Lot to unpack this week. A century-old American coffee dynasty quietly changed hands for $28 million — which, in coffee industry math, is what you'd call a garage sale. Blue Bottle is now controlled by the same Chinese private equity firm that bankrolled Luckin. And a fresh study confirmed that airline coffee water contains coliform bacteria and, in some cases, E. coli.
Other than that, everything's fine.
In this issue:
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Royal Cup swallows Farmer Brothers whole
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Blue Bottle's identity crisis goes international
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Spicy take: Flair's new $325 steamer vs. a $5 camera blower
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Quick hits: EUDR expands, Dean's Beans wins, London Coffee Fest opens, airline water horrors