Look for the price of coffee to perk up

A real eye-opener: A six-year high is anticipated, stemming from smaller crops in Brazil and a steadily growing appetite for lattes

By Claudia Carpenter
Bloomberg News

The price of arabica coffee futures listed on the New York Board of Trade, the world's biggest coffee exchange, will average $1 a pound in 2005, based on the median estimate of 11 analysts and roasters. That's 30 percent higher than 2004. The futures are benchmarks for coffee sold by Procter & Gamble Co.'s Folgers and Kraft Foods Inc.'s Maxwell House brands.
Coffee futures jumped 60 percent in the past year, more than commodities including crude oil, sugar, copper and hogs. Suppliers were squeezed by rising demand from Starbucks Corp. and other buyers at the same time the outlook deteriorated for crops in Brazil, Vietnam and Indonesia. Those countries account for 48 percent of global coffee-bean exports.

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Tully's Coffee to Offer Special Coffees to Raise $1 Million for World Vision Tsunami Response

Tully's Coffee to Offer Special Coffees to Raise $1 Million for World Vision Tsunami Response

SEATTLE, Dec. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- World Vision and Tully's Coffee today announced a promotion to offer specially-marked "Tsunami Response" packages of Tully's premium coffees, with the objective of raising $1 million to help survivors of the devastating earthquake/tsunami disasters in South Asia. One hundred percent of the net proceeds of the Tully's Coffee World Vision Tsunami Response coffees will go to World Vision for its earthquake/tsunami disaster response currently underway in eight countries.

Tully's will make specially-marked "Tsunami Response" packages of its premium coffees (regular and decaffeinated) available for customers, while supplies last, during the next three months.

Starting Wednesday, January 5, 2005, purchases may be made at all Tully's Coffee stores in Washington, Oregon, California and Idaho. Amazon.com will be the exclusive online retail location for the Tsunami Response coffees, at www.amazon.com/tullys.

World Vision has more than 5,000 staff in Asia. Within hours of the earthquake/tsunami, staff living in the stricken communities were helping their neighbors with relief and rescue by dispatching food, shelter and comfort to survivors. The proceeds from this promotion by Tully's Coffee will help World Vision to continue its immediate and long-term efforts to assist people with food, medical materials, and other basic supplies.

"We are pleased to partner with World Vision at this tragic time," said Tom T. O'Keefe, Tully's Coffee founder and chairman of the board. "Tully's Coffee is deeply dedicated to the community, and by partnering together, we are helping the global community cope in this time of need."

"World Vision is deeply grateful to Tully's Coffee for their partnership in helping the children and families of South Asia to rebuild their lives," said Richard Stearns, World Vision president.

About Tully's Coffee

Founded in 1992, Tully's Coffee Corporation is a leading specialty coffee retailer, wholesaler and roaster. Tully's retail division operates specialty retail stores in Washington, Oregon, California, and Idaho, serving premium coffees from around the world, along with other complementary products. The wholesale division distributes Tully's fine coffees and related products through offices, food service outlets and leading supermarkets throughout the West. Tully's specialty division supports Tully's licensees in Asia and the U.S. Tully's corporate headquarters and roasting plant are located in Seattle at 3100 Airport Way S. For more information, call (800) 96-Tully or visit the Web site at www.tullys.com.

About World Vision

World Vision is a Christian relief and development organization dedicated to helping children and their communities worldwide reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty. World Vision provides hope and assistance to more than 100 million people in nearly 100 countries around the world. World Vision's work is evident in 4,500 communities, where we join with local people to improve the lives of poor children and families. For more information, visit www.worldvision.org.

Fonte Coffee Roaster Donates Sumatra Proceeds

Fonte Coffee Roaster Donates Sumatra Proceeds to American Red Cross International Response Fund for Tsunami Victims

Fonte Hopes to Rally Coffee Community by Following Efforts Made by Starbucks

SEATTLE, Dec. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Just days after the tragedy, millions of Americans rallied to pledge their financial support -- over $18 million to the American Red Cross alone -- to help victims of the devastating tsunami that crushed the coasts of Southeast Asia and Eastern Africa. Sumatra, whose primary export is coffee, was one of the countries hit the hardest. Fonte Coffee Roaster, a small independent coffee roaster in Seattle, hopes to continue the donation efforts and rally the rest of the coffee community by joining coffee powerhouse Starbucks' efforts to support the tsunami relief. To that end, Fonte will donate $2 for each pound of Sumatra coffee purchased through the website at www.fontecoffee.com or by calling 1-88-FONTE until further notice.

"This tremendous loss of life is tragic and we will all be forever changed. Sumatra grows some of the finest coffees in the world and it is heart-wrenching to see families and their livelihoods virtually rocked to the core by this disaster," says Fonte's president Paul Odom.

The portion of proceeds from Fonte's Sumatra coffee will go directly to the American Red Cross International Response Fund that provides immediate relief and long-term support through much-needed supplies and volunteers. Odom plans to rally other roasters through the Specialty Coffee Association of America, which has over 2,500 company members including Fonte, and hopes to encourage them to make a financial donation to the fund which will help those in Sumatra and the other countries hit by the tsunami.

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New Year Resolution-Change the World

I found it was difficult to change the world,
so I tried to change my nation.

When I found I couldn't change the nation,
I began to focus on my town.

I couldn't change the town and as an older man,
I tried to change my family.

Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can change is myself
and suddenly I realize that, if long ago, I had changed myself,
I could have made an impact on my family.

My family and I could have made an impact on our town.

Their impact could have changed the nation and
I could, indeed, have changed the world.

Anon.

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year 2005 to all of our readers.
Your comments are welcome.

Hangover Remedy for Tomorrow

Add the juice of one lemon to a cup of black coffee and drink it unsweetened and without milk. This might help.

Quake-ravaged region major coffee source

CHRIS CLOUGH
THE OLYMPIAN

Before Sunday's 9.0 magnitude earthquake, resulting in tsunamis and terror-filled photographs, most people in South Sound were likely to be familiar with Sumatra because of its coffee.

"Sumatra is fairly important to us," said Scott Merle, roast master and green coffee buyer for Olympia-based Batdorf & Bronson Coffee Roasters. "It's in the top five coffees that we roast."

Of course, Merle said, Sunday's disaster is a human tragedy first and foremost.

"Our immediate concern is not a big panic about Sumatra coffee," said Merle, who visited the island last year to learn more about the coffee-growing operations there. "The biggest issue is the personal one. What a horrible tragedy."

"This morning, I read about the tsunamis and the thousand and thousands of people killed or losing their homes," she said. "Then I was buying some coffee beans, and realized I get Sumatra all the time without really thinking about where Sumatra is or what life there is like."

Indonesia, which includes Sumatra, trailed only Brazil, Colombia and Vietnam in coffee production in 2000, according to coffeeresearch.org.

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Starbucks Donates $100,000 to Southeast Asia Relief Efforts

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 29, 2004--

In addition, Company Will Enhance Contribution by Donating $2 From Sales of Select Southeast Asian Whole Bean Coffees During January


In response to the unprecedented natural disaster in Southeast Asia, Starbucks Coffee Company (Nasdaq:SBUX) has made an initial contribution of $100,000 to two international relief organizations -- CARE and Oxfam UK. Both international relief organizations have been actively involved in the rescue efforts in the countries that were badly impacted by the earthquake and tsunamis.

In addition to the immediate cash donation to these relief agencies, during January 2005 Starbucks will also donate $2 for every pound of Sumatra, Decaf Sumatra and Aged Sumatra whole bean coffee purchased in its Company-operated stores in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and Germany, while supplies last.

"We are deeply saddened by the tremendous devastation and rising death toll in Southeast Asia, and extend our condolences and deepest sympathies to the bereaved families and those impacted by this tragic event," said Howard Schultz, Starbucks chairman. "Starbucks has a long tradition of striving to contribute positively to communities in which we do business. Our prayers and thoughts are with all the families who have lost their loved ones."

To further enhance the Company's initial cash contribution to the designated relief organizations, Starbucks Company-operated stores in these markets will donate $2, or local currency equivalent, for every pound of whole bean Sumatra and Decaf Sumatra coffee sold in January 2005. The donation will also apply to Aged Sumatra, the next Starbucks(R) Black Apron Exclusives(TM) coffee, when it arrives in stores on January 5.

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Finding That Perfect Cup Of Coffee

By KOMO Staff & News Services

SEATTLE - Coffee beans are a lot like grapes; different varieties have different flavors. Here’s how the expert tasters at Consumer Reports magazine explain it. "If you like full-bodied coffee with low acidity, for instance, Jamaican Blue Mountain may be for you. Sumatran tends to be full-bodied with earthy notes; Kenyan, medium-bodied with berry notes."

For its December issue Consumer Reports rated dozens of brands of coffee, decaffeinated and regular. Based on this round of testing, the editors conclude that:

* High price doesn't guarantee high quality
* Kona coffees, which normally are expensive, can be second rate
* Decaffeinated coffee can be first-rate. In fact, the magazine says "some decaffeinated versions outshine or nearly match their regular brand mates."
* Coffee-shop brands may not shine. The editors say coffees from Gloria Jean's, Seattle's Best, and Starbucks "are good at best."

If you want to get the most flavorful cup of coffee (decaf or regular) the magazine's Erin Gudeux recommends buying whole beans and grinding them yourself. "Overall we found that the whole bean coffee does tend to have a better flavor," she says.

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Austrians turn cold shoulder to Starbucks

Big News Network.com

Starbucks, the upscale U.S. coffeehouse chain, has been unable to perk up sales in Austria, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

Three years ago the chain arrived in Vienna with plans to open a new store in Austria at least once a month so that by next month it would have 60 stores across the nation.

For many Viennese a boycott of Starbucks is a requisite part of their anti-Americanism.

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Coffee-lid conundrum: Designers seek best way to plug the sip hole

TOBY MANTHEY
Statesman Journal, Salem, Oregon

December 26, 2004

Craig Anderson and Robert Sanders of Canby have spent three years designing a solution to the sip hole in disposable-coffee-cup lids. They dreamed of something that didn't spill, something that was easily opened and closed while driving.

There is only one problem with that problem: It has been solved already.

Released nationwide early this year, the Solo Traveler Plus lid is at the zenith of current coffee-lid design. The top-notch disposable top has a sip hole with a lever that elegantly slides shut. It was designed for Solo Cup Co. by Metaphase Design Group, a St. Louis, Mo., company specializing in ergonomics and the human hand.

The lid already has won I.D. Magazine's prestigious "Best of Category" award for the publication's 2004 Annual Design Review for industrial design.

All of that hasn't discouraged the Canby duo, who run a machine shop and have sold a few hundred of their CappACup. The CappACup isn't a lid per se, but a plastic arm that clips to your coffee cup and reaches over to cover the sip hole on the lid.

And it's about as sleek as a pocket protector.

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How Coffee Works

If your morning routine includes a cup or two of coffee, you may know a few things about it. It's a stimulant drink, it comes from beans that are roasted and ground and, for many of us, it's a staple of life. But do you know where coffee grows and how it gets to America? How a French roast differs from an Italian roast? What a coffee cherry is? Or how decaffeinated coffee is made?

There's much more to that morning cup o' Joe than you may realize! In this article, we'll look at coffee's origins and how it spread, where it's grown, how it's harvested and processed and what roasting is all about. We'll finish by learning how to make a really great cup of coffee.

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National Geographic Magazine

Slurped in black coffee or sipped in green tea, gulped down in a soda or knocked back in a headache pill, caffeine is the world's most popular psychoactive drug.

Get a taste of what awaits you in print from this compelling excerpt.

Caffeine Article