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Culture · collecting
The Culinary Issue
Coffee, beer, wine, ramen, and the prestige economics of taste.
COFFEE: Ethiopia Scores Highest on Coffee Quality—With Zero Starbucks Stores
Ethiopia's median CQI cup score is 85.3 — the highest of 16 countries with 20+ samples — yet Starbucks operates zero stores in the top three scoring nations. BREWERIES: U.S. Craft Beer Peaks at 12.8% ABV While the Median Stays at 6%
Analysis of 2,410 U.S. craft beers shows median ABV of 6%, maximum 12.8%, and high bitterness concentrated in the IPA cluster. WINE: Austria and Chile, Two Points Apart
Austria leads Chile by 2.00 points; the median sits at 88.0 in a dataset where the top dozen titles all score 100. PIZZA: Two Economies in 10,000 Menu Rows
10,000 pizza menu records show a median price floor of 0.00 and a premium tier reaching 50.0, encoding two separate markets in one dataset. RAMEN: Malaysia Leads Global Ramen Ratings by Half a Star
3,180 instant-ramen reviews show a 5.00-star ceiling and country gaps of 0.25–0.50 stars around the 3.75 median. ALCOHOL: Who Drinks the Most Per Capita?
Country-level consumption data map which nations drink the most per person—and how that has shifted. CALORIES: Fast Food's 2,430-Calorie Ceiling
515 U.S. calories menu items show a median of 490 calories — top 12 items median 1,315; Sonic sits 80 above median, Chick-fil-A 100 below. RESTAURANTS: NYC Inspection Scores Hit 156—Eleven Times the Median
NYC restaurant inspection scores cluster at 15; highest violation count reaches 156 in 100,000-record TidyTuesday extract.