CNN —

As prices surge and the U.K. economy struggles more than most of its peers, Starbucks is reportedly looking for an exit.

Related video above: Starbucks To Close 16 Stores Over Safety Concerns

The company is engaged with advisers to determine whether it could — or should — sell its business in the United Kingdom, according to U.K. newspaper The Times.

Asked for comment, Starbucks shared with CNN Business an email it sent its U.K. staff over the weekend denying the company is engaged in a "formal sale process" and asserting its desire to remain in the region.

The report comes at a time that the U.K. economy is in tough shape, making it difficult for businesses to operate and for residents to make ends meet. U.K. inflation hit 9.1% in May — a 40-year high and the highest rate among the leading G7 economies. And there's no relief in sight: Inflation is forecast to climb above 11% later this year.

Food prices in particular have been soaring, creating a cost of living crisis for many in the U.K. Disposable incomes are on track for the second biggest fall since record keeping began in 1964, according to the Bank of England.

Prospects are bleak for the entire U.K. economy, according to a report on financial stability published earlier this month from the Bank of England, which said the outlook for the country's economy had "deteriorated materially." The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development forecast in June that the U.K. economy was heading to stagnation, with zero GDP growth forecast for 2023.

That's a downbeat environment for businesses, especially those still recovering from the difficult pandemic years.

For Starbucks, coffee sales were hit when customers began working from home. As employees start making their way back to offices, the trend has turned around. Starbucks' U.K. sales improved significantly in the quarter ended April 3, Michael Conway, group president of international and channel development, said during a May analyst call.

"Traffic continues to come into Central London metro areas, and we are increasing drive-throughs in that market at a significant rate," he said.

Starbucks had about 300 company-operated stores and roughly another 800 licensed locations in the United Kingdom as of October 2021. The coffee chain launched operations in the U.K. in 1998.

Related video above: Is there a "best way" to brew coffee?

Coffee futures are crashing. But that might not mean too much for the price of your cup of coffee.

In August, Arabica coffee futures were trading at $2.43 per pound. By Wednesday, the price had tumbled to $1.59, a roughly 35% decline.

There are a few reasons for the steady drop in prices, explained Carlos Mera, head of the agri commodities markets team at Rabobank.

For one thing, weather in Brazil is better than it has been the past couple of years. Rainfall this fall suggests that the country will have a good coffee crop, securing supply.

"September is usually the start of the wet season," Mera explained. "The start of this wet season was actually very good."

Then there's the strength of the U.S. dollar.

"When the dollar goes up, everything measured in dollars, like international coffee prices, tend to go down," Mera said. Farmers outside of the U.S. are incentivized to sell their products because they'll earn a price in U.S. dollars which translates to a higher amount of currency at home.

"Farmers are keener to sell any stocks that they may be holding," Mera said.

The situation marks a sharp reversal from what was happening last year.

In November 2021, coffee futures climbed to the highest level since January 2012. That was thanks to severe drought and unusual frost conditions in Brazil, which caused turmoil in the market.

And short supplies of shipping containers put roasters on edge, inspiring them to stock up as much as possible.

Now, "there are some delays, but nothing in comparison to what it was before," Mera said.

Coffee has been getting more expensive for consumers, as well.

In the year through October, not adjusted for seasonal swings, coffee prices jumped 14.8% in the grocery store, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Starbucks said in November that it has raised prices this year by about 6%.

But the improved conditions won't necessarily mean a big decline in coffee prices for consumers, Mera noted. That's because while coffee prices are falling, other costs, like labor and distribution, are still high for producers.

"I think if we see dropping prices, [they] are going to be modest," he said.

Plus, big coffee companies like Starbucks secure long contracts, which help protect them from short-term volatility.

Starbucks has displayed “egregious and widespread misconduct” in its dealings with employees involved in efforts to unionize Buffalo, New York, stores, a National Labor Relations Board judge said in an order Wednesday.As a result, the company must reinstate and make whole a number of workers who were let go from locations in or around Buffalo, among other remedies, NLRB administrative law judge Michael Rosas said.The case includes 32 unfair labor charges made by Workers United against the company for its actions between August 2021 and July 2022 at 21 stores in the Buffalo area, including the first Starbucks location to unionize.The company, which has been facing a wave of unionization across the country since December 2021, must also post a notice in its stores nationally, the judge ruled. That notice informs workers that they have the right to join a union, and lays out a lengthy list of what the company will refrain from doing, like surveilling workers or making other efforts to dissuade union activity.Rosas also said that interim CEO Howard Schultz and another company leader must read the notice to employees, or be present at a meeting where the rights are read.Schultz, who will soon hand over the reins to incoming CEO Laxman Narasimhan, has been a vocal opponent of the union since he rejoined the company as interim CEO last year.“I don’t think a union has a place in Starbucks,” Schultz recently told CNN’s Poppy Harlow. If workers “file for a petition to be unionized, they have a right to do so. But we as a company have a right also to say, we have a different vision that is better,” he said.Schultz recently declined a request from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and the rest of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to testify in an upcoming hearing on Starbucks’ compliance with labor laws. Starbucks said its chief public affairs officer AJ Jones II will attend instead.For union leaders, Wednesday’s order was a win.“This is truly a historic ruling,” Gary Bonadonna Jr., manager of the Rochester Regional Joint Board of Workers United, SEIU, said in a statement issued by Starbucks Workers United. “We will not rest until every Starbucks worker wins the right to organize.”Michelle Eisen, a worker who was among those that Starbucks must make whole according to Wednesday’s order, said “this decision results from months of tireless organizing by workers in cafes across the country demanding better working conditions in the face of historical, monumental, and now deemed illegal union-busting.”Both parties have until March 28 to appeal the decision, according to the NLRB.Starbucks said in a statement that it is “considering all options to obtain further legal review,” adding that “we believe the decision and the remedies ordered are inappropriate given the record in this matter.”

HOPEWELL, Va. — A group of Starbucks baristas in Hopewell, Virginia served a hot cup of compassion to a grieving daughter.

Jackie Dean's mother died in January. In the days and weeks since her mother's death, Jackie and her sisters have attempted to plan a memorial for their mom.

“So it’s just been hard," Dean said.

"We've had to move her services three times due to COVID.”

Mildred Burnham loved Starbucks.

She particularly enjoyed sipping a caramel macchiato.

WTVR

While planning her mom's rescheduled service over the weekend, Jackie needed a coffee break. So she drove to her neighborhood Starbucks and placed her familiar order.

"I was going to order what I always order and I inadvertently ordered two," she said. "I was so used to getting one for mom.”

Realizing her mistake, Jackie became overcome with grief.

"I started crying and I tried to get my words," she said.

What happened next brought Jackie some joy during an otherwise difficult day.

“They came up to the window and said, 'ma'am, there’s not going to be any charge for your coffee today," she said.“[The barista said] 'I noticed you were upset and when you said you ordered two and then one, I said I knew something was going on.'”

In addition to the free coffee, the barista drew a small heart on Jackie's cup.

WTVR

“It just made such an impact, it made my day, my day had been terrible, I had been crying all day," she said.

The small Starbucks gesture helped warm her broken heart.

This story was first reported by Wayne Covil at WTVR in Richmond, Virginia.

More New York state Starbucks locations are now set to vote to decide if workers there want to unionize. Many see the effort as having the ability to possibly pick up steam in other parts of the country.

As Bloomberg reported, Nancy Wilson, an acting regional director of the National Labor Relations Board ordered ballots be sent out to Starbucks employees by Jan. 31, and be returned by Feb. 22. Employees at the three additional stores will vote to decide if they would like to join Workers United which is affiliated with Service Employees International Union which won elections recently at two other Starbucks sites in Buffalo.

So far, only two out of 9,000 of Starbuck's corporate-run locations are unionized, which comprises over 230,000 employees, the New York Times reported.

Reggie Borges, a spokesperson for Starbucks was quoted in the Times using a little different language, saying that the company was not anti-union, but instead was “pro-partner,” with its employees. Borges says that the company has historically listened to its workers' feedback and made changes that make unionizing unnecessary.

In early January, unionized Starbucks employees in upstate New York staged a walkout citing fears over COVID-19 safety amid a surge of virus cases. As the Associated Press reported, six of those employees formed a picket line outside of one of the stores in Buffalo causing it to decide to close for the day, after around a third of the staff did not report to work because of safety fears.

Borges said that Starbucks had met and exceeded CDC and expert guidelines and offered vaccine and isolation pay to employees.

“Over and above that, all leaders are empowered to make whatever changes make sense for their neighborhood, which includes shortening store hours or moving to 100% takeout only, which is the case in Buffalo,” Borges said.

Starbucks workers at various cities across the U.S., in cities including Knoxville, Tenn., Tallahassee, Fla., Seattle, Chicago, Boston and Denver, have reportedly been seeking to follow the model of Buffalo in seeking to vote to organize unions, according to the New York Times.

In a 2006 statement on Starbucks' corporate website, the company addresses its long-held perspective on unionizing writing, "While Starbucks respects the free choice of our partners, we firmly believe that our work environment, coupled with our outstanding compensation and benefits, make unions unnecessary at Starbucks. We respect our partners’ right to organize, but believe that they would not find it necessary given our pro-partner environment." 

John Logan, a labor studies professor at San Francisco State University told the New York Times that unionizing has traditionally been effective when aimed at companies with a small number of large workplaces, as striking at one of less than 20 large factories can cause a disruption. But, striking at one or a few out of 9,000 Starbucks stores across the country would likely make little to no difference to the profits of a company as massive as Starbucks.

BUFFALO, N.Y. —

Starbucks workers have voted to unionize at a store in Buffalo, New York, over the company’s objections, pointing the way to a new labor model for the 50-year old coffee giant.

The National Labor Relations Board said Thursday that workers voted 19-8 in favor of a union at one of three locations in Buffalo. The board is still counting votes for two other stores.

If the labor board certifies the vote — a process expected to take about a week — it would be the first for any Starbucks-owned store in the U.S. to unionize. Starbucks has actively fought unionization at its stores for decades, saying its stores function best when it works directly with employees.

Workers watching the vote count over Zoom on a big screen at a union office in Buffalo erupted into cheers and chants of “Elmwood, Elmwood, Elmwood!" when the results of that location were announced, jumping up and down and hugging each other.

Workers at all three stores began voting by mail last month on whether they wanted to be represented by Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union.

The National Labor Relations Board began counting ballots Thursday from union elections held at the stores. Around 111 Starbucks workers were eligible to vote by mail starting last month.

“Yes” votes could also accelerate unionization efforts at other U.S. Starbucks stores. Already, three more stores in Buffalo and a store in Mesa, Arizona, have filed petitions with the labor board for their own union elections. Those cases are pending.

Union backers at the first three Buffalo stores filed petitions with the labor board in August seeking representation by Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union. Those workers say Starbucks’ stores had chronic problems like understaffing and faulty equipment even before the pandemic. They want more input on pay and store operations.

“We have no accountability right now. We have no say,” said Casey Moore, a union organizer who has been working at a Buffalo-area Starbucks for around six months. “With a union we will actually be able to sit down at the table and say, `This is what we want.’”

Starbucks insists its 8,000 company-owned U.S. stores function best when it works directly with its employees, which it calls “partners.” Many employees in the Buffalo area work at more than one store depending on demand, Starbucks says, and it wants to have the flexibility to move them between stores.

Starbucks asked the labor board to hold one vote with all 20 of its Buffalo-area stores, but the board rejected that request, saying store-by-store votes were appropriate under labor law.

In a letter to Starbucks’ U.S. employees this week, Starbucks President and CEO Kevin Johnson reiterated the company’s wish to include all Buffalo-area stores in the union vote.

“While we recognize this creates some level of uncertainty, we respect the process that is underway, and independent of the outcome in these elections, we will continue to stay true to our mission and values,” Johnson wrote.

Johnson also reminded employees of the company’s generous benefits, including paid parental and sick leave and free college tuition through Arizona State University. Late last month, the company also announced pay increases, saying all its U.S. workers will earn at least $15 — and up to $23 — per hour by next summer.

But backers of the union say Starbucks can do more.

“If Starbucks can find the money to pay their CEO nearly $15 million in compensation, I think maybe they can afford to pay their workers a decent wage with decent benefits,” said U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, in a recent Twitter post. Sanders held a virtual town hall with Buffalo Starbucks workers earlier this week.

Johnson earned $14.7 million in salary and stock awards in the company’s 2020 fiscal year.

Starbucks or the union can contest individual votes in the election, which could delay the certification process by the labor board. But if the votes do get certified, Starbucks is legally obligated to begin the process of collective bargaining with Workers United and any of the three stores that vote to unionize, said Cathy Creighton, the director of Cornell University’s Industrial and Labor Relations Buffalo Co-Lab.

In some cases, companies have closed a location rather than deal with a union. But that's difficult for a retailer like Starbucks, since it would be illegal to close one store and then open another nearby, Creighton said.

Starbucks has shown a willingness to bargain outside the U.S. In Victoria, Canada, workers at a Starbucks store voted to unionize in August 2020. It took Starbucks and the United Steelworkers union nearly a year to reach a collective bargaining agreement, which was ratified by workers in July.

The union votes come at a time of heightened labor unrest in the U.S. Striking cereal workers at Kellogg Co. rejected a new contract offer earlier this week. Thousands of workers were on strike at Deere & Co. earlier this fall. And the U.S. labor board recently approved a redo of a union vote at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama after finding the company pressured workers to vote against the union.

Labor shortages are giving workers a rare upper hand in wage negotiations. And Dan Graff, director of the Higgins Labor Program at the University of Notre Dame, said the pandemic gave many workers the time and space to rethink what they want from their jobs.

CHEVIOT, Ohio —

Hot coffee was thrown at a Frisch's employee amid a fight.

A former employee has been charged and arrested and it's still not clear why the fight happened in the first place.

As of Monday night, the suspect, Lauren Ward, 38, was still listed as booked in the Hamilton County Jail charged with felonious assault.

According to Hamilton County Court, Ward was arraigned on Monday.

Police said she threw scalding hot coffee on another employee causing burns.

It was piping hot trouble brewing at the Frisch's restaurant on Bridgetown Road.

"There's two people in here fighting," an employee told a 911 dispatcher.

The sign outside advertises "Fresh and Fun," but on Nov. 8, police said things took a sour, angry turn.

Cheviot police said Ward allegedly waited for the victim employee to come to work, started yelling and as a manager tried to step between the two, Ward threw a cup of hot coffee at the victim employee.

Police said Ward also gouged the victim employee's left eye.

Cheviot police said the 58-year-old victim employee was burned.

According to a report, the roasting coffee splashed all over the victim's chest, face and eyes.

Then, witnesses said Ward left the establishment.

Investigators said she went to her apartment before officers arrived and no one would answer the door.

Meanwhile, others comforted the victim employee.

"She's having trouble seeing out of her eye. They're coming, hun. I've got an ambulance coming and the police are coming," an employee said while on the phone with a dispatcher.

Police said the victim employee was taken to UC Medical Center for burns to her face, a gouged left eye and coffee possibly in her eyes.

Ward's bond was set at $5,000 and the case heads to a grand jury on Dec. 1.

A manager at the Frisch's told WLWT the victim employee is doing OK.

A man who identified himself as the victim employee's son also told us she was doing OK.

So far, we have not been able to talk with the victim directly.

Cheviot police said video exists showing what happened.

We have requested a copy and expect to get it in the coming days.

WLWT also reached out to Frisch's media contact for a statement, but we have not heard back.

Not even coffee is immune to the powerful forces of extreme weather and inflation.

Coffee futures climbed on Thursday to the highest level since January 2012. It's just the latest spike for a commodity that has seen its value surge more than 80% so far this year.

Unfortunately, this means coffee drinkers will be paying higher prices at grocery stores and coffee shops in the coming months. And that will only add to the inflationary pressures currently causing anxiety for millions of Americans.

The blame for the coffee spike falls in large part on severe drought and unusual frost conditions in Brazil, the world's largest supplier of coffee beans.

This extreme weather has threatened coffee supply and set off alarm bells in financial markets.

"It created a panic in the market," said Carlos Mera, head of agricultural commodities research at Rabobank.

'Atrocious' weather

Coffee inflation is the latest example of how extreme weather — at least some of which is driven by the climate crisis — is creating nightmares for farmers across the globe. And that in turn is making food more expensive for everyday Americans and people around the world. As of August, world food prices soared 31% over the past year, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Like many parts of the planet, Brazil's coffee growing regions have been hammered by a prolonged drought that could be the country's worst dry spell in nearly a century.

And then in July, Brazil was hit by the worst frost since 1994, dealing a further blow to coffee and other crops.

"The weather has been atrocious for coffee, especially in Brazil," Mera said.

At the same time, analysts pointed to the ongoing supply chain turmoil that is causing issues around the world, including the lack of shipping containers.

COVID-19 hasn't dented demand

Demand, on the other hand, has remained robust despite the changes set off by the pandemic. People are still drinking plenty coffee, though consumption shifted during COVID-19 from offices and coffee shops to at-home.

"We were all very afraid. But demand is very steady, surprisingly enough," said Jorge Cuevas, chief coffee officer at Sustainable Harvest Coffee Importers.

The National Coffee Association, the industry's trade group, also said demand didn't get dented by COVID-19.

In a statement to CNN, the trade group blamed rising coffee prices on shifts in supply.

"For many years, the world grew more coffee than we drank, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts that this year we'll consume more coffee than farmers grow," the National Coffee Association said. "We don't expect current conditions to change coffee's status as America's favorite beverage."

'Imminent' price hikes for coffee drinkers

Retail coffee prices are on the rise, but they have not increased as dramatically as many other items.

Coffee prices are up 4.7% over the past 12 months, according to the October consumer inflation report. That's below the overall level of inflation, which hit a 30-year high in October.

That's because Starbucks and other coffee companies buy coffee far in advance and have hedging strategies in place to lock in prices. That allows them to defend their profit margins and keep prices in check, cushioning the blow from swings in the futures market.

The bad news is that if prices stay high, they will eventually translate to higher prices for coffee drinkers.

"It is imminent," Cuevas said.

Indeed, citing "rapid inflation" linked to logistics, commodities and labor costs, Starbucks said last month it plans to exercise its "pricing power" in a "very thoughtful" way.

"But we are taking price and we will continue to take price in an inflationary environment," Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson told analysts during a conference call.

JM Smucker, which owns the Folgers and Dunkin' coffee brands, said in August that rising costs will impact its business.

The industry is also facing the same inflationary pressures hitting other businesses, including higher wages and elevated transportation and energy costs.

"It is absolutely inevitable that the costs will have to be passed on to consumers," Ceuvas said.

The cup of coffee or tea you reach for in the morning — OK, maybe it's a few — may be associated with a lower risk for stroke and dementia, according to a new study.

Among more than 360,000 participants studied over a period of 10 to 14 years, those who drank two to three cups of coffee, three to five cups of tea or a combination of four to six cups of coffee or tea a day had the lowest risk of stroke and dementia, according to researchers from Tianjin Medical University in Tianjin, China.

"Our findings suggested that moderate consumption of coffee and tea separately or in combination were associated with lower risk of stroke and dementia," the authors of the study said in a release.

Around the world, 10% of deaths are caused by stroke, according to a 2017 study published in The Lancet. Dementia refers to a general decline in brain function, but it can set in after a stroke.

Drinking coffee or tea alone also was associated with lower risk for both conditions, but people who had two to three cups of coffee and two to three cups of tea daily — four to six cups total — faired the best, with a 28% lower risk of dementia and 32% lower risk of stroke than those who didn't drink either, according to the study.

The participants' information came from the UK Biobank, a database of anonymous health information from around half a million volunteers in the United Kingdom gathered between 2006 and 2020. The study looked at health participants between ages 50 and 74 who self-reported their consumption of coffee and tea.

Over the course of the study period, 5,079 participants developed dementia and 10,053 experienced at least one stroke, according to the study, which was published in PLOS Medicine.

There have been many studies suggesting health benefits may be associated with drinking coffee and tea, but it is important to note that the researchers could only say the two were linked — not that the beverages necessarily offered protection.

There are limitations to the accuracy of the data because the participants reported their own tea and coffee drinking, and their estimates could be influenced by their own bias, Dr. Lee H. Schwamm, chair of the American Stroke Association Advisory Committee and chair in Vascular Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital, said via email.

"We cannot impute causality, and say 'drinking more coffee or tea is good for your brain.' What we can only say is that in this study, people who reported moderate coffee/tea drinking were less likely to have a stroke or dementia occur in the 10 years of follow-up," Schwamm said.

Is it time to start drinking coffee?

Past research has suggested that coffee may be beneficial to brain health.

Another 2021 study that utilized the UK Biobank showed that for people with no diagnosis of heart disease, regular coffee consumption of 0.5 to three cups of coffee a day was associated with a decreased risk of death from heart disease, stroke and early death from any cause when compared to non-coffee drinkers.

Several studies have also shown that three cups of coffee a day can decrease the risk for Alzheimer's Disease.

Caffeinated coffee can help the brain in several ways by increasing production of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor, according to the UK Alzheimer's Society. Called G-CSF, it helps protect and repair neural brain cells.

Neither decaffeinated coffee nor caffeine alone was shown to help in this way, "suggesting that there could be a combination effect between caffeine and an unknown compound in coffee," the society said.

More is not always better when it comes to coffee. People drinking more than 6 cups a day were at an increased risk of dementia and smaller total brain volumes, according to a study published in June in the journal Nutritional Neuroscience.

The results of the most recent study may point to some benefits of drinking coffee and tea, but that doesn't necessarily mean that everyone should start to brew more cups across the day.

"A word of caution, one man's cappuccino is another man's expresso," Schwamm said. "Not all coffee beverages have the same amount of caffeine, and people estimate a cup's worth of coffee or tea differently, so we should keep in mind that most things are best consumed in moderation."

If you avoided caffeinated beverages in the past, there may have been a good reason, and there isn't evidence yet that there is a benefit to starting a coffee or tea habit, he added. For most things, moderation is the best approach, Schwamm said.

"Enjoy your morning cup of coffee, and don't swear off additional cups if you enjoy them," he concluded.

Customers at Starbucks will have new ways to pay for their drinks and food while still earning stars in their rewards program.

The changes to the Starbucks Rewards loyalty program begins Tuesday, September 15.

Customers have complained for years about the need to reload their Starbucks card in order to spend money at the coffee giant and earn loyalty stars. In order for customers to earn stars in their loyalty program, customers had to use a Starbucks card or gift card to pay. This forced regular customers to constantly reload their card to ensure there was enough money for their purchases.

Starting Tuesday, alternative ways to pay will be allowed and still allow members to earn stars for purchases. Alternative methods include debit/credit cards, cash, and select mobile wallets.

However, there’s a catch.

Customers paying with their Starbucks card or gift card will earn two loyalty stars per $1 spent, and those paying with alternative methods will earn one star per $1 spent.

Coffee grounds are abrasive, which makes them a great cleaning scrub for pots, pans, ovens and foul-smelling fridge drawers. Scrubbing away at those tough kitchen stains can often seem like a never-ending chore, but used coffee could be the answer you're looking for.

"We've all heard about lemon juice and vinegar acting as great natural cleaning products for the home, but coffee also has multiple benefits to keep your kitchen spick and span," said Polly Shearer, interiors expert at Tap Warehouse.

Looking for some simple cleaning tips? Take a look at what you can do once you've had your morning caffeine fix...

1. Scrubbing pans

The coarse texture of ground coffee makes it ideal for scrubbing those hard-to-clean pans — and is much better for the environment than abrasive sponges. All you need to do is combine two to three teaspoons of ground coffee with warm, soapy water, and scrub the pans with a soft sponge until clean. Coffee is a natural degreaser, so your pans will be spotless in no time.

2. Cleaning the grill and oven

Removing dirt, grease and grime from your oven is no easy feat. Having trouble getting yours clean? According to the experts at Tap Warehouse, the acidity in coffee makes it brilliant for removing tough stains.

Shearer explained: "Soak your grill grates in the sink for about 45 minutes in a solution of warm water and a few spoonfuls of coffee, (even instant coffee will do), and you'll find the tough stains will melt off, leaving you with a grill that's as good as new. This also works just as well for barbecue grills."

3. Fridge and trash can smells

Looking to banish lingering food smells? Kitchen trash cans and fridges are a magnet for bacteria, but coffee is another great secret ingredient that can help banish bad smells for good.

To try this at home, all you need to do is place coffee grounds or a few beans in a cup in your fridge. Coffee is a great absorber of odours, so it can be used to keep your fridge smelling fresh. The same can be done with your trash can; simply place a teaspoon of coffee at the bottom before you put in the bin bag and any bad odors will fade.

4. Cleaning surfaces

"Coffee is also great for removing hard-to-clean stains from tiles — mix a few teaspoons of instant coffee or used grounds with soapy water and you'll have your very own surface cleanser," Shearer said.

"This method can also be used on wooden surfaces that have scratches — soak a spoonful of coffee with warm water and gently rub on the surface. This will minimise the appearance of scratches and stains."

5. Unblocking the sink

Kitchen sink not draining? Try pouring coffee grounds into the sink followed by liquid soap and boiling water. A great way to use up old grounds, this will help clear any blockages and leave your sink odor-free in no time.

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. —

Related video above: The Best Time to Drink Coffee Is Not Necessarily as Soon as You Wake Up

An angry Florida man pulled a gun on a drive-thru worker because they forgot the cream cheese with his bagel, according to Miami Gardens police. The employee just happened to be the daughter of the police chief.

Police said the man became angry at a Starbucks drive-thru when they messed up his order earlier this week. He returned to the window, screaming at the employee. She asked whether he had paid for the cream cheese, at which point he became enraged and pulled out a gun, according to an arrest report.

Chief Delma Noel-Pratt told CBS4 that the experience traumatized her 23-year-old daughter. The chief's daughter told police that the man did not point the gun at her, but that she feared he would hurt her if she didn't give him the cream cheese.

"She felt in fear of her life," Noel-Pratt said. "It was upsetting to me to know that someone would go to that extreme not having cream cheese on his bagel."

The woman gave the man his cream cheese and he drove away. According to an arrest report, he said he grabbed the gun and put it in the air because it was falling out of his pocket, but denied threatening the woman.

The suspect faces several charges including aggravated assault with a firearm. He was being held on a $10,000 bond. It's unclear if he has an attorney who could comment on the charges.