Premium Soluble Coffee Startup Diamond Brew Scores ‘Seven Figure’ Round
Diamond Brew, a Chicago‑based premium soluble coffee startup, closed a seven‑figure pre‑seed round backed by NFL players DeAndre Hopkins and Sean Clifford, music executive Charlie Walk, and G/7 Venture Studio as a strategic partner. The company uses a proprietary liquid‑nitrogen flash‑freeze process to produce “brewless” coffee crystals sealed in hexagonal pods. Founder Douglas Yu leveraged over 2,000 hours of TikTok Live in 2025 as real‑time R&D and direct‑to‑consumer marketing. The new capital will fund additional SKUs and an expansion into the Army & Air Force Exchange Service retail channel.
The Barbax Promises to Do the Hard Work of Delivering Hot and Cold Drinks on Tap
Washington‑based startup The Coffee Dept unveiled the Barbax VC, a configurable multi‑tap dispensing system that can serve hot, cold and nitro coffee beverages. The unit uses a 316 stainless‑steel dual‑channel heat exchanger to keep drinks at target temperature even after...
Weekly Coffee News: A ‘Clean Craft’ Assurance + New in Manual Immersion Brewing
Heirloom Coffee Roasters unveiled Clean Craft, a marketing platform that pairs regenerative‑organic certified beans with third‑party lab testing for contaminants, now stocked nationwide. Hong Kong’s Wacaco introduced the Prestina, a compact manual immersion brewer that folds the cup into the...
Specialty Coffee Holds Lead Over Traditional Coffee in the U.S.
The National Coffee Association’s 2026 Specialty Coffee Report shows specialty coffee holding a 47% past‑day share, edging out traditional coffee’s 42% share. Espresso‑based drinks surged to a record 29% past‑day penetration, while weekly specialty consumption rose to 58%, up ten...
Weekly Coffee News: $1.8 Million Hot Coffee Fine + Equipment Maker Gets B Corp
A Virginia nursing home is appealing a $1.8 million penalty for a resident’s hot‑coffee burn, arguing that regulators used a non‑existent federal temperature standard. Italian espresso‑machine maker La Marzocco earned B Corp certification with an 84.4 impact score, becoming the first in...
Indonesia Coffee Report: Production Predicted to Drop 8% in 2026/27
Indonesia’s USDA FAS report projects green coffee output to shrink 8% in the 2026/27 market year, falling to 11.38 million 60‑kg bags. Robusta production is expected to dip to 10 million bags while arabica slips to 1.38 million, driven by excessive rainfall in...
Florida Coffee Shop Owner Sues New York Real Estate Giant, Alleges Fraud
Drip Coffee, a single‑store coffee shop in Fort Lauderdale, has filed a lawsuit against New York‑based Kimco Realty and its affiliate Cypress Creek Associates, alleging fraud for inducing a lease it could not honor. The shop opened in September 2025, closed by...
India Coffee Report: Soluble Coffee Drives Exports but Arabica Declining
India’s coffee output is projected to dip 4.5% to 6.14 million 60‑kg bags in 2026/27, with Arabica production falling sharply due to erratic weather, aging trees and pests. Robusta remains relatively resilient, keeping overall yields above 4.5 million bags. Exports are expected...
Ecotact Introduces TraceIQ for Green Coffee Shipment Tracking
Ecotact has launched Trace IQ, a real‑time environmental and location monitoring device built specifically for green coffee shipments. The sensor attaches inside a container, records temperature, humidity and GPS every 30 minutes, and uploads data to a cloud dashboard for up...
Honduras Coffee Report: Production Rising to Highest Level in Years
Honduras’ green coffee output is projected to reach 6.03 million 60‑kg bags in the 2026/27 market year, a 9% increase driven by better nutrition, expanded acreage and maturing plantations. Exports are expected to climb to about 5.5 million bags, with the United...
The DiFluid Moment Offers a Digital Tasting Experience for Cafe Guests
Chinese coffee equipment maker DiFluid is expanding into services with the Moment, a touchless infrared thermometer that displays tasting notes as a cup cools. The device, showcased at World of Coffee San Diego, syncs real‑time feedback to the CoffeeOS app,...
U.S. Grocery Coffee Prices Hit All-Time Average High in April
U.S. grocery‑store coffee prices reached an all‑time high of $9.72 per pound in April 2026, the highest level recorded since the BLS began tracking the metric in 1980. The price rose from $9.60 in March, reflecting a 39% increase since...
Guatemala Coffee Report: Production Up as Arabica Plantings Mature
Guatemala’s USDA‑FAS report projects green coffee output to reach 3.26 million 60‑kg bags in the 2026/27 market year, a 3.3% increase over the prior estimate. Harvested area expands 2% to 345,000 ha, driven by maturing arabica trees and rust‑tolerant hybrid renovations covering...
The Lower-Cost Ikawa Go Is Ready and Set
Ikawa, the London‑based roaster‑maker, unveiled the Ikawa Go, a low‑cost, 50‑gram sample roaster, at World of Coffee San Diego. Priced at $2,100, it offers the same fluid‑bed roasting system, advanced profiling and app integration as the Pro and ProX lines,...
Study Links Light Prenatal Coffee Drinking to Lower Allergy Risks
A South Korean cohort study of 3,200 mother‑child pairs found that pregnant women who consumed less than one cup of coffee daily had children with a modestly lower risk of eczema and a 39% reduction in food‑allergy incidence by age...