Caffeine is extremely bitter. So why doesn’t the bitterness overwhelm your morning cup? Scientists may have figured it out. Plus, an earthquake in Hawaii destroys water systems on coffee farms, and Colombia is launching a university program dedicated to coffee in an effort to cultivate the next generation of producers.
‘Magnitude 6.0 Earthquake Destroys Water Systems On Kona Coffee Farms’ – via Sprudge
Coffee in Hawaii has been hard hit in recent years. Farms are seeing more plant-destroying pests and diseases, and federal funding cuts have hampered attempts to fight back. At the same time, ICE has been detaining coffee workers.
Now, an earthquake has destroyed already-fragile water systems in Kona.
On May 23, a 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck the Big Island, destroying many catchment tanks. Rural Hawaiians, especially those living in mountainous coffee-growing regions, often aren’t connected to municipal water services, so they must use tanks to collect and store rainwater. “That shaking was too much for it, and it literally just burst like a balloon”, coffee farmer Mark Takizawa told Hawaii Public Radio of his farm’s tank.
Around 60,000 people across Hawaii use rainwater catchment systems to collect water, according to the University of Hawaii. Many are coffee farmers who collect rainwater for their homes and to irrigate crops.
The exact extent of the damage is still unclear, but the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency said it received more than 400 damage reports. “I don’t think—at the state level or at the county level—we have captured the full extent of what that damage looked like”, Rep. Jeanné Kapela told Honolulu Civil Beat.
In March, fierce back-to-back storms flooded farms across the state. Farmers are still recovering from the floodwaters that inundated their fields and homes, and many are unsure if state or federal relief for this new disaster is coming. “We were just finding all the resources to help everybody, and there really isn’t anything for water tanks,” coffee farmer Melanie Bondera told Civil Beat.
Read more on the earthquake-induced damage here.
‘Why Doesn’t Coffee Taste Like Caffeine?’ – via Phys.org
Most coffee contains between 1 and 1.5% caffeine, the chemical compound responsible for keeping us awake.
This might seem obvious, but caffeine is very bitter. Some have described caffeine as tasting “alkaline,” “slightly soapy,” and “sharp and acerbic,” even in small doses. So why aren’t people squirming as they sip their morning cup of coffee? A team of German researchers wanted to find out.
“The significance of this work lies in explaining why coffee beverages do not taste of caffeine, even though the caffeine concentration of coffee is far above the perceivable level,” said co-author Michael Gigl in a press release.
The answer, the researchers found, lies with a group of compounds called melanoidins. Melanoidins are produced during roasting, and the researchers isolated them to examine how they interact with caffeine.
In the study, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a group of panelists tasted samples. They rated those with melanoidins and caffeine as approximately half as bitter as those with caffeine alone. In fact, the taste of caffeine became noticeable only when the researchers added significantly more caffeine to the melanoidin-containing sample than would be found in a regular coffee.
The researchers theorize that melanoidins may bind to caffeine to “physically obstruct access” to our tongue’s bitter taste receptors. The interactions between melanoidins and caffeine “have a significant influence on the perceived bitterness of caffeine and, consequently, of coffee,” they concluded.
Researchers hope their findings will spur further research, such as exploring how the addition of melanoidins could improve the flavor of instant coffee and other coffee products.
Read more on caffeine’s bitter barrier compound here.
‘Colombia Will Have the Only University School of Coffee, in the Department of Huila’ – via Colombia One
Coffee farmers are getting older. It’s long been known that coffee-producing countries are struggling to find the next generation of coffee farmers as younger people turn away from coffee to pursue higher-paying jobs. In Colombia, a new program at Surcolombiana University in Huila aims to address that problem head-on.
As Leon Thompson reports for Colombia One, the program, called the University School of Coffee, will be part of Surcolombiana’s Faculty of Engineering and will begin in the fall with 120 students. The program will focus on technical training, with courses such as “Technology in Sustainable Coffee Management” and “Administrative Processes for Coffee Farms.”
To get the school up and running, both the national and state governments are investing in infrastructure improvements and building specialized laboratories. If successful, the government hopes to expand the program to other coffee-growing municipalities.
There are many coffee-specific educational programs at universities around the world. California’s UC Davis has a dedicated coffee center, while Switzerland’s Zurich University of Applied Science offers a postgraduate certificate in coffee excellence. Programs like this are rarer in producing countries, although a university in Yunnan, China, began offering a four-year undergraduate degree in coffee science and engineering in 2024.
With the coffee school, authorities hope to offer more professional coffee training to young people, with the goal of “preventing the countryside from continuing to lose young human talent,” Thompson writes.
Read more on Colombia’s new coffee school here.
More News
‘The Alliance For Coffee Excellence Has Suspended The Taiwan Cup Of Excellence’ – via Sprudge
‘Specialty Coffee Holds Lead Over Traditional Coffee in the U.S.’ – via Daily Coffee News
‘Coffee Sector Stakeholders Complete Diploma Program in Colombia’ – via Global Coffee Report
‘India’s Coffee Growers Chase Specialty Boom’ – via Nikkei Asia
‘13 Coffee Roasters Win 2026 Good Food Awards’ – via Daily Coffee News
‘Brazil’s Instant Coffee Industry Seeks Dialogue Over New U.S. Tariff Proposal’ – via Datamar News
Is Coffee Good For You?
Two recent meta-studies found that coffee can positively impact heart health, though both come with caveats.
The first examined how coffee affects the risk of heart failure, finding that moderate coffee consumption was associated with lower rates of heart failure.
The study, published in the Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition, analyzed data from 13 studies covering more than 650,000 participants. It found that those who drank between two and four cups of coffee per day had a 7 to 8% lower risk of heart failure than those who consumed no coffee. Those who drank one to two cups had around a 12% lower risk.
However, the authors rated their results as “low certainty,” which generally indicates some doubt in the results and the need for further study.
The second study examined coffee’s impact on various cardiovascular diseases, including heart failure, coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, and stroke.
The meta-analysis, published in BMC Cardiovascular Disorders, analyzed data from 38 studies involving more than 2.8 million people. Drinking coffee was associated with a lower risk of stroke and cardiac arrhythmia, the researchers found, but high coffee consumption was linked to an increased risk of heart attacks.
There is a growing body of research on coffee and heart health. Previous research we’ve covered in this newsletter has linked coffee to both elevated risk of and increased protection from cardiovascular disease. Other studies have found an association between coffee consumption and lower risk of cardiometabolic multimorbidity, which is the co-existence of two or more health events such as heart disease and stroke.
Beyond the Headlines
‘India’s Coffee Is 70% Robusta. Why Does Its Specialty Industry Avoid Drinking It?’ by Sohel Sarkar
‘A Question Of Caffeine: The Search For Modulation, The Quest For Moderation’ by Jenn Chen
