Rob Stephen Joins the Team at Olam Specialty Coffee
It was announced today that Rob Stephen, SCAA Past President and long-time volunteer, has joined the team at Olam Specialty Coffee in the role of International Business Development Manager. With more than 20 years of experience in the coffee trade as a green coffee buyer, trader and quality consultant, Rob has been an integral part of the …
New SCAA Certified Home Brewer Joins the Family
We’re pleased to announce the arrival of a new home brewer on the scene for those seeking ultimate coffee extraction quality at home: the Brazen Plus Customizable Temperature Control Brew System from Behmor. The Brazen Plus is the first brewer to achieve this certification under SCAA’s updated testing requirements. The brewer is the result of a …
Where Did We Come From? A Roasters Guild Folk Story
by Mike Ebert, Firedancer Coffee Consultants Last month, somewhere in Seattle….. April 26, 2014, 5 p.m.: I am at the Seattle Convention Center where this year’s Roasters Guild Membership Meeting is taking place, listening to great report-outs from members of the Executive Council, seeing the new members getting sworn in (ok, not “sworn”—but that would …
Planning your Future in Volatile Markets: Simple Tools to Stay the Course
By Joe Marrocco, Café Imports Navigating a Volatile Market When buying green coffee, the supply chain can seem to be more of a labyrinth than a pathway. Navigating the ever-volatile market in order to find coffees that meet both your quality standards and budgetary needs, while also maintaining a green inventory or supply over …
The Reason in Roasting
by Christopher Schooley, SCAA / Coffee Shrub Roasters lift, and carry the weight. Roasters wait, and they wait. Production may be patience and repetition, but that doesn’t mean for a second that it’s not soulful. In fact, it is incredibly enriching if you allow yourself to be open to it. Production roasting is meditative and physical, …
We Are Explorers: A Personal Journey of Roasting Discovery
by Steven Lee, Groundwork Coffee “Anything essential is invisible to the eyes. It’s the time that you spent… that makes …(it) so important.”—Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince Over the years, I have been lucky enough to have very generous people invest time and energy into my coffee education. Some have played a more active role …
Coffee Roasting Chemistry: Chlorogenic Acids
by Emma Sage, Coffee Science Manager, Specialty Coffee Association of America Chlorogenic Acids: Chemistry & Reality Coffee roasters and coffee-minded chemistry aficionados, myself included, often speak of chlorogenic acids (also known as caffeoylquinic acids or “CQAs”) in coffee. There may be hundreds of scientific studies published on these important constituents of coffee. However, what do we …
The Evolution of a Coffee Roaster: An Interview with Paul Thornton
An Interview with Paul Thornton, SCAA Immediate Past President & Director of Coffee for Farmer Brothers / Coffee Bean International How did you get started working in coffee? I was looking for a summer job out of high school. My brother worked for a small roasting company called Coffee Bean International, which at the time owned …
Equalizer: Observations on the Roasting Community
by Ben Angelo, Stumptown Coffee Roasters I think there’s a common hunger for knowledge when discovering and exploring craft roasting. That first batch drops and you want to know it all: was that the right temp to drop my Guatemala Antigua? Was the time good? It all looks brownish, so what’s the color I’m looking for? …
The Road to Roasting: One Roaster’s Journey
by Candice Madison, Notes Coffee Roasters It’s early morning—well, early-ish—and I’m sitting drinking a v60 of Kamwangi AA Lot #032 from Kirinyaga, Kenya. This new-crop coffee is one of many I have had a hand in buying for our roastery. I roasted the pre-shipment sample on a Quest M3, devised an appropriate profile for filter, highlighting …
Sustainability Award Recognizes Leadership and Innovation in the Coffee World
by Rosemary Trent, Pueblo a Pueblo For more than a decade, SCAA’s Sustainability Council has recognized individuals, businesses, and organizations that promote sustainability within the coffee world, selecting one each year to receive the prestigious Sustainability Award. This year’s panel received an unprecedented number of applicants representing projects that have demonstrated remarkable dedication to real and …
90+ Profiles: Getting to Know Norbert Niederhauser
Who are you and what do you do in coffee? My name is Norbert Niederhauser and I am the co-founder of Cropster, an information management service for coffee roasters, traders and producers. How and when did you get started in the coffee business? I got into the coffee business about 11 years ago. I …