Tag: food and drink

How Spam became cool again | CNN Business

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CNN Business
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Spam is cool.

The 85-year-old canned block of meat has undergone a cultural reinvention.

Hormel

(HRL) has sold a record amount of Spam for seven straight years, and 2022 is on pace for another such milestone. The conglomerate behind Skippy and Jennie-O turkey says it can’t make Spam fast enough and is increasing production capacity.

Spam is a trending ingredient on TikTok and on the menu at fine-dining restaurants in coastal cities. In 2019, a limited-edition Spam pumpkin spice flavor sold out in minutes. (You can still buy it on Ebay, where it goes for up to $100 per can.)

What is behind this phenomenon? Why does this slab of cooked pork that has long been stigmatized as fake meat, linked to wartime rations and hilariously spoofed on Monty Python now have cachet with foodies?

Spam’s popularity in Hawaiian, Asian and Pacific Island cuisine has influenced its growth in the United States. As more immigrants came to the United States and fusion dishes and ethnic cuisines entered the cultural mainstream, Spam has reached new, younger foodies, say Hormel, food analysts and researchers.

Edgy and clever advertising campaigns also have helped Spam attract a broader customer range than the Baby Boomers who grew up eating it, sometimes reluctantly.

“Spam has undergone a reputation makeover,” said Robert Ku, an associate professor of Asian and Asian American studies at Binghamton University and the author of “Dubious Gastronomy: Eating Asian in the USA.” “A lot of celebrity chefs have been Asian and Asian American, and reintroduced Spam to a new audience.”

More than 100,000 visitors stream into the Spam museum every year in Austin, Minnesota, with stories to tell about Spam and recipes to share, said Savile Lord, the manager of the museum in the brand’s hometown. Visitors most often ask her and other museum “Spambassadors” how Spam got its name and what the heck is in it.

Spam first hit shelves in 1937 as a 12-ounce, 25-cent, convenient and long-lasting protein in a tin can during the lean years of the Great Depression. Spam contained nothing but pork shoulder, chopped ham, water, sugar and sodium.

It was a concoction of George Hormel and his son, Jay, meatpackers in Austin. The Hormels had been working on the “problem of canning a nonperishable pork product for a good many years and at last we solved it,” Jay told The New Yorker in 1945.

They offered a $100 prize for the best name for the food. It needed to be short for display purposes and to fit on one-column newspaper advertisements. It also had to pronounceable in any language.

The brother of a corporate executive threw out “Spam,” a combination of “spice” and “ham,” at a party, and Hormel “knew then and there that the name was perfect.”

From the beginning, Spam was marketed as a time-saver and a food for any meal: Spam and eggs. Spam and pancakes. Spam and beans, spaghetti, macaroni and crackers. Spamwiches.

“Never have you imagined a meat could turn into so many interesting uses. Morning, noon or night – cold or hot – Spam hits the spot!” read one early advertisement. Spam was a “miracle meat,” the company told consumers in newspaper spots and radio ads.

And then came the United States’ entrance into World War II in 1941, the decisive moment in Spam’s growth.

At many Pacific outposts, which had little refrigeration or local sources of meat, American and Allied troops relied on the canned meat that could be stored away for months and eaten on the go.

Hormel says more than 100 million pounds of Spam were shipped overseas to help feed the troops during the war. Uncle Sam became known as Uncle Spam, much to the dismay of troops forced to eat it every single day.

“During World War II, of course, I ate my share of Spam along with millions of other soldiers,” Dwight D. Eisenhower later wrote to Hormel’s president. “I’ll even confess to a few unkind remarks about it – uttered during the strain of battle.”

For the citizens of conflict-wracked countries in the Pacific struggling with hunger and famine during the war and rebuilding years, however, Spam was a symbol of access to American goods and services. Sometimes, it was the only protein source available. After US troops left, Spam remained, becoming an ingredient in local dishes.

“Spam became part of Asian culture,” said Ayalla Ruvio, a consumer behavior researcher at Michigan State University who studies identity and consumption habits. “It represented a piece of America. It’s like Coca-Cola or McDonald’s.”

American troops also introduced Spam in Korea during the Korean War in the early 1950s, and Budae Jjigae (Army Stew) became a popular Korean dish. Spam also remains a common ingredient in dishes almost anywhere US soldiers were stationed, such as Guam, the Philippines and Okinawa, Japan.

In Hawaii, where the US military has long been a major presence, more Spam is consumed per person than any other state. It’s stacked on a block of rice and wrapped in seaweed to make Spam musubi and sold at fast-food chains like McDonald’s in Hawaii. There’s even an annual Waikiki Spam Jam festival.

Many US soldiers returning from World War II vowed never to eat Spam again, and the brand became linked to rationing and economic hardship. But Spam has appealed to new consumers in the United States in recent years.

“When I first started getting into the brand, we started to notice this transition to a stronger multicultural set of consumers,” said Brian Lillis, who has been product’s brand manager for six years. “They brought with them the traditions of utilizing the product in their home country or where maybe their ancestors came from.”

Hormel has worked with chefs at Korean, Taiwanese and Vietnamese restaurants to get Spam on menus. As more people have been introduced to these dishes, they go home and try to make their own versions, Lillis said.

Spam highlights its versatility in dishes on social media and TV advertisements. There are ads for Spam and eggs, as well as Spam fried rice, Spam musabi, yakitori, and poke.

Spam has made a comeback in the United States because Asian and Asian American chefs such as Chris Oh have tried to reinvent it in their own ways, said Ku, the Binghamton University professor. “They brought some of the culinary influences of Asia and the Pacific and upscaled it.”

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October 1, 2022
Unions could face a big obstacle in 2023 if the economy falls into a recession

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Hannah Whitbeck (C) of Ann Arbor, Michigan, speaks as Alydia Claypool (L) of Overland Park, Kansas, and Michael Vestigo (R) of Kansas City, Kansas, all of whom say they were fired by Starbucks, listen during the “Fight Starbucks’ Union Busting” rally and march in Seattle, Washington, on April 23, 2022.

Jason Redmond | AFP | Getty Images

The union movement that kicked off across the country more than a year ago has continued its momentum in 2022, with workers in warehouses, coffee shops, grocery stores and airlines pushing for representation.

Working conditions during the pandemic pushed many of these frontline workers to organize, but fears about the economy and a potential recession could stand to curb the union boom if the job market shifts.

Unions can help workers secure better pay, schedules and job security through contract agreements, but some organizers claim their employers retaliate against them and endanger their livelihoods.

Workers like Robert “Rab” Bradlea, 32, are willing to take on this risk, despite recession talk. Bradlea scaled back his hours at Trader Joe’s Wine Store in New York City and picked up a second job as he and some of his coworkers sought to unionize.

Bradlea said the move to organize under the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union had the support of most of his coworkers. Some opposed joining a union, either because of previous experience or fear of losing their jobs. But Bradley thought only he and his fellow organizers were putting themselves at risk.

“I thought they would look for ‘bad apples’ and weed out organizers specifically, rather than torch an entire store,” Bradlea said.

Instead, before the beloved wine store could even file a petition for a union election, Trader Joe’s abruptly closed the location on Aug. 11, telling employees that same day. Trader Joe’s spokesperson Nakia Rohde said in a statement to CNBC that the grocer opted to close the “underperforming” store to support its Union Square grocery store using the wine shop’s space ahead of the holiday season.

2022’s union boom

So far, this year has proved to be a success for the labor movement. Union petitions from Oct. 1 through June 30 were up 58% over the prior year, to 1,892, according to the National Labor Relations Board.

By May of this year, petitions for the year had exceeded the total number of filings in all of last year. The NLRB has yet to release full year data, but a CNBC analysis of filings shows nearly 900 more petitions in fiscal year 2022 over last year’s numbers.

This comes at a time when public approval of labor unions continues to climb. Recent Gallup data show 71% of Americans now approve of labor unions, up from 68% last year and 64% pre-pandemic. The measure is at its highest level on record since 1965.

The job market, particularly for retail trade, accommodation, food services and transportation and warehousing workers, is still favoring employees, with a combined 1 million more job openings today in those three sectors compared with pre-pandemic levels.

“Right now in the retail space, we have so many more jobs than we do workers, and that puts disproportionate power in our hands right now because the company needs them almost as much as we need them,” said Hannah Smith, an employee at the recently unionized REI store in Berkeley, California.

REI did not respond to a request for comment from CNBC.

The shift in the balance of power has led some employers to hike pay and enhance other benefits. For example, Amazon said on Wednesday that it’s hiking average hourly pay from $18 to more than $19 for warehouse and delivery workers. The announcement comes ahead of its annual Prime Day promotion and a busy holiday season, as well as a union election in Albany next month.

As the Federal Reserve continues to aggressively raise interest rates to fight inflation and cool down the economy, market watchers, economists and executives are warning of a potential recession in 2023. If the economy cools off, the union movement may follow suit, according to Catherine Creighton, director of Cornell University’s Industrial and Labor Relations branch in Buffalo. But it seems unlikely in the short term.

“I think it will certainly make it more difficult if we do have a recession, where it’s harder for employees to find other employment, they [may] be less likely to take the risk of unionization,” Creighton said. “I don’t see that we are in that position at this point, because employers are still having a really hard time filling jobs, the baby boomers have retired and all evidence points to the fact that the labor market is going to be favorable to employees in the near future.”

For now, advocates believe the momentum will be hard to slow down. Whether it’s petitions or other wins, like a California law that creates a council to govern the fast-food industry labor conditions, 2022 has been a banner year for organizing.

“I think it’s the collective action that you’re seeing that isn’t going to get stopped by whatever the recessionary forces are, because working people have walked through fire during this pandemic, showed up every day to work, in many cases risk their lives,” said Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union. “And they’re ready to expect more in their work life and demand dignity and respect on the job.”

Starbucks petitions slow down

Some employees say interest in organizing has fallen somewhat as their employers appear to fight back, using tactics like shuttering stores, firing organizers and offering tantalizing benefits to non-union shops only.

At Starbucks, for example, the number of union petitions fell every month from March through August. There was a slight uptick in September with 10 petitions filed so far, according to the NLRB.

Since interim CEO Howard Schultz returned to the company in April, Starbucks has adopted a more aggressive strategy to oppose the union push and invest in its workers.

In May, the company announced enhanced pay hikes for non-unionized stores and extra training for baristas that went into effect in August after holding feedback sessions with its employees. The union has said the coffee giant is illegally withholding the benefits from cafes, but Starbucks maintains it cannot offer new benefits without negotiations for union shops. Legal experts predict the benefits battle will wind up before the NLRB.

“Our focus is on working directly with our partners to reimagine the future of Starbucks. We respect our partners rights to organize but believe that working directly together – without a 3rd party – is the best way to elevate the partner experience at Starbucks,” Starbucks spokesperson Reggie Borges told CNBC.

Tyler Keeling works as barista trainer at a Starbucks in Lakewood, California, which has voted to unionize, and also is organizing other stores with Starbucks Workers United. He said the additional benefits not being offered to unionized stores has both intimidated and motivated people, and that better pay is important in this economic climate.

“People are seeing that Starbucks is willing to kind of mess with their livelihood to prevent this union, and that scares people. But at the end of the day, as far as it is driving people to not organize, it’s also driving people to organize,” Keeling said.

He added that he believes once the union makes continued progress on having fired workers reinstated and is successful in having benefits extended to union stores, there will be more headway made on petitions.

And stores are still pushing for more despite the threat of a looming recession. Billie Adeosun, Starbucks barista and organizer in Olympia, Washington, said unionizing is a “big risk,” claiming losing your job is a “real possibility,” but the prospect of successful contract negotiations with better pay and benefits is a motivator.

“Most of us make $15 to $18 an hour and none of us are working 40 hours a week, and that’s just not a living wage,” Adeosun said. “A lot of us have to get a second job or rely on government assistance to pay our bills, so yeah, we are terrified to be doing this work in spite of the economy and the fact that it is just falling apart right in front of us.”

About 240 locations out of its 9,000 company-owned cafes have voted to unionize as of Sept. 22, according to the National Labor Relations Board. But contract negotiations could help or hinder the push to unionize the nation’s largest coffee chain.

BTIG analyst Peter Saleh said signs of progress on a contract between the union and Starbucks could be one catalyst to reaccelerate organizing. On the other hand, if they don’t reach an agreement, workers can vote to decertify the union after a year.

So far, Starbucks has only begun negotiating with three stores, two in New York and one in Arizona. But the company said Monday that it sent letters to 238 cafes offering a three-week window in October to start negotiations.

And despite the petition slowdown at Starbucks, organizers’ success has inspired workers elsewhere, like Bradlea, the Trader Joe’s employee.

“Their stores are about the same number people as the Trader Joe’s wine store. This is doable, and they’re succeeding at it,” he said.

Power in the balance

Even with talk of a potential recession, some workers say they’re undeterred, given the competitive job market. Brandi McNease, organizer at a now-closed location of Chipotle Mexican Grill in Augusta, Maine, said the decision to petition was driven by the power workers have and the current economic climate.

“We looked around at the endless now-hiring signs plastered on every fast food drive-through menu and decided that we could just quit and take another job or we could fight, and if we lost, still take another job,” McNease told CNBC in an email.

The store was the first to file for a union election at the burrito chain, and the company said the location was permanently closed due to staffing challenges, not the union petition. Workers called the move retaliatory and have filed multiple unfair labor practice charges against the company with the NLRB, McNease said.

Chipotle declined to comment.

Some workers say the last recession has informed the need for better worker protections today, and now is the time to push.

“I had coworkers who lived through the 2008 recession and had a really tough time finding jobs then,” said Smith, the REI employee in California. “Creating a union now, it felt like a way to protect for that in the future.”

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September 30, 2022
White House seeks to tackle food insecurity at first hunger conference since 1969 | CNN Politics

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CNN
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Groceries cost 13.5% more than they did a year ago. Nearly 25 million adults live in households where there isn’t always enough to eat. Some 40% of food banks saw increased demand this summer.

At a time when the affordability of food is in the spotlight, the Biden administration is hosting a White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health on Wednesday with the goal of combating food insecurity and diet-related diseases.

Overall, food insecurity has declined since former President Richard Nixon convened the first and only White House conference on food, nutrition and health in 1969, which led to nationwide expansions of the food stamp and school meals programs and the creation of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, among other changes. General economic growth and the reduction in poverty have also contributed to the improvements in food security in recent decades.

However, the Covid-19 pandemic and soaring inflation have increased the attention paid to food insecurity in the US over the past two years. The Biden administration released a 44-page playbook on Tuesday aimed at the “bold goal” of ending hunger by 2030 and increasing healthy eating and physical activity to reduce diet-related diseases.

Among the key proposals: expand free school meals to 9 million more children by 2032; allow more people to qualify for food stamps; broaden the Summer Expanded Benefit Transfer program to more kids; increase funding for nutrition programs for senior citizens; and improve transportation to and from grocery stores and farmer’s markets, among other initiatives. Many of the efforts would need approval from Congress.

President Joe Biden announced at the conference more than $8 billion in private and public sector commitments as part of the administration’s call to action.

“In America, no child, no child should go to bed hungry,” Biden told those gathered at the conference Wednesday. “No parent should die of disease that can be prevented.”

More than 100 organizations have made commitments, including hospitals and health care associations, tech companies, philanthropies and the food industry.

At least $2.5 billion will be invested in start-up companies that are focused on solutions to hunger and food insecurity, according to the White House. More than $4 billion will be dedicated toward philanthropic efforts to improve access to nutritious food, promote healthy choices and increase physical activity.

The President also urged Congress to make permanent the enhancement to the child tax credit, which was only in effect last year. Parents used the additional monthly funds to buy food and basic necessities, which Biden said helped cut child poverty in half and reduced food insecurity for families by 26%.

Congress has poured billions into special pandemic assistance programs aimed at enabling struggling Americans to have enough food to feed themselves and their families – even as millions of jobs were lost in 2020.

“That’s why it’s so consequential that at the onset of the Covid-19 recession, the combination of fiscal support to households – whether it is from the economic impact payments, unemployment insurance, refundable tax credits, enhanced SNAP benefits or pandemic EBT – all combined to prevent an increase in food insecurity over the past two years,” said Lauren Bauer, a fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution.

The pandemic aid, particularly a temporary enhancement to the child tax credit, helped keep kids fed last year, Bauer and anti-hunger advocates maintain.

Food insecurity among children fell in 2021, reversing a spike during the first year of the pandemic, according to a recent US Department of Agriculture report. Some 6.2% of households with children were unable at times to provide adequate, nutritious food for their kids last year, compared with 7.6% in 2020, the report found. Last year’s rate was not significantly different than the 2019 share.

And the prevalence of food insecurity in the families who have kids dropped to 12.5% last year, the lowest since at least 1998, the earliest year that comparable records exist.

But elderly Americans living alone and childless households both experienced an increase in food insecurity last year, the report found.

Overall, the share of households contending with food insecurity remained statistically the same in 2021 as the year before.

This lack of improvement in general food insecurity despite the surge in federal spending on food stamps, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, is a red flag for Angela Rachidi, senior fellow in poverty studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank.

“When the solution is always ‘let’s just spend more on SNAP or spend more on school lunch or WIC,’ I think that that’s not always the best use of federal dollars,” she said.

Rachidi would like to see more of an emphasis on nutrition and healthy eating, which are among the pillars of the White House conference.

“Many more people in the US die from diet-related disease than die from hunger,” she said, noting the health problems caused by obesity, diabetes and other conditions.

The pandemic aid that helped keep Americans afloat has largely been exhausted, and Congress has shown little appetite to dole out more assistance – even as high inflation is squeezing many families.

The share of people who say they live in households where there was either sometimes or often not enough to eat in the last seven days has climbed to 11.5%, according to the most recent US Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey conducted in late July and early August.

That’s up from the 10.2% recorded by the survey in late December and early January, just after the final monthly child tax credit payment was distributed. The share had been even lower in the late summer and early fall of 2021, when the monthly installments were being sent.

Meanwhile, shopping in the supermarket is taking a bigger bite out of people’s wallets. Egg prices have skyrocketed nearly 40% over the past year, while flour is 23% costlier. Milk and bread are up 17% and 16% respectively, while chicken is nearly 17% more expensive.

Starting next month, it will be a little easier for those in the food stamp program to afford groceries because the annual inflation adjustment will kick in. Beneficiaries will see an increase in benefits of 12%, or an average of $26 per person, per month. This comes on top of last year’s revision to the Thrifty Food Plan, upon which benefits are based, which raised the average monthly payment by $36 per person.

Still, the upward march in prices has driven more people to food pantries, which are also struggling to stock the shelves amid higher prices.

Some 40% of food banks reported seeing an increase in the number of people served in July compared with June, according to a survey conducted by Feeding America, which has more than 60,000 food pantries, meal programs and partner agencies in its network. The average increase was about 10% more people. Another 40% said demand remained about level.

Many food pantries don’t have the resources to meet this increased demand, said Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, Feeding America’s CEO, noting that she’s seen sites with nearly empty shelves but long lines out the door.

The network provided 1.4 billion fewer meals in the fiscal year ending June 30 than the year before.

The USDA announced earlier this month that it will provide nearly $1.5 billion in additional funding for emergency food assistance, which will help alleviate the supply shortages at food banks and pantries.

However, Feeding America feels more should be done. It recently surveyed nearly 36,000 people for their recommendations to end hunger. Many felt that food stamp benefits should be increased and eligibility should be expanded. Nearly half felt their communities need more food pantries, grocery stores and fresh food.

The recent infusion of federal funds will help pantries distribute more food, though it doesn’t completely close the gap. And it will take time for the supplies to arrive, Babineaux-Fontenot said.

“Today, people are going to be looking for ways to feed themselves and their family, and there will be scarce resources for them to do that,” she said.

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September 28, 2022
Favorite Chef™ Finalist Amy Coram Reynolds Launches Saucy Hot Sauce

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And it’s made in the U.S.A.

Press Release
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Nov 25, 2021

LEWES, Del., November 25, 2021 (Newswire.com)
–
Chef Amy Coram Reynolds, a Favorite Chef finalist, graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, and current Nevada resident who opened Robert Irvine’s Public House, has officially launched Saucy, a line of sauce by her company A Chef’s Life LLC. “The launch went great! I currently have two flavors for sale online or in-person. I am doing R&D on flavors three and four with hopes of a winter or early 2022 release,” she recently told Favorite Chef.

Reynolds, also a personal chef, has a long history in the hospitality industry. “I still work as a private chef but am now a partner in a restaurant. We have been open for a few months and are looking for new locations,” she added.

The Favorite Chef Competition helped Reynolds on her path to success, “Because of my placement, I was asked to be a consultant on my “boss” restaurant and then a partner, which is huge. I had zero intentions of ever going back to restaurants, but it’s been a fun role, to say the least.”

Favorite Chef is an online voting competition exclusively designed with cooks, chefs, and culinary creatives in mind. Favorite Chef, LLC donated over $1.1 M from the Competition to Feeding America®, making an estimated 11.5 million meals available to communities in need during the pandemic.

Learn more about Saucy and Reynolds at saucythesauce.com.

Source: Favorite Chef, LLC

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November 25, 2021
Dylan Mulvaney says Bud Light’s backlash response was ‘worse than not hiring a trans person at all’ | CNN Business

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CNN
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Dylan Mulvaney on Thursday broke her silence about the fallout that occurred after the trans influencer made two Instagram posts sponsored by Bud Light earlier this year.

Bud Light’s sponsorship of an April 1 Instagram post by Mulvaney set off a firestorm of anti-trans backlash and calls for a boycott. Mulvaney herself also faced a wave of hate and violent threats.

Now, in a video posted to Instagram Thursday, Mulvaney is calling on Bud Light and other companies not only to work with trans and other queer influencers, but to support them through the process, even as trans rights are under fire across the country and corporations face anti-LGBTQ+ campaigns.

Mulvaney said she has “been scared to leave my house, and I have been ridiculed in public, I have been followed,” and she criticized Bud Light for not standing by her and the partnership. She said the company never reached out to her in the wake of the backlash.

“For a company to hire a trans person and then not publicly stand by them is worse in my opinion than not hiring a trans person at all because it gives customers permission to be as transphobic and hateful as they want,” Mulvaney said. “And the hate doesn’t end with me, it has serious and grave consequences for the rest of our community.”

When the backlash ignited in April, Bud Light first responded with a straightforward explanation of its relationship with social media influencers like Mulvaney. But later it released a vague statement from the CEO that failed to offer support for Mulvaney or the trans community. Bud Light sales dropped in the ensuing weeks, the company lost its top rating from a major LGBTQ+ nonprofit and it placed two marketing executives on leave.

The controversy over the sponsored posts came as trans rights are under attack. Over 400 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced in state legislatures this year through April 3, according to American Civil Liberties Union, including ones restricting access to gender-affirming care for trans youth. Generally, transgender people are more than four times as likely to be victims of violent crime than cisgender people, according to a study from the UCLA School of Law.

The Bud Light backlash also coincided with anti-LGBTQ+ campaigns against other big brands, including Target.

Mulvaney’s statement followed a Wednesday appearance by Brendan Whitworth, CEO of Bud Light owner Anheuser-Busch, on CBS Mornings, in which he repeated the company’s recent statements about wanting to “focus on what we do best, which is brewing great beer for everyone,” and did not directly answer a question about whether the campaign was a mistake.

“I think the conversation surrounding Bud Light has moved away from beer, and the conversation has become divisive, and Bud Light really does not belong there, Bud Light should be about bringing people together,” Whitworth said.

In her video, Mulvaney appeared to address that sentiment, saying, “supporting trans people, it shouldn’t be political.”

“There should be nothing controversial or divisive about working with us, and I know it’s possible because I’ve worked with some fantastic companies who care,” Mulvaney said. “But caring about the LGBTQ+ community requires a lot more than just a donation somewhere during Pride month.”

She added: “We’re customers, too, I know a lot of trans and queer people who love beer.”

In a statement responding to Mulvaney’s video, an Anheuser-Busch spokesperson told CNN on Thursday that, “we remain committed to the programs and partnerships we have forged over decades with organizations across a number of communities, including those in the LGBTQ+ community. The privacy and safety of our employees and our partners is always our top priority. As we move forward, we will focus on what we do best — brewing great beer for everyone and earning our place in moments that matter to our consumers.”

–CNN’s Danielle Wiener-Bronner contributed to this report.

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April 12, 2021
Nearly 5 million kids might miss out on food assistance if these states don’t act by Friday | CNN Politics

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CNN
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Nearly 5 million children in eight states could lose out on some extra funds for food unless their state officials sign up for a federal relief program by Friday.

The Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer program, known as P-EBT, is providing $120 over the summer to families whose children qualify for free or reduced-price meals or attend schools in low-income areas where all students receive free meals.

While the vast majority of states are participating in the program this summer, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, South Dakota and Texas have yet to join.

The funding is crucial for families who are having trouble affording groceries, housing, utilities and other necessities, which are all more expensive now, advocates say. Many of these parents depend on the free or reduced-price breakfast and lunch program during the school year, but only about 1 in 7 eligible kids receive meals over the summer.

“For a lot of families that are struggling, the summer is the hungriest time of the year,” said Lisa Davis, senior vice president at Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign.

The P-EBT program was launched in the spring of 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic forced schools to close. The funds provided parents with money to buy groceries to make up for the meals their children were missing in school.

Congress renewed the measure several times, most recently in December as part of the fiscal 2023 spending package. But this final extension cut the benefit to help offset the cost of a permanent summer EBT program that starts next year. Lawmakers also limited it to school-age children – younger kids are not eligible this summer because the Covid-19 public health emergency has ended.

Last summer, families received $391 – providing a total of $13.7 billion in benefits to 35 million kids, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

Alaska and South Dakota were the only states not to participate, while Idaho only provided the funds to younger children in day care programs, said Kelsey Boone, a senior child nutrition policy analyst at the Food Research & Action Center.

Some states have said they don’t have the capacity to administer the summer program this year, according to Boone. However, she points out that each of the eight states participated in the summer P-EBT program either in 2021 or 2022, or both years.

Mississippi opted not to sign up for this summer’s program now that the Covid-19 public health emergency has ended, the state’s Department of Human Services said.

“Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT) was a supplemental benefit for households with students who temporarily lost access to free or reduced-price school meals due to pandemic-related school closures or distance learning,” the agency said. “Existing pre-pandemic summer feeding programs continue to operate across Mississippi school districts.”

Alaska, meanwhile, decided not to apply for the summer benefits because of staffing constraints, said Gavin Northey, child nutrition program manager at the state’s Department of Education & Early Development.

Agencies in the other six states did not return requests for comment.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has urged the states that have yet to sign up for the summer program to do so, noting in a tweet in June that “hunger doesn’t take a break when school is out for the summer.”

“I encourage these governors to enroll their states and ensure millions of children can receive the nutritional benefits essential to our nation’s economic health and security,” he tweeted.

In Texas, at least 3.7 million children would be eligible for the summer P-EBT program, said Mia Medina, senior program manager for No Kid Hungry Texas. Some 40% of parents of children in public school experienced food insecurity, including skipping meals or running out of food, in the past 12 months, according to a poll the nonprofit group commissioned earlier this year.

Last summer, about 3.5 million children in the Lone Star State received a total of more than $1.4 billion in benefits, according to Gov. Greg Abbott’s office.

Families in Montana are also having a tougher time affording food, said Lorianne Burhop, chief policy officer at the Montana Food Bank Network. Some local pantries are seeing record demand, and parents are visiting multiple times a month.

Some 32,000 children received a total of $12.5 million in summer P-EBT benefits last year, according to the state Department of Public Health and Human Services. But this year, officials said they were concerned about administering the program and about whether it was needed, according to Burhop.

“Our state is really missing a key opportunity to help Montana families keep food on the table,” she said.

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April 12, 2021
Putin’s ruthless power play may not preclude a revival of Ukraine grain deal | CNN Politics

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CNN
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Russian President Vladimir Putin just reminded the world that he has the capacity to apply pain far beyond the excruciating torment he’s inflicting on Ukraine.

Russia’s suspension of a deal allowing the export of Ukrainian grain from a region fabled as the world’s bread basket threatens to cause severe food shortages in Africa and send prices spiraling in supermarkets in the developed world. In the United States, it represents a political risk for President Joe Biden, who is embarking on a reelection campaign and can hardly afford a rebound of the high inflation that hounded US consumers at its peak last year.

Russia’s decision looked at first sight like a face-saving reprisal for an attack claimed by Ukraine on a bridge linking the annexed Crimean peninsula to the Russian mainland. The bridge was a vanity project for Putin and the apparent assault represented another humiliation for the Russian leader in a war that has gone badly wrong.

The Black Sea grain deal, agreed last year and brokered by Turkey and the United Nations, was a rare diplomatic ray of light during a war that has shattered Russia’s relations with the US and its allies and has had global reverberations.

By refusing to renew it, Putin appears again to be seeking to impose a cost on the West, in return for the sanctions strangling the Russian economy. He may reason that a food inflation crisis might help splinter political support in NATO nations for the prolonged and expensive effort to save Ukraine. And grain shortages afflicting innocent people in the developing world could exacerbate international pressure for a negotiated end to a war that has turned into a disaster for Russia.

The United States and other Western powers reacted to Russia’s announcement that the deal had been “terminated” with outrage, mirroring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s warning that Putin was trying to “weaponize hunger.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that Russia was trying to use food as a tool in its war on Ukraine, adding that the tactic would make “food harder to come by in places that desperately need it and have prices rise … The bottom line is, it’s unconscionable. It should not happen.”

Singling Russia out as a moral transgressor might be understandable given the horror it has visited on Ukraine and may rally fury over Putin’s move in the West and the developing world. But humanitarian arguments won’t sway a Russian president who launched an unprovoked onslaught on a sovereign neighbor and is accused of presiding over brutal war crimes.

Still, Russia’s rhetoric after canceling the deal and the reactions from key players elsewhere in Eurasia suggest that the agreement may not be quite as terminated as the Kremlin claims. There’s a chance Putin sees a grain showdown as a way to improve his dire position.

In a clear sign of diplomatic maneuvering, Russia justified its cancellation of the agreement by saying that it was not getting its share of the benefits. noting that it had faced obstacles with its own food exports. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov hinted, however, that Moscow might allow the return of exports from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports once its objectives were achieved.

But UN Secretary General António Guterres underscored how difficult it might be to return to the deal with a categorical repudiation of Russia’s points in a letter to Putin, arguing that under the agreement, the Russian grain trade had reached high export volumes and fertilizer markets were nearing full recovery with the return of Russian produce. Guterres said that he’d sent Russia proposals to keep the grain deal alive but that he was “deeply disappointed” that his efforts went unheeded.

The UN chief’s comments reinforced a view that, for now, Russia sees a point of leverage in refusing to renew the Black Sea grain deal. The decision comes against a complicated geopolitical backdrop following last week’s NATO summit at which G7, nations pledged to offer Ukraine the means of its self-defense for years to come.

It may also represent the latest chess move in a shady double game of great power geopolitics being waged by a pair of Machiavellian autocrats — Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who are due to meet in August.

Erdogan won prestige and the gratitude of his fellow NATO leaders and developing nations for brokering the original grain deal. But he has angered Russia in recent days, despite keeping open channels with Putin during the war. It’s conceivable the Russian leader could be sending a shot across the bows of his Turkish partner by canceling out his achievement.

Russia was infuriated last week when Turkey sent a group of captured Ukrainian military commanders back to Zelensky despite a previous agreement they would not go home until after the war. Erdogan also risked his relationship with Putin by dropping opposition to Sweden’s entry into NATO, a move that significantly weakened Russia’s strategic position in Europe.

But it was noticeable that Erdogan, who has a reputation for cannily playing his cards to enhance his own and Turkey’s influence, referred to Putin as his “friend” on Monday and suggested that the Russian leader might want to keep the “humanitarian bridge” of grain exports open.

If he could somehow engineer a return to the deal, Erdogan could again bolster his place at the hinge of Eurasian great power politics. He’d also boost his goal of emerging as a leader among developing world nations and do a favor for Western leaders fearing an inflationary spike.

Michael Kimmage, who served on the policy planning staff at the State Department between 2014 and 2016 and is now a professor at Catholic University of America in Washington, argues that Turkey is in a unique position, since it possesses considerable leverage inside NATO but also has robust relationships with both Ukraine and Russia.

“I think it’s very possible that even before the Putin-Erdogan meeting there could be a resumption of the grain deal because that keeps Russia to a degree in the good graces of the international community,” Kimmage said.

Reviving the grain deal would show that Russia, in its isolation, retains some Turkish support, Kimmage added, but the episode also demonstrates to the rest of the world that “when Russia wants, it can turn off the grain deal and be an enormous pain in the neck in the Black Sea.”

First video of damage to Crimean bridge surfaces after reported strike

While the war in Ukraine has consumed Russia’s foreign policy, Moscow has also made intense efforts to carve out its own influence in Africa and elsewhere in opposition to the United States. So it may risk damaging its own priorities by triggering widespread food shortages, especially since much of Ukraine’s grain is used in World Food Programs to alleviate famine in Africa.

While the White House is fueling a sense of moral outrage over Russia’s move, it quickly dismissed another potential response – an attempt to bust a Russian blockade in the Black Sea.

“That’s not an option that’s being actively pursued,” John Kirby, the coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council, said Monday in a comment that was in line with Biden’s goal of avoiding any direct NATO clash with Russia, a nuclear superpower.

While the end of the grain deal would cause significant global hardship, its worst effects may be weeks away – so there could be time for diplomacy to work.

Nicolay Gorbachov, the President of the Ukrainian Grain Association, told Isa Soares on CNN International on Monday that exports by road, rail and river could mitigate the most damaging effects of the collapse of the deal for two or three weeks, even if such transportation methods lacked the volume of shipborne cargoes.

But he also warned that ultimately, if Ukraine could not export its grain – “all of us, in developed countries, in developing countries, will face food inflation.”

“In my opinion, the international community, the developed countries have to find the leverage to move grain from Ukraine to the world market,” he said.

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April 12, 2021
Best drip coffee maker in 2023 | CNN Underscored
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There are so many brewing methods to choose from (French press, the currently trendy dalgona whipped, pour-over), but many coffee lovers still rely on the classic, automatic drip for their daily fix. That’s why we tested the best-rated drip coffee makers using a wide range of criteria (outlined below) over the course of several weeks. Bags upon bags of dark roast, light roast and medium roast coffee beans were ground and brewed. We made full carafes, half carafes and single cups. And we tasted the results black, with cow’s milk, almond milk, sweetened condensed milk, cold-brew strength over ice — you name it.

Many, many pots of coffee later, we settled on four standout drip coffee machines.

Best drip coffee maker overall

The Braun KF6050WH BrewSense Drip Coffee Maker produced consistently delicious, hot cups of coffee, brewed efficiently and cleanly, from sleek, relatively compact hardware that is turnkey to operate, and all for a reasonable price.

Runner-up with a modern bent

This was, to our eye, the most handsome and minimally designed of the straightforward auto-brewers, delivering a clean, tasty cup. It lost first place only because the touchscreen may not be for every consumer, and brew time is significantly longer than the other machines we tried out.

Luxury pick for the design-obsessed

In just near five minutes, the Technivorm Moccamaster 59636 KBG Coffee Brewer turns out a whole pot of pretty perfectly brewed coffee, and the process is as entrancing as a targeted Netflix trailer.

Best affordable drip coffee maker

One of the cheapest options we tested, the Mr. Coffee 12-cup brewer is compact, simple to operate and yields a very competitive cup.

We brewed countless pots of coffee with the BrewSense, ranging from light to dark roast, and each one yielded a strong, delicious cup with no sediment, thanks to the gold tone filter, designed to remove the bitterness from coffee as well reduce single-use paper-filter waste. The machine we tested was white — a nice option for those with a more modern kitchen design — but it also comes in black, and it’s compact enough to fit under the cabinets in a smaller space compared to some of the more cumbersome machines we tested.

The BrewSense is straightforward to operate: It’s designed like a traditional automatic drip machine with manual operating buttons, but with a sleek, modern upgrade. The hardware is a sophisticated combination of brushed metal and plastic, with a glass carafe that feels comfortable in the hand.

The BrewSense doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles compared to some of the machines we tested, and that functional ease helped elevate it to the top of our list. You could unbox this machine, flush it through with water once, and be drinking a freshly brewed cup within 15 minutes, all without reading the manual. Brewing is also a nearly silent process, which can be pleasing on early mornings. Some consumers may want a machine loaded with special features, but for those who just want delicious, hot coffee every morning, without spending over a hundred bucks, this is your best bet.

The BrewSense isn’t perfect: It’s not the fastest we tested — to brew a full pot of 12 cups took upwards of 11 minutes. And we found an annoying error in the instruction manual around how to program the clock (call us rigid, but we insisted on programming the time before using each of the machines!); the directions read to press and hold CLOCK and then SET, but that didn’t work. We had to simply press and hold the CLOCK button and then sort of trial and error our way through the hours and minutes. Meanwhile, the auto-program setup is not as obvious as we’d have liked; though once we got it, it worked like a dream. But otherwise, we found this machine intuitive and easy to operate even without the instruction manual.

Cleanup could at times be a little messier than some of our other machines. The hot water comes up through the filter basket and spreads the grounds up to the top of the cone, and during one brewing, a tiny bit rose up outside the cone so the top of the brew apparatus needed a little wipedown. Overall, though, for less than $80, this machine delivers the best bang for your buck of anything on the market.

Coming in just a few points behind the Braun BrewSense was one of the three Cuisinart automatic drip machines we tested: the Touchscreen 14-Cup Programmable.

We rated all three Cuisinarts highly, but the Touchscreen ranked highest for its combination of progressive design and everyday efficacy. All the Cuisinart products we encountered were well designed, but this one feels special, like when you unbox a brand-new Apple product: Its all-black, shiny surfaces and touchscreen control panel look and feel next-level for an everyday coffee maker (and the price, $235 at Macy’s, more than three times that of the Braun, reflects that).

But this isn’t just a fancy, aesthetically pleasing machine: It brewed strong, delicious coffee that tasted cleanly filtered but rich. It’s also relatively easy to program and use, given its tech-centric platform. The touchscreen panel features cute little icons signifying one-touch commands to help customize your brew: If you like your coffee bolder, you can select the BOLD feature; if you’re brewing less than half a pot, select the 1 to 4 cups feature for a slower brew with the proper extraction time; adjust the hot plate temperature to low, medium or high; turn the audible brew-cycle-finished tone on or off.

That tech-centric design is also one of the reasons this didn’t come in at number one, however. As exciting and different as it felt, we did feel that this machine — the only touchscreen model we tested — would feel less intuitive and more laborious than some consumers would want as part of their morning coffee routine. The touchscreen goes dark during the brew process, which yes, is nice-looking, but also feels a bit jarring, like you’re literally in the dark, asking yourself, “What’s going on? Is coffee brewing?” The settings and operating buttons are clear enough when illuminated, but it did take us a few times brewing to get used to how much pressure you need to apply with your fingertip to the touchscreen. We could easily think of people in our own lives who would be flummoxed by this machine if left alone with it and a bag of coffee — and for that, it lost a few points in functionality.

Also, like its Cuisinart cousins we tested, this one’s a slower brewer. We clocked 11 minutes for eight cups, and if you’re watching your coffee maker brew like, well, a watched pot, it seems like it … takes forever. We understand the appeal of a slower brewing process (pour-over and Chemex fans, we hear you!), but 12 to 14 minutes for a full pot of coffee seems like a long time to wait when you’re thirsty for your morning Joe and you’re not doing it by hand. Finally, not everyone will want to spend more than $200 on a coffee maker. But many may.

While some consumers might be flummoxed by the technology of this higher-end product, others will embrace it and make it a centerpiece of their kitchen, and rightly so. Form plus function equals morning happiness here.

We had heard about the Technivorm Moccaster, a machine beloved for its innovative and old-school industrial design, handmade and tested in the Netherlands since 1968, even before we received it for this story. Multiple friends reached out upon hearing that we were testing a Moccamaster, singing the brand’s praises, and one declared it superlative via Instagram DM: “Moccamaster? Test over!” And the Moccamaster arrives with its own best PR too. Its user manual applauds buyers: “Congratulations on your purchase of the World’s Finest Coffee Brewer!” (If you’re spending more than $300 on a coffee maker, perhaps the enthusiasm feels validating.)

Once we got the apparatus set up — which takes a little focus and time, to be honest — it really did pay off, with possibly the most delicious, hot, fresh cup of coffee we have ever tasted from a home-brewed machine. What’s more, you barely have time to peruse the morning news headlines before the process is done. The Moccamaster brewed 10 cups in less than six minutes, and, on a second trial, six cups in under four minutes. The brew function is almost jarringly fast: Once you turn on the machine, the brewing starts immediately. Then, seeing the water heat in the tank and bubble up through the water transfer tube into the brewer was a throwback to middle-school science experiments in the most pleasing way, like if a lava lamp produced fresh hot coffee after a few mesmerizing undulations.

We discovered much to love about the Moccamaster, but there also were elements we didn’t adore. Perhaps ironically, they’re about the design. Some love a more hands-on coffee-making process, but some might find that there are just too many moving parts here, literally. We needed to read the directions pretty closely to assemble the parts. Once assembled, and once we digested what was happening brew-process-wise, the machine became fairly easy to operate.

But each time you use this machine, you have to take the brew basket apart to add a new paper filter (yes, it requires a paper filter, if that makes a difference to you) and coffee grounds, and that basket removal sometimes disrupts the outlet arm and the reservoir lid — not a huge deal, but it could feel like you have to put your coffee maker back together from scratch every morning. Also, the basket lid and outlet arm, through which the hot water travels from the tube to the brew basket, get very hot during the process. It’s fine if you’re aware and cautious, but you wouldn’t want someone to wander up and unknowingly touch the hot part of the brewer.

And finally, perhaps our most significant beef with this model: When you return the glass carafe to hotplate in between pours, the glass scrapes the warmer in a slightly cringey way.

The coffee that this striking machine yields, though, may diminish other distractions — we found ourselves moving this maker back to the kitchen counter time and again, because the brew process and its results were superior. If you, like us, are a fan of the Moccamaster, you’re likely to be one for many years to come, which will amortize the steep price tag accordingly.

We won’t go on and on about the Mr. Coffee 12-Cup, but it brewed a very workable 12 cups, in both taste and temperature, in just nine minutes. The machine came packaged in some pretty intense plastic and cardboard — the unboxing took a full five minutes and a pair of scissors — but once separated from its packaging, this machine’s a breeze to put together. The hardware is very easy to use (and to program to brew at a specific time), even without reading the directions. It’s compact — one of the best small drip coffee makers we tested — and durable, and the lid, brew basket, carafe and removable top half are all dishwasher safe, which wasn’t common among the machines we tested.

The testing process for these coffee makers was intensive, lasting more than a month. We evaluated each machine based on what would be most important to the user — namely, functionality, durability and design. We tested each machine at least twice (but four to eight times for some) with both dark and light roast freshly ground beans, did a programmed/timed brew when available, and tested the additional functions of the more specialty machines (single-cup, cold brew, tea, milk frothing). We jotted notes about every machine’s unboxing, read every instruction manual, handled and rehandled the hardware, timed the brew of each machine, noted the temperature of the resulting coffee, and tasted and had others taste and weigh in on user experience. We tried to get as acquainted as possible with each of these machines, became fond of a good many of them — and as a result, we drank way too much coffee over the month in question.

Read on for the categories and their breakdowns.

Brew function
Optimal temperature: We didn’t take the actual temperature of the coffee from each machine, because we don’t think that’s how the average coffee drinker evaluates home brewing — experts recommend that coffee be brewed at between 195 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit, and served immediately, at 180 to 185 degrees — but we scored the perceived temp of each brew against all the others. We tasted each cup immediately after brewing, black, and then with added cold milk, and recorded the results.

Taste: The taste of coffee is, obviously, subjective. Two people could spend a lifetime tasting the different coffee varietals and never agree on one. That being said, we tested each machine with both a dark roast and a light roast, keeping the amount of grounds consistent to the machine’s directions. As a result, some machines that recommended using more grounds yielded stronger brews — in those instances, we retested those with less grounds accordingly.

Time to brew: For each carafe brewed, we timed the process on an iPhone timer, both for a full carafe and half. For those machines that made single cups, we timed that process as well.

Heat retention: We noted whether the machine brewed into a glass or a thermal carafe, and how hot the coffee remained a half hour to an hour after brewing.

User-friendliness: We did an initial scan of each machine, evaluating whether a new customer would be able to brew coffee without reading the instruction manual. We then assessed whether the design of each machine is immediately intuitive, and on a more micro level, assessed the settings and buttons on the face of the machine, the markings on the water tank and carafe, how easy the carafe is to fill, and the design of the brew basket.

Volume yield: We noted how many ounces each machine can brew.

Programmability: We recorded whether you can program the machine to brew at a set time.
Durability
Everyday durability: For this category, we assessed how the machine responded to being handled during setup, filling the water tank, adding the grounds, removing and replacing carafe to serve, cleanup, and how durable the hardware felt.

Build quality: We noted what materials the machine is built from, e.g., plastic, metal, brushed metal, glass, and the tangible feel of each machine in a user’s hands.

Serviceability: We noted the ease of opening and taking apart the removable parts of each machine, in the case it would need to be serviced.
Setup and breakdown
Ease of assembly: We observed how long it took to unbox the machine, put it together, and do an initial water flush before the product could be used.

Size of machine: We assessed how much counter space each machine took up, and how easy it is to move and store.

Ease of clean: After each brewing, we took note of how easy it was to clean the brew basket, the carafe, and the surrounding hardware.
Aesthetic
First impression: We observed our first impression of each machine, noting details of design, color, size, feel — whether this machine looked attractive on our counter.

Color options: We researched if the machine came in any colors besides black.
Warranty
We checked the number of years of warranty of each machine.
Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System

We tested two Ninja machines, both of which have some very appealing features. The hot and cold brew system brewed an excellent pot of hot coffee in less than five minutes, as well as a very tasty single cup (in multiple sizes), a less easy feat to perfect. It also brews coffee intended to be served directly over ice, an option that lots of consumers will like. We love the cool, minimalist glass carafe, though the lid features a big hole in the middle for pouring, which can lead to some splashing.

This machine, though prolific in function, lost points because the water tank — plastic with prominent ridges — feels cheap and devolves the user experience a bit (with this machine, thankfully, the plastic tank is in the back, hidden from view, but does need to be handled every time you add water). Another problem with this machine: The water tank doesn’t have marking measurements, only half carafe, and full carafe, and two sizes of single cup. Without ounce or cup markings, how does one know how much water to add versus amount of coffee grounds? The Ninja machines come with a special-sized coffee scoop, different amounts on each end of the scoop, but it was bothersome that the water and the coffee amounts couldn’t be more standardized without relying only on the provided removable accessories (which, for the record, are cute — there’s a removable frothing wand). A lot of performance features with this machine also means a busy control panel that also feels a bit high-maintenance.

The Ninja Specialty is similar to the hot and cold brewed one, with one major difference: The water tank is adjacent to the brew basket, and visible to the eye. This one also brews a very nice cup of hot fresh coffee, and has nifty added functions, too, like myriad sizes of individual cups, half and full carafes, and an over-ice option. The placement of the water tank front and center here, though, makes this one less appealing than the hot and cold option; the tank, similarly, feels flimsy and cheap, a factor that’s difficult to overlook in user experience. For those who like the Ninja brand products (they make blenders and other items), though, there’s a lot of function for your buck here.

The most basic of the Cuisinart options we tested, this one brewed a nearly perfect cup at, for this reviewer, a perfectly hot temp (even after adding significant cold milk, we still had a steaming hot cup), thanks to an adjustable carafe temp. This machine is solid and well-designed, with one downside (for us): Brewing time was 14 minutes for eight cups, nearly double the time of some of the other brewers we tested.

Cuisinart Coffee Center 10-Cup Thermal Coffee Maker and Single Serve Brewer

Our third Cuisinart brews only 10 cups into a thermal carafe, but has the handy bonus feature of a single-serve brew — with an attachment to use prepackaged coffee pods, or an adorable mini filter to use fresh grounds. (Note: The mini filter is a bit of a chore to clean because it is so small.) Like its Cuisinart siblings above, this machine makes good coffee, but the single-serve brewer does make the whole of the hardware more cumbersome. One annoying design issue: There’s an on/off switch on the side of the machine, whose placement feels not intuitive.

The De’Longhi TrueBrew is a superautomatic machine, meaning it incorporates a grinder so you can start with whole beans and have it do the rest for you. At the touch of a button, it can produce a single cup or a whole pot of coffee. The TrueBrew is incredibly convenient, but it’s quite expensive, and despite its wide range of options in our testing we got better tasting coffee from dedicated pour-over coffee and espresso setups. Unless you really want the ease of use of a pod machine along with the ability to use fresh whole beans it may not be for you.

The most affordable automatic drip machine we tested, the Black & Decker 12-cup, is also a solid choice. It brewed eight tasty cups in eight short minutes — overall a good user experience. Hardware-wise, it felt a bit less durable than its closest rival, the Mr. Coffee, but it’s programmable and super easy for near the cost of two lattes with an extra shot.

The Bonavita Connoisseur has its fans, but we had multiple issues with the machine. This pleasingly retro-looking apparatus brews a nice cup quickly and at a good temperature, but the user experience leaves much to be desired. Simply put, the design feels flawed. The lid of the carafe needs to be removed before brewing, so the coffee just brews directly into a wide-open carafe — this was so counterintuitive to us, even after three or four brew tries, that it diminished the experience of the brew process. The brewer also gets very hot during brewing — so hot that we wondered if it might actually be a safety issue. Lastly, after brewing, we screwed the carafe lid back on and tried to return the carafe to underneath the brewer — sure, maybe we were still sleepy, maybe not enough caffeine yet — but the carafe doesn’t fit under the brewer with the lid on; the entire top of the machine popped off. This affects storage of the machine, too; because the carafe lid and the brew basket don’t both fit into the hardware at the same time, there’s always one piece loose.

We were giddy upon opening this fancy brewer with much to offer: standard brew, fast, gold (what even is that, I wondered at first glance!), cold brew, single cup (with a sold separately attachment), and a customizable to your preferences setting. The options are exciting, but also overwhelming. The user is prompted to enter the consistency of their water, on a hard to soft scale — do all home coffee drinkers know the texture of their tap water? Also, does the average coffee drinker know what Gold Cup certification is? These feel like niche details for an automatic drip machine.

Big picture, the Breville brewed a good pot of coffee, quite quickly, but we didn’t find it hot enough. The whole apparatus is beautifully designed, with sleek brushed metal and a lightweight, handsome carafe lovely enough to join a brunch table. But digging in further, we found this machine just to be… well, just a little too much. Too much hardware — it doesn’t fit easily under our cabinets. Too many options — we needed to read up on a bunch of coffee wisdom before we could even set up the machine to our preferences. There are lots of users who would find this machine the sweet spot of function and sophistication, and enjoy exploring all of its specialties, but for those looking for turnkey coffee-making, this is a little extra.

Read more from CNN Underscored’s hands-on testing:
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April 12, 2021