Monday Morning Coffee News

Happy Monday! A few interesting coffee-related things happening: Krispy Kreme is celebrating their new coffee by giving away free donuts, last weekend coffee shops across America raised money for the ACLU, a new study looked at the amount of calories Americans consume with their coffee, and Starbucks Molten Chocolate beverages return for Valentine’s Day.

From February 6th through February 28th, Krispy Kreme is celebrating their new and improved coffee by giving away a free Original Glazed doughnut with a purchase of any size of the new coffees. The two new 100% Arabica beans blends being introduced come in Smooth and Rich. The Smooth blend is supposed to be for “subtle, easy drinking” and pair well with Krispy Kreme’s donuts  with “light acidity to balance the sweetness and with nuttiness and citrus notes to complement treats”, while the Rich blend is described as “aromatic”, “flavorful”, and “lush”.

Last weekend, February 3rd through 5th, Sprudge, a website dedicated to “global coffee culture and original journalism”, partnered with coffee companies nationwide to raise money for the American Civil Liberties Union, because, as Sprudge so eloquently put it, “Today they’re defending innocent refugee and immigrant families impacted by the recent executive orders—tomorrow they could be defending you, because they are committed to defending all of us.“. 451 brands and 809 cafes in 41 states participated.

A study out of the University of Illinois looked at 12 years of data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and found that out of the approximately 51 percent of U.S. adults who drink coffee and 26 percent who drink tea on a daily basis, 67.5% of those coffee drinkers and 33.4% of those tea drinkers did so with caloric add-ins (such as sugar or cream). These add-ins, in comparison with those who take their coffee black or tea plain, can add about 69 calories for coffee drinkers and 43 calories for tea drinkers – most of which come from the added sugar and total/saturated fat.

Starbucks is bringing back their Molten Chocolate beverages at participating Starbucks stores in the United States, Canada, and the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. These Molten Chocolate beverages will be available from February 7th though February 14th and include the Molten Chocolate Latte (hot or cold, steamed milk combined with bittersweet mocha sauce added to espresso with chocolate chips melted into it, topped with mocha- and espresso-infused whipped cream with a drizzle of espresso mocha) , Molten Chocolate Frappuccino Blended Beverage (chocolate chips and rich mocha sauce blended with ice and milk, topped with mocha- and espresso-infused whipped cream with a drizzle of espresso mocha) and Molten Hot Chocolate (chocolate chips and bittersweet mocha sauce melted into steamed milk, topped with mocha- and espresso-infused whipped cream with a drizzle of espresso mocha).