coffee

Haiti's once-flourishing coffee trade has been badly battered. The latest threat: climate change. Locals who still rely on coffee for their livelihood must learn to grow it in changing climes.

A coffee entrepreneur claims his brew is different — and better — than the trendy civet poop coffee. And it starts with the idea that elephants, unlike humans or civets, are herbivores.

A new study adds to the evidence that among everyday coffee drinkers, the old wives' tale that coffee will lead to dehydration is really just that: a tale. Another study found that caffeine may help to consolidate memories in the short term, but may not help retrieve old memories.

That tasty cup of java from your favorite gourmet coffee shop began life on a farm thousands of miles away. Farmers who cater to the specialty coffee market compete on quality. And some use the higher prices their beans fetch to reinvest in their businesses and improve conditions for workers.

The Espresso, a San Diego newspaper for "cafe society," documents the local coffee shop scene with juicy vignettes in a gossip column. Publisher John Rippo says he's inspired by European periodicals written for the cafe intelligentsia.

Once people figured out how to roast the seeds of the Coffea plant in the 1400s, coffee took over the world. In doing so, it fueled creativity, revolutions, new business ventures, literature, music — and slavery.

Some of the worst-paid farmers in Ethiopia were able to get their bean to the specialty coffee ball and sell to top U.S. roasters like Stumptown. But it only happened after the growers got organized and attracted the attention of coffee prospectors from the U.S.