Oh honey, honey

Good morning Staker! Here’s what’s cookin’ today. There’s a new tea in town, automakers are bringing back your Dad’s fave car, a longevity doc shares his routine, and what on earth is AI up to now 👀  

Let’s get into it!

Matcha’s global explosion in popularity has made it incredibly difficult for producers in Japan to keep up, where production already tripled between 2010 and 2023.

The grassy, umami-flavored, caffeine-boosted beverage has become somewhat of an obsession for Gen-Z consumers in recent years, but heatwaves in Japan and the tedious process of harvesting then stone-milling the leaves is creating a supply shortage that has some wondering if a helping hand could be offered by an alternative known as hojicha.

It’s quite a tall order. Hojicha is basically the opposite of matcha; the former has a warm and nutty flavor, while the latter a bitter and umami-flavored intensity. Hojicha is also roasted in a way that basically removes caffeine and alters the flavor profile, whereas one of matcha’s most popular traits is the caffeine jolt without the crash.

Basically, hojicha is more of a traditional tea in Japan consumed for warmth and relaxation, and done so similarly in Western cafes, though often with customizable toppings, syrups, and foam.

“The shortage of matcha is difficult for the entire supply chain,” says Aki Osawa, a third-generation tea exporter in Kyoto, Japan. “But if it encourages people to look more carefully at the full breadth of Japanese tea, then something good will have come from it. Hojicha deserves to be known on its own terms, not as the next matcha.”

Motorists are growing a little tired of the auto industry’s obsession with manufacturing everything but sedans. According to the Wall Street Journal, automakers have received the message and the sedan is on the road to recovery.

“In exiting sedans, Detroit effectively admitted defeat in a decades long struggle to keep pace with foreign rivals like Toyota, Hyundai and Honda for entry-level car shoppers,” the Journal wrote in a recent story.

However, it also noted comments from some head honchos in Motor City, including GM president Mark Reuss.

“I would kill to have a hybrid-electric sedan,” he recently said, while noting the company is “working on how to do that.”

Chrysler CEO, the aptly named Chris Feuell, revealed his company is working on a “small $30,000” car that will “be beautiful and fun to drive and aspirational.”

The auto industry is perhaps becoming an object of the broader consumer sentiment that says: smaller, serviceable, and affordable.

The price of a new or used car in recent years has been the antithesis of that sentiment, but with EV politics keeping prices elevated, and every combination of SUV, pick-up, electric, hybrid-electric yielding obtuse and expensive automobiles, Detroit’s Big Three may finally be getting the memo: “make cars normal again.”

While living long is an accomplishment in itself, having a long health span—living without any age-related chronic or cognitive illnesses—is quite another, according to Matt Kaeberlein, the former director of the Healthy Aging and Longevity Research Institute at Washington University.

Kaeberlein is one of the world’s foremost experts in the science of aging and how to do so healthily. His research focuses heavily on those themes, though he left academia in 2023 to launch his own business called Opstipan, which helps craft personalized longevity plans for individual clients.

In an effort to foster his own longevity, Kaeberlein basically adheres to four pillars: exercise, diet, brain health, and social connections.

In terms of exercise, it’s not necessarily a strict regimen, but he tries to get his heart rate elevated for at least 15-30 minutes per day with light exercise. He also does resistance training four days per week, and an intense workout in which he and his wife climb a staircase of 115 stairs about 10 to 15 times in one go.

In terms of brain health, he’s a strong advocate for constantly learning new things—particularly, things he finds enjoyable, so the mental exercise doesn’t feel like a burden.

You can read the entirety of his interview with CNBC’s Make It here.

A convicted arsonist in New Zealand was set to be sentenced for her crimes, but was provided the opportunity to issue an apology first for the court to determine if she had any remorse that could yield a merciful sentence.

In what has to be a first, the convict—Michae Ngaire Win—read out apology letters to the homeowner and the officers she assaulted that sounded so bland, they must have been auto-generated. In fact, Judge Tom Gilbert was reportedly so “unimpressed,” that he checked for himself.

“Out of curiosity I punched into two A.I. tools ‘draft me a letter for a judge expressing remorse for my offending,” the judge said, according to the New York Times. “It became immediately apparent that these were two A.I.-generated letters, albeit with tweaks around the edges.”

On one hand, Gilbert suggested the act of using AI for writing an apology isn’t itself a strike against the apologizer. On the other hand, he did say “when one is considering the genuineness of an individual’s remorse, simply producing a computer-generated letter does not really take me anywhere as far as I am concerned.”

It’s hard to argue that someone is taking ownership of their actions when they won’t even take ownership of penning the apology. However, in the 1800s, some applied that same logic to photography, accusing it of being less artistically genuine than a sketch or painting.

Would today’s society agree with that argument? Is there a middle ground that allows the use of AI for apologizing and remorse itself to co-exist?

Name that tune

Ok, not quite name that tune…but close! We’re quizzin’ you on song lyrics in today’s trivia 🤣 If you know your tunes, you’ll do just fine!

Complete the game and earn a shot at a $25 eGift Card ;)

Winner will be notified on Friday afternoon. Keep an eye on your inbox and don’t forget to check your spam folder!*