Compost Tea, Long Live Robusta, and Boosting US Coffee Consumption

• US coffee consumption is low – do Americans need their own ‘hora del café’?

  By Agnese Sokolovska for Coffee Intelligence

  “[Each day] between 4pm and 5pm, the Honduran Institute of Coffee (IHCAFE) encourages everyone to stop what they are doing and observe ‘la hora del café’ – an hour in which people can pause and sip a cup of coffee from Honduras. The initiative, which is accompanied by an hour-long broadcast on Radio América, was launched in a bid to boost both the quality and quantity of coffee consumption across the country.”

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• How to Make Compost Tea—and Use It to Encourage Plant Growth and Prevent Pests

  By Madeline Buiano for Martha Stewart

  “Compost tea, also known as liquid extract, is the process of extracting liquid from solid compost material. ‘You're taking finished compost and you're steeping it in clean water, which extracts the nutrients and microorganisms that are in the compost,’ says Rhonda Sherman, director of the Compost Learning Lab at North Carolina State University.”

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• The robusta coffee craze will not be short-lived

  By Sarah Charles for Coffee Intelligence

  “With the rapid advance of climate change and the land available to grow arabica diminishing at an alarming rate, the search for alternatives has been underway for years. The more resilient and disease-resistant robusta species has been the favourite – and production has soared as a result. In the 1950s, it accounted for some 13% of the market, rising to 30% by the end of the 1980s. By 2021, robusta exports totalled 47.62 million bags and comprised 40% of the global market. However, until recently, the vast majority of specialty coffee companies had steered clear, dismissing robusta as bitter and rubbery compared to the smooth and sweet characteristics of arabica.”

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