Dear Emma, My customers seem very interested in shade-grown coffee. Why does it matter?! How does it impact the coffee quality? Shouldn’t I just advise them to judge specialty coffee by its flavor? Thanks! Shady Business South Bend, IN Dear Shady, There are many factors that make coffee valuable to consumers. Shade matters to some …
By Olivia Auell Humans are complicated. When we drink a cup of coffee, cues from all five senses turn into signals in the brain, travel through complex circuitry and produce what we call flavor. As you’ve probably realized if you’ve worked in coffee for a while, not everyone perceives the same thing when tasting …
By Molly Spencer The coffee industry had been established long before it was introduced to the academic world. The industry had mostly operated on empirical observations based on what worked and what didn’t work. However, in this day and age, the industry faces complex issues such as sustainability and environmental production challenges, the need for …
By Christopher Hendon My interest in chemistry was sparked in 2007 when I received a copy of Luca Turin’s The Secret of Scent: Adventures in Perfume and the Science of Smell. Turin describes his pursuits of synthesizing novel, smelly molecules, and the challenge of elucidating how humans physically detect and perceive these compounds. Among other …
By Emma Sage, SCAA Coffee Science Manager The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has announced that they are re-classifying coffee from a “group 2B” to a “group 3” substance (Loomis and others 2016). This means that coffee is in the clear and is no longer officially linked with being a …
By Emma Sage, SCAA Coffee Science Manger With contributions by Molly Spencer, PhD Candidate, UC Davis Introduction The scientific story behind the new SCAA Coffee Taster’s Flavor Wheel is quite fascinating. This tale includes a star cast of characters, including World Coffee Research (WCR), Kansas State University (KSU), Texas A&M University (TX A&M), the University of …
By Emma Sage, SCAA What can you expect at the first SCAA Scientific Poster Session? Make new connections Advance your coffee science knowledge Meet scientists Learn about the most recent, compelling research going on around the world on coffee. This year, why not take a few minutes to learn about something new? The first ever …
By Hanna Neuschwander Experts agree that climate change poses a significant threat to coffee. But what is being done about it? A panel of industry leaders convened at Re:co Symposium to discuss just how far we’ve come since climate change first appeared on our radar over a decade ago—and just how far we have left …
By Emma Sage, SCAA This work began about three years ago, leading up to the SCAA Symposium in Boston, where we had a scientific session focusing on coffee genetics. Little did I know at the time that this project would turn into a multi-year, multi-disciplinary treasure hunt. For a presentation on this topic at …
The Coffee Tasters Flavor Wheel, a collaborative effort by the Specialty Coffee Association of America and World Coffee Research, is designed to be a tool for the coffee taster. As a tool, it is meant to be intuitive, enjoyable to use, and a benefit to those who seek to analyze and describe coffees. Here are …