In partnership with

Good Morning - Wednesday, May 21st - This is some hard-hitting journalism coming at you this week—investigative journalism, no less. We're using math, people! Who knew coffee pots had their own version of cup sizes, totally different from your standard 8-ounce cup? Thank goodness they don’t downsize beer pours like this. Cheers, everyone!

This weeks grind:

• Cups ≠ Cups: Measuring for perfection

• What’s in the Water: Canal-to-table espresso in Venice.

• The Future of Coffee: What’s the price of coffee. Right now?

WHAT THE CUP

Do You Trust Your Drip Machine?

We’ve gone through plenty of coffee makers in the house over the years. Before getting serious about our morning brew, we dabbled in the K-Cup arena—but it was a short fling. It didn’t meet my standards for a delicious cup of coffee, and honestly, it never got hot enough. Anyone else have that problem?

When I’m trying a new coffee, I like to run it through a pour-over, french press, or AeroPress. The extraction is better, and you get to feel like a coffee scientist. Why? Because you’re actually measuring your water and coffee to hit that perfect 16:1 ratio. Remember when we posted about that a few weeks ago? Now I’m asking—does my drip machine measure coffee to a ratio that meets my standards?

Our home drip machine is the Wolf Gourmet Automatic Drip 10-Cup Coffee Maker. It has a built-in scale, which sounds great. You pour your grounds into the bin, and it tells you when you’ve reached your desired boldness level. But something about that didn’t sit right with me—it felt like it was using way too much coffee. So, I decided to break down their measurements.

The water reservoir has three sets of markings: 10 cups, 50 ounces, and 1500 milliliters. Now, here in ’Merica, Google will tell you that 1 cup of water equals 8 ounces. Do the math and convert that to milliliters: 10 cups = 2,365.88 mL. Since 1 mL = 1 gram of water, you’d need 2,365.88 / 16 = 147.86 grams of coffee. That’s... a lot. Something was off.

I removed the reservoir, weighed it, zeroed the scale, filled it to the 10-cup line, and weighed again. Result? 1,377.40 grams. So no, 2,365.88 ≠ 1,377.40. When you take the real water weight—1,377.40 grams—and divide by 16, you get 86.08 grams of coffee. Much better. And yes, the 1500 mL line was actually spot-on.

THE POINT: If you want a reliably tasty daily pot of coffee, you’ve got to fact-check your water reservoir—especially if you’re relying on “cups.” Honestly, at this point, I’d even double-check the mL line. We can’t just trust these rascals in production.

FILTER ME SOFTLY

Murky to Mocha: The Taste of Venice, Litearlly!

Out here in sunny Las Vegas, we’ve got Lake Mead—our desert oasis. According to the internet, about 90% of our drinking water comes from it, so it’s not too wild to think Venice would tap into their own water resources. To my knowledge, though, no one in Vegas is pulling straight from Lake Mead and pulling filtered espresso shots.

But at this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale, the Canal Café is doing exactly that—serving up espressos brewed with water sourced directly from the city’s iconic lagoon. This isn’t your average cup of joe—it’s a bold fusion of art, science, and a splash of environmental commentary. The café’s filtration setup is a spectacle: transparent pipes channel lagoon water through a “microwetland” of salt-tolerant plants, then through reverse osmosis and UV purification.

The result? A cup that’s as much a conversation starter as it is a caffeine fix.

So... are you gonna drink the Canal’espresso?

Looking for unbiased, fact-based news? Join 1440 today.

Join over 4 million Americans who start their day with 1440 – your daily digest for unbiased, fact-centric news. From politics to sports, we cover it all by analyzing over 100 sources. Our concise, 5-minute read lands in your inbox each morning at no cost. Experience news without the noise; let 1440 help you make up your own mind. Sign up now and invite your friends and family to be part of the informed.

Subscribe to 1440 today.

NEW GEAR ALERT

Café Leon Dore: La Marzocco Lina Micra

This espresso work of art can be yours for the low, low price of just $11,600. Not many things flex harder than having this hot rod parked on your kitchen counter. A couple of years ago, there was an article about Beckham (yes, the soccer guy) rocking a $6,000 La Marzocco Mini version of this machine in his kitchen. Times must be tough when even Beckham couldn’t swing the full $12K for the big boy. How are us mere mortals supposed to compete?

La Marzocco has teamed up with fashion-forward Aimé Leon Dore to drop a limited-edition Linea Micra espresso machine that’s equal parts high-performance and high-fashion. This $10,000 countertop stunner features a deep green finish, polished brass accents, and walnut wood details—because your morning espresso should look as good as it tastes.

It’s still got all the pro-grade guts of the original Linea Micra—dual boilers, smartphone connectivity, the works—but this version leans hard into design and exclusivity. Oh, and there’s also a capsule collection of co-branded apparel and accessories, because why not complete the look while you’re pulling perfect shots?

BACK TO THE FUTURES

No Series 7 Required: This Site Explains Coffee Pricing

We all want those clairvoyant stock tips—or at the very least, accurate information to make informed decisions. You know, like all the professional day traders in Congress. This newsletter isn’t stock advice, but hey, if any of our readers have the inside scoop on Pelosi’s next stock picks, we’re all ears.

Anyway, Google tells me coffee is a commodity, and its price fluctuates daily. Two clever folks teamed up to create a tool that monitors those changes and reports them in real time. How does that help you? Ask your AI assistant.

The coffee world just got a little less confusing thanks to Futures.Coffee, a free and easy-to-use website that helps anyone—from roasters to regular old coffee nerds—understand how coffee prices work. Created by coffee expert Sandra Loofbourow and software whiz Tom Schluep (I can’t find a website for Tom), the platform breaks down all the complicated C Market data (you know, the stuff that usually requires a finance degree) into simple charts and updates in real time. It’s all about making pricing info accessible so small producers, indie roasters, and curious drinkers can actually see what’s driving costs—no gatekeeping, just good data. And bonus: they’re planning to expand into Robusta prices soon, too.

Buy it or don’t—it looks like a cool tool if you know what you’re doing. We just drink and love coffee over here. I dabble in sports betting, $5 at a time.

Random Wakeups

• RIP Norm: Da Bears lost a good one. Get that heavenly barstool ready!

• Jessica Simpson AI: She might be AI at this point.

• JCPenny is Still a Thing?: I thought it went the way of Mervyn’s & Millers Outpost.

• Bill Beli-got-the-wrong-Chick: Not a Pats fan, but someone please help Bill.

• Bad News for Packer Fans (Go Bears): Favre documentary on public speaking coming out soon!