No 'Excellent' Coffee Blends: Consumer Reports

Get ready for homemade lattes

(NEWSER) - Starbucks is expanding its venture into your home. First it offered instant coffee, then it launched K-cups of brewed coffee that work with Green Mountain Coffee's single-serving Keurig machines. Now the coffee chain is taking it up a notch: It's readying a single-serve espresso machine, enabling the chain's classiest coffee drinkers to make their own lattes and other espresso drinks at home, the AP reports. The Verismo machine goes on sale this fall. More»

Price climbs amid continued bad weather in Central America

(NEWSER) - As Central America is battered by downpours, the weather is taking a heavy toll on the region’s coffee growers. With the harvest about to begin, wind is knocking leaves off coffee trees, leaving unripe berries unprotected. Ripe berries are ruined by landing on soaking ground. Soon, your morning cup may cost more, the Wall Street Journal reports: Coffee futures have jumped 5.7% following a nine-month low this month. More»

Farmers already hit by hurricanes, new rainfall patterns

(NEWSER) - Melting ice caps, unpredictable weather, and ... no more coffee? Starbucks says climate change could put your morning joe in jeopardy. Global warming creates "a potentially significant risk to our supply chain, which is the Arabica coffee bean," the company's sustainability director tells the Guardian . Coffee farmers are already grappling with devastating hurricanes, shifting rain patterns, and more intense bug threats, which Jim Hanna says are associated with the changing climate. More»

Unfortunately, your peppermint mocha still contains calories

(NEWSER) - Beverages are liquid, so people seem to forget that they still have calories—especially holiday beverages, with their added peppermint, chocolate, and caramel. The New York Post lists five of the worst holiday drinks, courtesy of Eat This, Not That! author David Zinczenko:

• Starbucks Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha: A venti with whole milk and whipped cream is a whopping 700 calories, about equal to 17-plus actual candy canes.
• McDonald's Frappe Caramel: A large will cost you 680 calories, and the same amount of sugar as 31 Werther's Original caramel chocolate candies.

But smallest size will remain $1.50

(NEWSER) - Starbucks is raising the price of some of its drinks, the Seattle Times reports. The coffee giant has been hit by increases in the cost of green coffee beans, which are at a 13-year high. Starbucks didn't detail exactly how it would pass on those increases to consumers, but it said the price of a 12-ounce cup of coffee would stay at $1.50, while the price of more labor- and vowel-intensive specialty drinks would rise. JM Smucker recently raised the prices on Dunkin' Donuts, Folgers, and Millstone, notes the Times. More»