Fresh Cup Magazine

Specialty coffee is undeniably on the rise—and younger coffee drinkers are largely to thank for that fact. Last year, consumption hit a 14-year high, mainly driven by 25–39-year-olds. But there’s a caveat: Most of those consumers don’t want the same old black coffee anymore. Instead, the specialty coffee experiences they typically seek are defined by customization and novel flavors. This reveals a key tension.

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Driftaway Coffee has had a good few years. As Roast Magazine’s 2026 Macro Roaster of the Year, the Brooklyn-based roastery has become a reputable force within the specialty coffee community. Today, the company is on track to roast approximately 200,000–250,000 pounds of coffee through its direct-to-consumer coffee subscriptions and wholesale program, and is targeting 100+ active accounts by the end of 2026.

✉️ This story was featured in this week’s Coffee News Club 👋 Get the Coffee News Club newsletter in your inbox weekly—sign up. On July 6, the C price jumped 16% in a single day, climbing nearly 50 cents per pound to $3.50. It was the largest one-day gain in more than 25 years, and was followed by a near-10% fall the next day. The exact cause of the jump has eluded analysts and experts. The coffee futures market rises and falls all the time.

Commodity coffee prices jumped 19% in one day. Why? Nobody is quite sure. Plus, Colombia’s coffee fund could be in trouble, and Starbucks is “reassessing” a key climate pledge. ‘Coffee Futures Surge to Five-Month High’ – via Global Coffee Report On July 6, the C price jumped 16% in a single day, climbing nearly 50 cents per pound to $3.50. It was the largest one-day gain in more than 25 years, and was followed by a near-10% fall the next day.

Small-city barista, coffee trainer, AeroPress champion, New York educator, experimental pop-up owner: Danny Toro’s coffee career has taken some interesting twists and turns over the last decade. Recently, it culminated in the launch of Field Study, a high-end coffee concept in Brooklyn, New York. The business is situated in a working car showroom. On weekends, Toro and their fellow partners serve drinks made with rare and experimental coffees ranging in price from $9to $25.

When we talk to roasters about wholesale strategy, the most common question we get asked is: what’s everyone charging for wholesale coffee? This has been especially true in the last eighteen months since the market has been a rollercoaster.

✉️ This story was featured in this week’s Coffee News Club 👋 Get the Coffee News Club newsletter in your inbox weekly—sign up. Extreme weather events—think drought, , and extreme heat—have occurred more frequently over the last few years. That’s bad news for coffee: studies have shown that climate change could decrease both the quantity and quality of coffee production. However, it can be hard to grasp what that might entail.

When Little Joy Coffee in Northfield, Minnesota put a raspberry Danish latte on its spring menu, owner Cody Larson did something few other coffee shops would. He published the recipe for the drink online, and invited independent cafes across the country to add it to their menus. He even built a public map, so customers could find locations serving the drink near them. The response to the viral latte quickly spilled into the real world.

✉️ This story was featured in this week’s Coffee News Club 👋 Get the Coffee News Club newsletter in your inbox weekly—sign up. In late 2023, a group of environmental and health nonprofits petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ban the use of methylene chloride, a chemical sometimes used in coffee decaffeination. In the years since, the proposal has slowly worked its way through the FDA’s system, and we may now be getting closer to a resolution.