Once Upon A Coffee
By Mike Ferguson, Batdorf & Bronson Coffee Roasters If hindsight is 20/20, then memory is myopic and has astigmatism. Human memory is beautifully and tragically flawed, nearly beyond measure and certainly beyond our willingness to admit. While this can be bad news within a justice system dependent on witness testimony, it is otherwise good news …
The Power of Myth in Coffee
Popular Belief and What It Says About Us By Peter Giuliano, Specialty Coffee Association of America In the popular parlance, the word “myth” is used to mean “incorrect information presented as fact.” That’s not the whole story. Myths, legends, and popular beliefs are more than just mistakes. For one thing, they are repeated, spreading from …
The Way We Were | Specialty Coffee’s First Decade
By Donald N. Schoenholt, Gillies Coffee Co., SCAA Co-Founder Ted Williams and millions of other young men came home from the Second World War in 1946. They went back to school or, as Ted did, they went back to work. They began families and they and their children, who became known as the Baby Boomers, …
The Making of a Global Commodity | Part 1: Out of Arabia
Learn more with exclusive Digital Extra: The Making of a Global Commodity | Part 2: Coffee Comes to the Americas By Dr. Steven Topik, University of California Irvine How did a tree that sprang up in the remote highlands of Ethiopia become a global commodity? In the beginning, of course, was the coffee tree itself. The …
The Coffee Brewing Institute: Setting the Stage for Specialty Coffee
By Emma Sage, Coffee Science Manager, SCA (with special thanks to Randy Pope and Ted Lingle for their contributions) Throughout modern coffee history, one consistently recognized method has prevailed that determines a properly brewed cup of coffee. Of course, this is the brewing control chart. This tool takes something as subjective as the desired taste …
A Somewhat Less Than Concise History Of Coffee
By Timothy J. Castle, Author of The Perfect Cup The history of coffee, the beverage made from the roasted seeds of the coffee cherry, unlike many things in our universe, has been relatively brief and quantifiable, starting at about 615 years A.D. (give or take 50) in the mountains of Ethiopia. In discussing the history …
Coffee’s Volatile Ups and Downs
By Mark Pendergrast, Author of Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How it Transformed Our World The coffee market has always been volatile. Rumors of Brazilian frosts cause price hikes, while surprisingly large harvests produce dreadful price declines, along with misery for farmers and laborers, trouble for exporters and importers, and challenges for roasters …
The Green Trade
A Retrospective on the Business of Moving Coffee By Andi Trindle Mersch, Atlantic Specialty Coffee “A short article covering 30 years of trading coffee in a world that has changed so much is challenging, to say the least!” noted one of my first mentors in the green coffee trade business, Janis Cutler, Vice President of …
In Search of Meaning | Part 2
By Paul Katzeff, Thanksgiving Coffee, Founding Member of SCAA In Search of Meaning was written in 1983 when SCAA was just a couple of months old. It appeared in the first issue of “In Good Taste.” That publication was SCAA’s first organized communication to its twenty-five charter members. Donald Schoenholt is responsible for the name …
90+ Profiles: Getting to Know Robert Fulmer
Who are you and what do you do in coffee? Robert Fulmer, co-founder and current President of Royal Coffee, Inc. How and when did you get started in the coffee business? In 1976, I was offered a summer job cleaning damaged coffee in San Francisco for $50 a day. I felt like a millionaire and …
Portfolio | Issue No. 4 | Collaborative Design
The LINO Collection presents the optimal marriage of design and function at both the commercial and consumer levels. Subtly ergonomic and biomorphic, the ceramic vessels in this family were designed with and for world-renowned baristas based on an empirical methodology. Each piece was rigorously tested for functionality inside and out. The interior curvature of each …
Portfolio | Issue No. 4 | Every Little Thing
Espresso Supply began distributing coffee specific smallwares to the specialty coffee industry in 1993. Over the past 20 years we have grown into a company whose purpose is to make it better by providing practical and innovative tools and accessories for coffee houses around the world. We offer a full array of quality products, many …