the scheme.
At a press conference, Hong Kong lawmaker Johnny Ng Kit-chong said that there may be more than 1,000 victims. Some lost everything—one victim told the media, “I put my entire life savings into it, and now I cannot even afford a daily life”.
Read more on the coffee crypto scam here.
‘Roasting Coffee With Solar Energy Stored in Rocks’
Roasting coffee takes a lot of energy, and most companies use gas to power their machines. Electric roasting machines are becoming more widespread, but across the U.S. and much of the world, electricity is still mostly generated using fossil fuels.
Solar power could be a game-changer for coffee roasting—if it can be harnessed. A project by the National Solar Thermal Test Facility at the Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico is trying to do just that. Sandia is a research facility that works on a range of programs associated with U.S. national security, from nuclear deterrence to climate change.
In collaboration with Michael Sweeney, owner of Michael Thomas Coffee in Albuquerque, a team of engineers has developed technology that stores energy generated by solar panels in a bed of rocks. This stored energy can then be released to power a roaster, reaching temperatures up to 600°C (1,100°F).
Generating energy from the sun via solar panels isn’t particularly innovative—especially in a place like Albuquerque, which enjoys 300-odd days of sunshine every year. Storing that energy, however, is harder, and battery storage is expensive and resource-intensive. As part of its solar research, engineers at Sandia have been investigating technology to use rocks as a thermal energy storage system for several years. Doing so allows energy to be collected during the day and stored overnight, or even for a few days, before being used.
Importantly, the team is aiming to develop a bolt-on system that would allow companies to use the thermal rock storage system with existing roasters. “It’s not learning a new roasting machine,” Sweeney said. “It’s working with your current roaster that you know extremely well and just adapting to a different energy source.”
Energy from the rocks can be controlled via a computer, allowing roasters to adjust heat like they would with a gas-powered machine. Because of the heat it can generate, the system can also speed up roasts and shorten the time it takes to preheat the roaster, leading to time and cost savings.
While it is currently in the testing phase, the team aims to commercialize the technology. “Our work will allow Michael Thomas Coffee to install a near closed-loop system in their parking lot and use solar panels on top of their building to pump in hot air from the thermal energy storage system to facilitate industrial roasting,” said Ken Armijo, a Sandia systems engineer who is leading the project.
Read more on the solar-powered rocky roaster here.
More News
‘Trouble Brewing As Budget Coffee Chains Raise Their Prices’ via Korea JoongAng Daily
‘Study: Bird-Friendly Coffee Landscapes Need Forest Alongside Shade’ via Daily Coffee News
‘Protect Your Laptop From Coffee With Upcycled Coffee’ via Sprudge
‘Dutch Bros Pursues Dozens of Recently Closed Salad and Go Sites’ via Daily Coffee News
Is Coffee Good For You?
Italian researchers have found that drinking Italian-style coffee is good for your liver.
A team of researchers from the National Institute of Gastroenterology in Bari linked consumption of Italian-style coffee, like espresso or coffee made with a moka pot, to a lower risk of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease. MASLD is a condition in which too much fat builds up in the liver, and if left untreated, can lead to more serious liver diseases. Experts estimate that it affects more than 30% of people worldwide.
Published in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition, the study involved just over 1,000 coffee-drinking adults from southern Italy and looked specifically at espresso and moka pot brewing methods. The researchers found that the risk of developing MASLD decreased as daily coffee consumption increased, starting at one cup per day, with the greatest benefit found between 4-6 cups daily.
The study’s authors theorized that the non-filtered brewing methods popular in Italy may play a role. These brew methods are associated with higher levels of chlorogenic acid and compounds like cafestol and kahweol, which the authors wrote can display antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-carcinogenic properties. (It’s worth noting that other research has linked cafestol and kahweol to higher levels of cholesterol.)
The researchers emphasized that the study was observational and involved self-reported dietary data, noting that further study was necessary to try and establish causality. However, they concluded, “given its cultural relevance and favorable metabolic profile, Italian-style coffee may be considered a functional food for MASLD prevention.”
Beyond the Headlines
‘The South India Coffee Company Bet on Excelsa Before Anyone Was Listening’ by Sohel Sarkar
