First established in 2016, Design Lab – a platform showcasing great design in specialty coffee – has continued to grow. Now in its fourth year, the competition celebrates the design efforts of our industry through four key platforms: coffee spaces, coffee vessels, packaging, and brand. As the hundreds of submissions are received and carefully evaluated …
Long rows of palm trees, arranged flowers, incredibly clean streets – these are things I associate with Singapore or Switzerland, but there they were! The streets were so clean and green, I found myself wondering if there was even any dust to be found. I first came to Rwanda in 2013, looking for a place …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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” …
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 …
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 …
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 – …
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 …