This Week’s Headlines: Odd Things to Do with Cups, Like Eat Them

The KFC edible coffee cup

We break from our regularly focused news and feature coverage on issues like policy in supply sustainability and brewing methodology innovation to bring you a weekly roundup of borderline-relevant but nonetheless entertaining stories surrounding the greater coffee world.

This week, the news is largely focused on nontraditional things to do with otherwise expired coffee cups, like plant them in the ground, or eat them. It is Friday. Click away. Indulge:

The KFC Alternative: Eat Your Coffee Cup

KFC, one of the chains operated by Yum Brands, is going to test an edible cup made from a wafer coated in sugar paper and lined with a heat-resistant white chocolate. The new cup will debut about the same time as KFC restaurants plan to introduce Seattle’s Best Coffee, part of Starbucks. – New York Times

The Reduce Reuse Regrow Alternative: Plant Your Coffee Cup

A notable project from Reduce. Reuse. Regrow. is tackling the coffee industry’s behemoth paper cup problem by giving these single-use beverage holders a further purpose: reforestation. A San Luis Obispo, California startup claims to have developed “The World’s First Plantable Coffee Cup.” The prototype 12-ouncer has seeds from local nurseries and landscapes embedded within its post-consumer, paper-based material. – Eco Watch

Coffee is Good for Everything, Including Warding Off MS

In a new study, researchers found that Americans who downed at least four cups of coffee per day were one-third less likely to develop multiple sclerosis than their counterparts who drank no coffee at all. They also found that Swedish adults who guzzled at least six cups of coffee each day were also one-third less likely to get MS. – Los Angeles Times

More Foam Means Less Sloshing, Says New Study

When a container is set in motion, the free surface of the liquid starts to oscillate or slosh. Such effects can be observed when a glass of water is handled carelessly and the fluid sloshes or even spills over the rims of the container. However, beer does not slosh as readily as water, which suggests that foam could be used to damp sloshing. In this work, we study experimentally the effect on sloshing of a liquid foam placed on top of a liquid bath. – American Institute of Physics

Breastfeeding Kerfuffle from Austin Cafe Obviously Blows Up Online

Local coffee shop Stouthaus Coffee was being dragged through the social media mud Wednesday night after a disgruntled customer posted an account of a staff member telling her friend to cover up while breastfeeding her child. – Austin American-Statesman