Friday, March 10, 2006


lemme disagree with the i.c.o. here

"the world's 2006/07 coffee supply and demand are near a balance. . ."

and i think that's a good thing. so sorry, nestor, i disagree with you.

after too many years of there simply being too much coffee -- and most of that pretty low quality -- thus driving down prices and causing all the ills of the so-called coffee crisis -- an end to the glut would be the best thing for farmers and consumers both.

farmers could see better return on their coffee, and so could afford to improve its quality rapidly. and of course high quality coffee is what we specialty coffee lovers seek -- that's what we're willing to pay top dollar for.

we could then begin to enter the famous cycle of which former scaa prez steve colten speaks, a place where "price begets quality begets price." in short, i want coffee prices to rise!

coffee, even the gorgeous prize-winning coffees of which i so often write here, is just about the cheapest beverage you can buy. i know many people i talk to hesitate when i recommend coffees of US$17 a pound.

that is amazingly cheap when you do the math. a pound of coffee brews about 40 6-oz. cups.

so we're talking about US$0.43 a serving for these luxury, world-class coffees. try getting a can of diet coke for that price; if i buy it at my local grocery here in nyc, it comes to US$0.50 a can.

even if you could get your hands on that recent prize-winning brazil that sold for US$50 a pound in the green -- let's say that's US$75 roasted retail? -- we're only discussing US$1.88 a cup.

i think you pay only slightly less for the indifferent swill at most fast-food joints. the mermaid i think averages about US$1.50 for a small drip coffee; the new mcdonalds offering will be US$1.20.

i hope this just drives home how sensible it is to buy the finest coffees you can get your hands on and make them yourself at home or in the office!

posted by fortune | 8:24 AM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments