Good Morning - Tuesday April 1st - Deep thank you. THANK YOU to every subscriber. We hit 1k subs late last night! You all ROCK!

Hopefully, your week was one long stroll through Parlay Paradise, stacking 3- and 4-leg wins like a sportsbook savant. This weekend, Lady Luck showed up, locked in, and refused to let me leave. We’re riding the hot streak.

Just a friendly reminder—everything in moderation (except maybe victory laps). I’m more than happy tossing $5 at a dream. Now, if only I could find a betting line for the Cornhole Championships, we’d really be in business.

This weeks grind:

If you're sipping cherry-flavored decaf from a pre-ground bag… we need to talk. Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA just recalled nearly 700 cases of Traverse City Cherry-Flavored Decaf after realizing it’s not decaf at all—it's fully caffeinated. Oops. The FDA says it’s not deadly, just mildly chaotic, especially if you were banking on a chill cup. But let’s be real - flavored, pre-ground, faux-decaf coffee was a bad idea to begin with. You deserve better. Buy whole beans. Skip the artificial nonsense. And let real cherry notes come from a proper roast—not a lab. [ read full story ]

The JTD IG account follows Xanadu Coffee’s account because on Episode 58 of the Just the Drip Podcast we reviewed their coffee. I was down in Phoenix in Dec 2020 with the fam for my son’s youth golf tourney (the junior golf competition/talent in AZ is next level). Me and Gregger always hit up local coffee roasters/shops when we travel and this was no different. The Xanadu location I visited was off Durango St and had just opened a bit before my visit on Dec 5, 2020.

I didn’t meet the owners, but the staff was awesome. Answered a bunch of questions. Coffee was great too (listen to the full review at the link above). I got a latte and 4 bags of coffee. We reviewed their coffee “The Traveler” from the Fai Mei region with tasting notes of: Pineapple, dried cherry (see, natural - see story above), and apricot.

2 things about this shop stood out to me:

Xanadu is in the news for the worst possible reasons, but it has nothing to do with the staff. You can click here if you want to read the details. Someone still managing the social accounts put out an IG post letting the public know Xanadu Coffee is closing temporarily - 3/31/25 Late Update - They’re back open and working on transferring ownership to a new entity. Happy to hear the staff will be able to earn while this gets sorted out.

Big time corn hole fans over here. For the lucky 50-60 party folks that get to make it to my Hillbilly Olympic Bday Bash every summer you know we have corn hole competitions on deck. Coffee McGregger gives us a rundown of his love for the ‘sport’ and those that officiate. Enjoy.

I remember when “The Founder” came out. It’s hard to not be inspired by Ray Kroc’s drive to make something of himself. Whether you view his journey evil or genius you have to admire a person’s drive to create something as massively successful as McDonalds. If you haven’t read about the birth of Starbucks, head over to read this story about the 3rd wave godfather, Alfred Peet. Both amazing origin stories to get where they are now and right now…but right now, McDonalds just took the top brand spot away from Starbucks.

McDonald’s has officially dethroned Starbucks as the world’s most valuable restaurant brand for the first time since 2016, according to Brand Finance. In 2025, McDonald’s brand value jumped 7% to $40.5 billion, while Starbucks saw a steep 36% drop to $38.8 billion. The decline in Starbucks’ brand value is tied to weakening brand strength in the U.S. and China—its two largest markets—with slumps in reputation and customer recommendation metrics signaling growing discontent and a disconnect from consumer expectations. Unsurprisingly, these cracks have begun to show up in declining sales.

On the flip side, China-based Luckin Coffee is on a caffeine-fueled rocket ride. Its brand value surged 17% to $1.7 billion, nabbing the title of 2024’s fastest growing brand and climbing two spots to 19th globally. Notably, Luckin has overtaken Starbucks in market dominance in China, thanks to constant product innovation and a breakneck expansion pace—1,382 new stores opened in Q3 2024 alone. Starbucks, meanwhile, is in the middle of a “Back to Starbucks” restructuring effort, which includes cutting back on discounts, simplifying its U.S. menu, and trimming 1,100 corporate roles in an effort to get back on track.

We’ve talked about Starbuck’s new, well-compensated, CEO and his plans to right the ship. We’ll keep you posted once he gets a full year (Sept 9, 2025) at the helm. Keep reading and make sure you forward this email to your friends. Tell them how subscribing to this newsletter has changed your life and love for coffee. Also mention — if they want eternal happiness they should subscribe too! Sharing is caring.