The Coffee Scam: How a Cheap Bean Became a $7 Habit

Every day the world drinks more than two billion cups of coffee. So how did a bitter bean become one of the most profitable products on the planet — and why are we happy to pay $7 for a cup? In this episode we follow coffee's 500-year journey: from Sufi monks and the Mocha monopoly to the first coffeehouses, the futures market, Starbucks, Nespresso, Luckin Coffee and today's craft roasters. You'll learn how coffeehouses became the first social networks, why Nespresso sells machines at a loss, how the world price of coffee is set in New York every day, and how cents' worth of beans turns into a premium latte.