I found an Atlantic article. Apparently the rust fungus outbreak is cyclical, it comes and goes, and in the past has subsided by various means. The current outbreak is described as being in the Western Hemisphere and not in other coffee growing areas. Maybe it's elsewhere too and just not yet mentioned.

That would be a disaster! I run on caffeine and sarcasm.

The current outbreak is described as being in the Western Hemisphere and not in other coffee growing areas.

Better get your java from Java!

Here come the coffee hoarders. We don't drink coffee so I just need to keep a small supply of K cups on hand for guests.

I AM a coffee hoader. We drink 1/2 caf, and it isn’t always easy to find and is rarely on sale, so when I see it on sale I buy half a dozen or more, regardless of how many I already have. (Don’t talk to me about the age of the coffee, we are so not connoisseurs.)

First toilet paper, then beef, then pumpkin and now coffee!!! Hopefully, I can get a couple of packages at the store this week. We use about one a month.

We use about one pound every 8 days and we buy it two pounds at a time shipped by Peets. It's often shipped the day after or at worst two days after roasting and it arrives one day later. I can taste the difference of anything less fresh than that.

We switch off different flavor types but other than the Western Hemisphere French Roast which has its own flavor, I prefer African and Asian grown coffees. Yes, Java from Java. Or occasionally Kona from Kona.

bpath, you can mix your own 1/2 caff -- buy a caff plus a decaff, mix the two equally. Just don't mix up the containers afterward or you might be awake all night!

I run on caffeine

Low cost caffeine pills are available over the counter

Or, you could drink hot chocolate....chocolate has caffeine in it. :-)))

I gave up coffee since January. I’ve been enjoying English Breakfast tea.

Low cost caffeine pills are available over the counter

Or, you could drink hot chocolate....chocolate has caffeine in it. :-)))

Another option is to clean off a shelf in the garage and stock up.

Nickel, we have tried mixing it ourselves, but we just don’t get mix right. I used to grind it at the store, mixing the beans as they grind but . . . when they redesigned the coffee aisle, they moved the grinder up and I couldn’t see what I was doing anymore! So I just bought the coffee instead. (I started doing the half-caf when I was pregnant. We had two coffeemakers, a larger and a smaller 4-cup. I liked my morning coffee, but my decaf was just like warm brown water, so I would do maybe 25% coffee and 75% decaf, and that was okay. But going back to full-strength was too much! 50-50 is truly our happy medium.)

I have one cup of high octane in the morning then switch to decaf for the next cup.

I kind of figured this was going to happen this spring. With the weather and such, just had a hunch that this would turn out to be a rust year.

I usually keep us at a 3-4 month ahead, but this year I wanted to get to 6+ months ahead before winter hit on the larder in general.... and keeping my eye out for the coffee sales. Right now we are at about 5-6 months out, so another couple cans on a couple shopping trips should see us through.

Eld- if you like English breakfast tea, you may want to try Teapigs’. It’s a little pricey, not Marriage Freres territory, but very flavorful and quite satisfying.

A shortage of coffee may just be THE. LAST. STRAW. for 2020.

I placed a large order. I have begun my hoard. ( Guilty as charged.)

how do you store your coffee?

if you order from Peets or elsewhere, do u buy whole bean or already grounded?

Do u grind as you go? if already ground, how do you store it?

I just got 3 pounds (grounded) from our local roaster which lasts me about 2 months since i am the only one who uses it. DH gets Wawa every day.

I buy whole beans and keep them in a very cool place.

This qualifies as a crisis. I'm off to find out how to grow my own coffee plants.

While everyone was hoarding toilet paper, I was hoarding coffee beans.......... I still have 3 big bags of Kirkland coffee beans from Costco. I was buying the Starbucks brand, then realized I could save about $10 per bag buying Kirkland which is made by Starbucks. I CANNOT run out of coffee. The world can't handle Debby without my coffee.

"if you order from Peets or elsewhere, do u buy whole bean or already grounded?

Do u grind as you go? if already ground, how do you store it?"

I buy beans. I have a Capresso burr grinder - coffee for each cup is ground right before use. I use Hario ceramic pour over cones, have them in two different sizes. For making more than two cups at a time as for company, I have a larger Melita cone and glass pot. I also have an espresso maker, used infrequently. I can use the same beans ground finer in it. And an electric beehive kettle for the daily pour over use.

Coffee is a food product that doesn't store well and oxidizes flavor out to the surrounding air. A vacuum pack, if used, helps somewhat. Besides the beans themselves, there's an oil component that gets rancid with time. It's not a good product to store, it degrades.

I don't foresee a shortage - this is after all "coffee central" and half of Seattle would have to shut down if coffee was in short supply!! And the beans are imported from too many locations across the globe for this to be that widespread a problem.

But I do foresee price increases. Haven't noticed them yet - in fact, prices have been down recently and some brands of beans have been on sale, especially locally processed ones.

btw, if it comes in a can it does not qualify as coffee in my book :-)

"if it comes in a can it does not qualify as coffee in my book :-)"

I agree and feel the same way about any coffee coming from a supermarket or out of someone's personal storage. For me, it must be strictly fresh. I always decline the offer of coffee when at someone's house or at a restaurant or social gathering unless it's straight espresso.

bpath, it takes a while to hit on a winning combination. Whatever works for a person, is good!

I do like the Kirkland brand roasted by Starbucks. Alas, no Costco here.

Because of this post I ordered coffee, just to be on the safe side?

Well, I suppose I'll help you coffee drinkers out by not buying if there is such a scarcity that the price goes much higher. I only drink one cup a day, and I can wean myself off of it.

I already do not buy it or drink it. I usually drink one weak cup of tea in the morning, but not always.

I made the mistake of buying a cappuccino flavored protein drink at the grocery store once without reading on the label that it was like drinking two cups of coffee! I won't make that mistake again. I do not like caffeine. I do like the flavor or coffee, but it still upsets my stomach, even if it is decaf.

I like coffee liqueur (I buy Nola brand) and I especially like coffee or mocha ice cream. I will drink coffee when I am in Italy or Hawaii, but otherwise not. I did not like the coffee in Costa Rica, but I did like the coffee in Antigua, Guatemala, although it's been more than 40 years since I was there. I did not drink coffee in Brazil, as I generally drank fruit juices there, especially pitaya, which I grow here, but not in significant enough quantity.

My brother buys green coffee beans and roasts them himself because he likes a blond roast (which I definitely do not), and it is somewhat more difficult to find. He has coffee roasters in both houses, since we have been spending about three to four weeks in each location at a time. My brother also makes very weak coffee, and I have not understood that either.

Well this and other's like it will certainly create one now!! Two cups a day is my portion. It's habit more than anything. I think I could survive.

I don't know what I would do. I love coffee and have started to limit my caffeine intake to 2 cups in the morning (then switching to decaf). I am not at all a connoisseur but I adore the flavor of coffee as well as the morning boost the caffeine provides. Even as a child, I would only drink milk in the morning after my parents "colored" it and warmed it with a touch of hot coffee. Coffee ice cream is one of my favorite flavors. Yes, Kirkland is good and also if you have BJ's, we actually prefer their brand (Berkley and Jensen or something along those lines).

I can appreciate good coffee, and prefer it medium to strong. I have a keurig but mostly use the refillable k cups with varying brands of coffee. ( for already ground, I really like Melita).

I even bought store brand instant decaf coffee so I can have iced coffee in the afternoon (for iced coffee, I have found the skinny syrup- chocolate caramel truffle omg heaven).

Anyway we have always had a stash of coffee; probably about 6 or 8 cans. I guess I will pick up a few extras.

:) thanks for the heads up. While I guess I could handle being without, I can tell you that I don't want to deal with that.

I've long understood that coffee looses flavor over time, so no point in buying too far ahead of when you'll use it. But I don't know the latest thoughts on what *is* the best way to preserve coffee long term. Instant crystals? Cold brew syrup? Roasted or green (unroasted) beans? In the freezer, in the fridge, in a cool dark place? Does the decaff process make a difference? Wouldn't it be ironic if my mom's old Nescafe lasted longer than my delicious local roasted beans.

As for shortages, I already rely on my local folks to source beans from fair exchange, environmentally sustainable plantations world-wide. I think they'll stay on top of where they can get beans.

Good article on storing coffee:

https://www.ncausa.org/About-Coffee/How-to-Store-Coffee

This seems to be the coffee industry's trade association. The information is interesting and it certainly must be authoritative. Keeping in mind the source, on the linked page it says:

"Coffee begins to lose freshness almost immediately after roasting. Try to buy smaller batches of freshly roasted coffee more frequently - enough for one or two weeks. "