This coffee shop opens at 9 p.m. Plus, the National Coffee Association asks for a tariff exemption and a new method for detecting stones in your coffee grinder.
‘US Coffee Industry Asks Trump Administration to Exempt Product from Tariffs’ – via Reuters
There are many reasons why coffee prices are spiking right now. Among them is the uncertainty surrounding Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on countries like Canada, Mexico, and Colombia. In response, the National Coffee Association has requested that coffee be exempted from tariffs.
As Marcelo Teixeira and Seher Dareen report for Reuters, NCA president and CEO Bill Murray wrote to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to formally request the exemption. In the letter, Murray noted that the U.S. doesn’t produce enough coffee to meet demand, and warned that tariffs could lead prices to increase by up to 50%.
Teixeira and Dareen also noted how interconnected the North American coffee market is, with many large companies operating across Mexico, the U.S., and Canada. Nestlé, for example, recently announced they would be investing $1 billion in production plants in Mexico.
In his letter, Murray also pointed out how much the coffee industry contributes to the U.S. economy—$343 billion annually. He asked Greer to refrain from imposing additional tariffs on coffee-producing countries, writing that this would have “even more significant consequences.”
‘Singaporean Researchers Use Microphones to Safeguard Coffee Grinders from Hidden Stones’ – via Comunicaffe
If you work in coffee or even have a coffee grinder at home, you’ve undoubtedly had this experience: you pour your beans into the grinder, hit go, and moments later, hear the screeching sound of a stone getting stuck in (and possibly ruining) the burrs.
Stones are an unfortunate reality of coffee, often hiding amongst even the most meticulously sorted beans. Stones that make it through the sorting process are hopefully sifted out by a destoning machine or picked out by an eagle-eyed roaster; if not, they can get caught in a grinder. They can be very damaging to grinders: a stone can chip or break the burrs, which are expensive to fix and disruptive to operations.
To help cafes and small roasters avoid this, scientists from the Singapore University of Technology and Design have developed a way to detect stones during grinding using acoustic sound waves.
For the study, published in Applied Sciences, the researchers placed a microphone within a grinder to capture sounds as beans (and stones) were ground. They then used an algorithm called empirical mode decomposition (EMD) and a specialized processor to break the signals down and pinpoint the stones in real time.
“We chose EMD because it adapts seamlessly to the grinder’s changing acoustic environment,” said study co-author Dr. Teo Tee Hui. “Stones produce transient, distinctive acoustic patterns that EMD easily recognises, even amidst background noise.”
Researchers are working on a solution to detect smaller stone fragments due to their quieter acoustics being masked by beans’ sounds. Teo said their approach is relatively cheap and easy to integrate in commercial settings without major modifications to existing machinery.
“Ultimately, our goal is straightforward. We want to prevent stones from ever damaging a coffee grinder again,” Teo said. “By developing a reliable detection method that enhances the efficiency and longevity of coffee grinders, we could benefit café operations and the coffee industry as a whole.”
‘Most Sydney Coffee Shops Close at 3pm. Gerome’s Opens at 9pm’ – via The Sydney Morning Herald
Many people start their workday with a stop at the local coffee shop. But most coffee shops close in the late afternoon—what about those who work nights?
To help these night owls stay caffeinated, a former ICU nurse (and nightshift veteran) in Australia named Gerome Creencia started a coffee cart that opens at 9 p.m.
“Working night shift, you already have the cheap coffee from the machine that is free at work. Or, you treat yourself and buy better coffee,” Creencia told Mary Ward at the Sydney Morning Herald. “It’s about what getting a coffee represents. It’s a break: you go and get coffee as a group, and have a quick chat. Good coffee can really change your mindset.”
Ward reports that nearly 900,000 people work at more than 53,000 “core night-time businesses” in New South Wales, places that run at night: think pubs, food operators, and hospitals. The state launched an initiative in 2024 to improve services and safety for shift workers, headed by Night-time Economy Minister John Graham.
“Meeting their needs represents an enormous opportunity for the nighttime economy,” Graham told Ward at the time. “But this requires us to plan as well for the night as we do for the day.”
Creencia, meanwhile, said his regulars are grateful for the late-night pick-me-up. “Night shift is already hard enough. You have to prepare your meals. It is good to have something available,” he said.
More News
‘Here Are the Winners from the African Fine Coffees Association Competitions’ – via Daily Coffee News
‘JDE Peet’s Settles Price Disputes with Major European Supermarkets’ – via World Coffee Portal
‘Coffee Science Foundation Leading More Defects Research with UC Davis’ – via Daily Coffee News
‘Italian Government Invests €10 Million in Ethiopia’s Coffee Sector’ – via Global Coffee Report
‘Starbucks Ordered to Pay $50 Million to Los Angeles Delivery Driver Burned by Hot Tea’ – via Eater LA
‘Rainforest Alliance Reduces Requirements in Latest Standard Revision’ – via Daily Coffee News
Coffee and the Climate Crisis
A new report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) shows how adverse weather conditions globally, but particularly in Brazil and Vietnam, have reduced harvests and pushed the price of coffee upwards over the past few years. In the section above, we discussed some reasons for the price surge: Climate change, the FAO reported, is another major factor.
In Vietnam, the world’s second-largest coffee grower, production fell 20% during the 2023-24 harvest cycle, with heat and dry weather a significant contributor. The prospects for upcoming harvests don’t look much better, according to a report by Maya Wallengren in Global Coffee Report.
Wallengren spoke with several producers who noted how much the drought and extreme heat had impacted their trees’ flowering. “The new harvest is going to be small again because most of the growers have suffered from the drought and did not have good conditions for flowering, so there is very little fruit on the trees,” farmer Ho Quoc Huy said.
Many coffee trees seemed to have cherries only on the bottom third of their branches, Wallengren reports. “After the drought, we got the very hot weather that burned the leaves and left most of the trees defoliated,” another farmer, Tina Trinh, said. While they didn’t die, it will take time for those trees to recover.
Experts estimate that Vietnam’s upcoming harvest will be down around 10%, with production further impacted by farmers switching to other, better-paying crops like pepper or durian. “Compared to previous years farmers are in no a hurry to sell because today everybody has other incomes from durian, pepper, or other crops, so they don’t rely on coffee only,” Trinh said.
Is Coffee Good For You?
For those who struggle with tinnitus, a breakfast of coffee with cream, a banana, and a bran muffin could be beneficial.
Tinnitus is a condition that involves a buzzing or ringing sensation in the ears. Possible causes can range widely from noise-induced hearing loss to head injuries and migraines. It’s a relatively common condition, affecting almost 15% of adults worldwide, and while many report it isn’t disruptive, for a small percentage, tinnitus can severely impair their quality of life.
Coffee and caffeine have historically been associated with worsening the symptoms of tinnitus. However, a new review of studies from China found that consuming moderate amounts of caffeine, along with fruits, high-fiber foods, and dairy products, could reduce the risks of developing the condition.
For the review, published in BMJ Open, researchers analyzed eight observational studies that examined the dietary impact on tinnitus in more than 300,000 participants. Fruit intake was associated with a 35% reduction in tinnitus occurrence, followed by dairy products with 17%, caffeine with 10%, and dietary fiber with 9%.
The authors note that the link between caffeine intake and tinnitus “remains contentious,” but that “our findings indicate that caffeine has a positive effect on tinnitus incidence.” The reasons for this, and the protective nature of the other foods, remain unclear: it might “involve the protective effects of these diets on blood vessels and nerves, as well as their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.”
However, the authors also emphasize the study’s observational nature and the difficulty of establishing a cause-and-effect relationship. “It is crucial to interpret our findings cautiously because of the overall low quality of the evidence available,” they write.
