🔵🟡🔴 Linear Mini Colours, 🧾 Blank Street Coffee's audit, 🏈 Super Bowl Coffee ads : This Week in Coffee
The Big Three
New Marzocco Mini Released
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In the last few hours, Marzocco has gone live with their Linear Mini updated for 2024 including a suite of feature and aesthetic upgrades.
The Mini was already a punchy machine at an even-punchier price point and these improvements aren't exactly groundbreaking - but the Mini continues to be a remarkably desirable home machine.
Alongside four new colours, LM has updated the pre-infusion and pump-adjustment systems and added compatibility for brew-by-weight scales. The brew-by-weight will now bring the Mini in line with the Micra which had this functionality since launch.
Blank Street Coffee auditors warn account figures may be ‘misstated’
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Super interesting article and I recommend you read the whole thing but there are a couple of highlights.
Firstly, the accounts show that it costs Blank Street Coffee more to make and serve a cup of the brown stuff than they charge you for it! Your daily coffee is being subsidised by West Coast investors.
This isn't uncommon for venture-backed businesses but you should expect in the future Blank Street will become increasingly expensive as they gain market share.
Second, it seems that the auditors are trying to distance themselves from the numbers because they were appointed too late to be able to evidence some of the figures. In particular, they weren't able to perform the stock checks necessary to properly access the value of Blank Street's inventory.
I think that isn't a big problem aside from the screw-up of just appointing your auditor so late in the process. But, keep your ears to the ground...
Agonising superbowl coffee adverts
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Yet again, I am tortured by American subjects using undersea cables to hurtle towards me at lightspeed and then being shone directly into my innocent pupils.
I am reliably informed by my richer cousins from across the pond, that the "Super Bowl" is a regional religious and cultural ceremony including traditional sporting activities and dancing combined with food and entertainment from the area. Modern European historians think that there was never any bowl (super or otherwise) and that the name refers to a local deity. Very confusing.
Anyway, as part of the ceremonies, Americans like to watch adverts and many of these adverts are for coffee. Now this I can support!
There were two adverts for two fairly established US coffee brands: Dunkin Donuts and SToK Coffee.
The Dunkin Donuts advert was far beyond what my simple European mind could comprehend but Anthony Hopkins starring as a football mascot in a cold brew commercial was quite enjoyable.
If you'd like to torture yourself with the Dunkin Donut's commercial, you can do so on this link...
Other news :
Black Rifle Coffee Company kicks off UFC marketing partnership via World Coffee Portal
Starbucks faces lawsuit from US consumer group over claims its tea and coffee is ethically sourced