[jyl]

You want to talk about the real threat to our Way Of Life, this is it. Coffee prices have been going up like crazy.

The 20 oz drip coffee at the shop in my office building has gone from $2.25 to $2.80 in the past year. All the cute girl baristas left, then my favorite guy there left, the new kids aren't decorative nor do they ever give free refills.

At my old favorite Peets, the coffee I grew up with, a pound of Major Dickason's has gone from $12 to $15. Local indie-star-turned-sell-out-to-corporate-owners Stumptown is charging $20/ lb ($15 for a clever 12 oz bag). Well, Catahoula is better, he's a great guy who still roasts and grinds every bean himself, and his coffee is still $12/lb. Try the Lola (they're all named after his dogs.)

Coffee futures went from 130 (cents/lb) in mid 2010 to 290 in early 2011, a +130% move. Futures have pulled back to 220, still nearly double prior levels.

I don't know of people are cutting back on coffee consumption. Starbucks is still reporting growth in ticket (number of transactions), as it Peets. The coffee vendors with single-serve products, like the Kuerig brewers, are growing sales rapidly. But standard grocery store coffee brands are seeing volume declines, admittedly small declines.

My solution was to bring an old coffee maker from home, plug it into the office kitchen, and make my own coffee. I still buy a cup some days from the shop downstairs, to support them.

With futures declining, I think we'll get through the Coffee Crisis Of 2011. But it is looking like a near thing. Another year of wild weather in coffee regions, and The End Of The World could still happen. Keep those armor-piercing bullets close!