#44: Creating Sustainable Careers in Specialty Coffee | Charles Jack | SCA 2018 Lectures
As a barista or production roaster, it’s hard to make a living in the specialty coffee industry. Some of our industry’s brightest, most passionate, and creative individuals ultimately leave coffee for other higher paying industries even though their true passion lies in coffee. This is a shame as these people are the representatives of our …
Announcing the 2019 SCA Sustainability Award Winners
Each year the SCA recognizes three categories with Sustainability Awards. We’re thrilled to announce this year’s winners, who will receive their awards at Re:co Symposium the 10-11 April 2019. The awards for Project and Business Model, created in 2004, recognize outstanding work in the field of sustainability in the coffee industry. This year there is …
#43: Mentorship in Specialty Coffee: Students Become the Teachers | Panel Discussion | SCA Lectures 2018
One of the “special” things about specialty coffee is the connections that coffee people make with one another—beyond simply making deals, beyond simply hiring and firing, we are an industry of people who are drawn to share, learn, and grow with one another. Mentorship is one of the most powerful professional tools in that regard, …
#42: The Best Way to Roast for Espresso | Panel Discussion | SCA Lectures 2018
It’s time to dive deeper into the kinds of questions many roasters have mulled over, but not discussed enough: Should a roast be designed according to flavor profiles, should you roast with a specific brew method in mind? To what extent should a roast be designed for a specific dose, grind, and brew ratio? Should …
A Time of Transition – 25 Magazine, Issue 8
The turning of the year brought exciting changes to SCA leadership. Our board – now more reflective of our global community – recently directed SCA staff to allocate substantial resources to understanding and addressing the coffee price crisis. We look forward to working with Executive Director Emeritus Ric Rhinehart on the SCA’s Coffee Price Crisis …
Growing Specialty Coffee in Times of Conflict: Case Studies in East Africa – 25 Magazine, Issue 8
Dr. JOSEPH KING explores the role of specialty coffee across two case studies of conflict and development efforts in Rwanda and Eastern Congo. All photos by Dr. King. The peoples of the Great Lakes region are as diverse as its ecosystems, geographically marked by volcanoes, rainforests, savannas, and lakes. Numerous tribal groups, national boundaries, and …
How Coffee Healed My Country – 25 Magazine, Issue 8
LEAD Scholar SMAYAH UWAJENEZA reflects on her personal experience working as a specialty coffee professional in Kigali, Rwanda in a 25 Magazine online exclusive. I was born after genocide (in 1997) and brought up by the lovely community who taught me the value of life and the treasure of generosity. I was lucky enough to …
Flat vs. Cone: Basket Shape is as Important as Grind Size in Drip Brew Coffee – 25 Magazine, Issue 8
Postdoctoral fellow Dr. SCOTT FROST, Professor JEAN-XAVIER GUINARD, and Professor WILLIAM D. RISTENPART share early results of an ongoing research project in partnership with the SCA and Breville Corporation. Anybody who has shopped around lately for a drip coffee brewer will recognize that modern brewers typically come with a filter basket that is either “semi-conical” …
Designing for the Forgotten Sense – 25 Magazine, Issue 8
Professor CHARLES SPENCE of Oxford University’s Crossmodal Research Laboratory explains the impact sound has on your perception of flavor. In fact, everything from the sound of the coffee machine through to the background noise/music in your favorite coffee shop has been shown to influence our sensory expectations, not to mention our coffee drinking behavior. One …
Why the Specialty Coffee Industry Should Strive for Inclusive Design – 25 Magazine, Issue 8
HOBY WEDLER and TREY MALONE explore a broader understanding and application of inclusive design practice and how it stands to benefit the specialty coffee industry. Like us, you probably think of something to do with international disability law or how we work to make technology more accessible to people with disabilities. The idea of “designing …
How Bellwether Coffee Centers Inclusivity – 25 Magazine, Issue 8
Issue 08 sponsor BELLWETHER COFFEE shares its approach to maintaining an inclusive mindset. Roasting knowledge, on the other hand, has maintained a pretty small circle of resources, many difficult to access without money, connections, or time. Bellwether Coffee believes it’s time for this to change. In addition to producing the first-of-its-kind, zero-emissions, commercial roaster – …
Recommitting to a Global Vision in Madrid – 25 Magazine, Issue 8
The SCA’s Executive Director YANNIS APOSTOLOPOULOS shares the outcomes from the organization alignment meeting that took place in Madrid this past January. It’s a love for the drink, a love for the process, the places, and the people. But it’s also a belief that coffee can be more: more than just a commodity, more than …