Specialty Coffee Association Podcast

This week, we’re excited (and a little bit sad) to release the sixth and final episode of the World Coffee Championships Podcast’s first series. “Worlds Apart” tells the stories of the World Coffee in Good Spirits Championship and the World Brewers Cup, two competitions that take vastly different approaches to growing the specialty coffee community. Along the way, co-host Kimberly Yer leads us through stories of unlikely inspiration, the value of setting expectations, the push and pull of subjectivity and objectivity, and the shape of things to come through interviews with Dave Jameson, Cheryl Lee Su Yin, Nick Cho, Chad Wang, and Kristina Jackson.Special Thanks to Our Series Sponsor, Victoria Arduino This series of the WCC Podcast is brought to you by Victoria Arduino. Born in the early twentieth century amid social and cultural transformation, Victoria Arduino broke with tradition and focused on progress, a mission it carries forward today. Victoria Arduino advances coffee knowledge and innovates across design, technology, and performance to produce machines that nurture coffee professionals' passion for espresso excellence. For more information, visit victoriaarduino.com. Victoria Arduino: Inspired by your passion.Special Thanks to Our Episode Sponsor, Licor 43This episode of the WCC Podcast is brought to you with support from Licor 43. Licor 43 is a premium liqueur produced in Cartagena, Spain, from a secret Spanish family recipe of 43 natural ingredients including Mediterranean citrus fruit and selected botanicals. Licor 43 shares complementary tasting notes with coffee, and it loves putting extraordinary things together. Learn more about how Licor 43 calls on cocktail and coffee professionals around the world to showcase their expertise and creativity with their Barista and Bartenders Challenge. Licor 43: Tastes better together.We’d like to thank Kimberly Yer, our co-host for this episode, and our interviewees for their time in sharing their stories about the evolution of the World Coffee in Good Spirits Championship and the World Brewers Cup, in order of appearance: Dave Jameson, Cheryl Lee Su Yin, Nick Cho, Chad Wang, and Kristina Jackson. For a full list of those who helped across the entire series, a year-long effort, click here. Series 01 of the World Coffee Championships Podcast is a coffee documentary series produced by James Harper of Filter Productions for the Specialty Coffee Association. Learn more about this episode of the World Coffee Championships Podcast, made possible with the support of Victoria Arduino and Licor 43, including a full transcript and credits at sca.coffee/sca-news/listen/wcc-podcast/06-worlds-apart

This week, we’re excited to release the fifth episode of the World Coffee Championships Podcast.“Turn It On” tells the stories of the World Coffee Roasting Championship and the Cezve/Ibrik Championships, two competitions with incredibly close-knit communities at their heart. Along the way, co-hosts Anna Oleksak and Sara Al-Ali lead us through stories about navigating subjectivity, all kinds of development, and the lengths we go to for coffee (and love) through interviews with Trish Rothgeb, Sylvia Gutierrez, Lee Yiming, Yuan Jingyi, Sergey Blinnikov, and Turgay Yildizli.Special Thanks to Our Series Sponsor, Victoria Arduino This series of the WCC Podcast is brought to you by Victoria Arduino. Born in the early twentieth century amid social and cultural transformation, Victoria Arduino broke with tradition and focused on progress, a mission it carries forward today. Victoria Arduino advances coffee knowledge and innovates across design, technology, and performance to produce machines that nurture coffee professionals' passion for espresso excellence. For more information, visit victoriaarduino.com. Victoria Arduino: Inspired by your passion.Special Thanks to Our Episode Sponsor, Loumidis PapagalosThis episode of the WCC podcast is made possible with support from Loumidis Papagalos. For over a century, Loumidis Papagalos has been evolving ibrik coffee tradition in Greece, offering unique moments to true coffee lovers. In 2020 Loumidis Papagalos celebrates its first 100 years, always nourishing passion around ibrik coffee and supporting its way forward. To learn more visit nestlenoiazomai.gr/loumidis. Loumidis Papagalos, the true expert in coffee!We’d like to thank Anna Oleksak and Sara Al-Ali, our co-hosts for this episode, and our interviewees for their time in sharing their stories about the evolution of the World Coffee Roasters Championship and the Cezve/Ibrik Championship, in order of appearance: Trish Rothgeb, Sylvia Gutierrez, Lee Yiming, Yuan Jingyi, Sergey Blinnikov, and Turgay Yildizli. Thanks also to our roaster participants in James’ “How would you roast…?” game—Valentina Moksunova, David Rosali, Chad Goddard, Ariel Bravo, and Marian Aguilar—and to Lobotryasi and Specialty Turkish Coffee for audio permissions. For a full list of those who helped across the entire series, a year-long effort, click here. Series 01 of the World Coffee Championships Podcast is a coffee documentary series produced by James Harper of Filter Productions for the Specialty Coffee Association. Learn more about this episode of the World Coffee Championships Podcast, made possible with the support of Victoria Arduino and Loumidis Papagalos, including a full transcript and credits at sca.coffee/sca-news/listen/wcc-podcast/05-turn-it-on

This week, we’re excited to release the fourth episode of the World Coffee Championships Podcast.“But I Need It!” continues the story of the World Barista Championships from where we left off in Episode 03, nearly halfway through the competition’s journey, to today. Along the way, co-host Roukiat Delrue leads us through stories of evolutionary meetings, competitors who played in the grey areas of the rules, wildcards, and the drive to “bring the trophy” through interviews with Carl Sara, Federico Bolanos, María Esther López-Thome, Martin Shabaya, Innocent Niyongabo, and Annet Nyakaisiki. Special Thanks to Our Series Sponsor, Victoria Arduino This series of the WCC Podcast is brought to you by Victoria Arduino. Born in the early twentieth century amid social and cultural transformation, Victoria Arduino broke with tradition and focused on progress, a mission it carries forward today. Victoria Arduino advances coffee knowledge and innovates across design, technology, and performance to produce machines that nurture coffee professionals' passion for espresso excellence. For more information, visit victoriaarduino.com. Victoria Arduino: Inspired by your passion.Special Thanks to Our Episode Sponsors, Scotsman and Urnex This episode of the WCC Podcast was made possible with support from Scotsman and Urnex. For over 50 years, Scotsman has been one of the world's leading manufacturers of ice machines. At the forefront of practical, sustainable ice machines, Scotsman has expertise in every aspect of ice production. Combined with its passion for coffee, Scotsman has the perfect type of ice for any coffee preparation, whether iced coffee, cold brew, or cocktails. Learn more at www.scotsman-ice.it Scotsman: 50 years of ice innovation.Even the slightest unwelcome scent or taste of bitterness can ruin a delicious coffee. Whether you have a dirty grinder, a grimy group head, or a soiled steam wand, Urnex has a product that can remove the buildup of oils, fats, and minerals that occurs from the regular preparation of coffee beverages in cafés and at home. Learn more about Urnex and its new line of biodegradable cleaners by visiting Urnex.com.We’d like to thank Rouki Delrue, our co-host for this episode, and our interviewees for their time in sharing their stories about the evolution of the World Barista Championship, in order of appearance: Carl Sara, Federico Bolanos, María Esther López-Thome, Martin Shabaya, Innocent Niyongabo, and Annet Nyakaisiki. Thanks, too, to Henk Langkemper, for his recording of Alejandro’s winning moment in 2011. For a full list of those who helped across the entire series, a year-long effort, click here. Series 01 of the World Coffee Championships Podcast is a coffee documentary series produced by James Harper of Filter Productions for the Specialty Coffee Association. Learn more about this episode of the World Coffee Championships Podcast, made possible with the support of Victoria Arduino, Scotsman, and URNEX, including a full transcript and credits at sca.coffee/sca-news/listen/wcc-podcast/04-but-i-need-it

“We Were the Punks” traces the early days of the World Barista Championships from a rag-tag group of volunteers looking to raise specialty coffee awareness to a powerful, monetizable stage grappling with questions of scale and professionalism. Along the way, co-host Sonja Bjork Grant leads us through stories of spit buckets, snakeskin boots, backstage woes, intensifying competition preparation, and devastating debriefs through interviews with Tone Elian Liavaag, Emma Markland-Webster, Simi Benzadon, Paul Basset, and Heather Perry.Special Thanks to Our Series & Episode Sponsor, Victoria Arduino This series of the WCC Podcast is brought to you by Victoria Arduino. Born in the early twentieth century amid social and cultural transformation, Victoria Arduino broke with tradition and focused on progress, a mission it carries forward today. Victoria Arduino advances coffee knowledge and innovates across design, technology, and performance to produce machines that nurture coffee professionals' passion for espresso excellence. For more information, visit victoriaarduino.com. Victoria Arduino: Inspired by your passion.We’d like to thank Sonja Bjork Grant, our co-host for this episode, and our interviewees for their time in sharing their stories about the early days of the World Barista Championship, in order of appearance: Tone Elian Liavaag, Emma Markland-Webster, Simi Benzadon, Paul Basset, and Heather Perry. Thanks, too, to Igloo Media for use of audio from “Living Coffee with Paul Basset.”For a full list of those who helped across the entire series, a year-long effort, click here. Series 01 of the World Coffee Championships Podcast is a coffee documentary series produced by James Harper of Filter Productions for the Specialty Coffee Association. Learn more about this episode of the World Coffee Championships Podcast, made possible with the support of Victoria Arduino, including a full transcript and credits at sca.coffee/sca-news/listen/wcc-podcast/03-we-were-the-punks.

This week, we’re excited to launch the second episode of the World Coffee Championships Podcast. “Paint a Picture” traces the history and evolution of the World Latte Art Championship through the medium itself, from early etchings to the innovative realistic pours that grace the competition’s stage today. Along the way, co-host Rie Moustakis leads us through stories about the role of the rules, the value of art, and family dynamics through interviews with Carl Sara, Daniel Acosta Busch, and Um Paul. Special Thanks to Our Series Sponsor, Victoria Arduino This series of the WCC Podcast is brought to you by Victoria Arduino. Born in the early twentieth century amid social and cultural transformation, Victoria Arduino broke with tradition and focused on progress, a mission it carries forward today. Victoria Arduino advances coffee knowledge and innovates across design, technology, and performance to produce machines that nurture coffee professionals' passion for espresso excellence. For more information, visit victoriaarduino.com. Victoria Arduino: Inspired by your passion.Special Thanks to Our Episode Sponsor, URNEXThis episode of the WCC Podcast was made possible with support from Urnex. Even the slightest unwelcome scent or taste of bitterness can ruin a delicious coffee. Whether you have a dirty grinder, a grimy group head, or a soiled steam wand, Urnex has a product that can remove the buildup of oils, fats, and minerals that occurs from the regular preparation of coffee beverages in cafés and at home. Learn more about Urnex and its new line of biodegradable cleaners by visiting Urnex.com. We’d like to thank Rie Moustakis, our co-host for this episode, and our interviewees for their time in sharing their stories about the World Latte Art Championship, in order of appearance: Carl Sara, Daniel Acosta Busch, and Um Paul. Thanks, too, to Madbirder for the recording of the Quetzal bird and to Um Paul for letting us use his tracks to help illustrate his story. For a full list of those who helped across the entire series, a year-long effort, click here. Series 01 of the World Coffee Championships Podcast was produced by James Harper of Filter Productions for the Specialty Coffee Association. 

This week, we’re excited to launch the first episode of the World Coffee Championships Podcast. “It’s a YES!!” traces the history and evolution of the World Cup Tasters Championship through stories about rule-breakers, phone calls home mid-competition, and backstage ballet. Co-hosted by Gloria Pedroza, 2006 World Cup Tasters Champion and long-time WCE Judge and competition organizer, this episode features interviews with Alf Kramer, Kim Staalman, José Joaquín Ordoñez, and Chloe King. Find a full transcript of this episode on SCA News: sca.coffee/sca-news/listen/wcc-podcast/01-its-a-yesSpecial Thanks to Our Series Sponsor, Victoria Arduino This series of the WCC Podcast is brought to you by Victoria Arduino. Born in the early twentieth century amid social and cultural transformation, Victoria Arduino broke with tradition and focused on progress, a mission it carries forward today. Victoria Arduino advances coffee knowledge and innovates across design, technology, and performance to produce machines that nurture coffee professionals' passion for espresso excellence. For more information, visit victoriaarduino.com. Victoria Arduino: Inspired by your passion.Special Thanks to Our Episode Sponsor, DaVinci This episode of the WCC Podcast is made possible with support from DaVinci. With its heritage in specialty coffee and expertise in trends and menu innovation, DaVinci is the beverage brand of choice for the foodservice professional. Their product range is designed to provide end-to-end solutions and support specialty coffee professionals in their mission to create inspirational beverages. Follow us at DaVinci Europe, DaVinci North America, or using #WeAreDaVinciGourmet. We’d like to thank Gloria Pedroza, our co-host for this episode, and our interviewees for their time in sharing their stories about the World Cup Tasters Championship, in order of appearance: Alf Kramer, Kim Staalman, José Joaquín Ordoñez, and Chloe King. Thanks, too, to those Berlin park-goers who participated in our listening game!For a full list of those who helped across the entire series, a year-long effort, click here. Series 01 of the World Coffee Championships Podcast was produced by James Harper of Filter Productions for the Specialty Coffee Association. 

Coming soon to the SCA Podcast channel: The World Coffee Championships podcast! Across six episodes, the series offers a glimpse behind the scenes, bringing to light some of the hidden stories woven in and around these annual events that serve as the culmination of local and regional events around the globe. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, and subscribe to make sure you don't miss the launch! Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotifyStitcherTransistor / RSS Feed Full Transcript"It was only like old white guys in suits, you know, and I can tell you one story about this guy. He was, like, giving a speech in front of like a big hall, like, 'women cannot make coffee because they can't tamp.'"  Welcome to new podcast series from the Specialty Coffee Association. "These kind of things just makes me personally stronger because I'm like, okay, I'm gonna show them. You know, this is just like how humans are acting, you know, if we have too many suits you will have some punks coming in. And we were the punks, you know, we were the young people coming in, and like we wanted to change."  In the next six episodes, we're going to explore the World Coffee Championships. Where did they come from? "And so starting from a blank page, I was inspired by, of all things, figure skating." How did things go wrong?  "Everyone backstage was a little bit in shock and we're all looking at each other, like what is going on? Like, is this real? Is this even allowed?" How were they fixed? "You know, a lot of baristas didn't really understand what happened in Dublin. I mean, most people probably don't even know that the Dublin event ever happened."  What changes do you want to see in these competitions? "The guy who was set up next to me... I swear to God he had a stack of like four refractometers sitting on his table. And I said, 'What do you need those for?' And he said, 'Well, I'm using them for compulsory.' "I said, 'All four of them?!'" I'm James Harper, the producer, and in each episode, we're going to hear from people who come together every year to celebrate specialty coffee and push the industry forward. "My name is Christina Jackson." "Emma Markland-Webster." "Chad Wang." "Nyakaisiki Annette." "Um Paul." "Carl Sara." "Trish Rothgeb." "Innocent." "Simi Benzadon." "Chloe King." "Mickey." "José Joaquín Ordoñez." "Maria Esther." "Heather Perry." "Cheryl Lee." "David Jameson." "Turgay Yildizli." "Sylvia Gutierrez." "Federico Bolanos." "Sergey Blinnikov." "Nicholas Cho." "Tone Liavaag." "Jingyi." "Kim Staalman." "Alf Kramer." "Danilo Acosta-Busch."  And to help tell these stories, I'm going to be joined by, "Sara Al-Ali." "Rie Moustakis." "Anna Oleksak." "Roukiat Delrue." "Kimberly Yer." "Sonja Bjork Grant." "Gloria Pedroza."  And listen, we know it's no fun that these competitions aren't happening this year, but we hope this podcast will help us feel more connected. And, if this is the first time you've ever heard of the World Coffee Championships, this series will give you an entertaining window into this world and why we love it so much. You can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Transistor, the SCA website, or wherever you get your podcast.  "If that's something that we learn as a volunteers, it's that competitors are stressed. You are stressed. We don't stop running. And I just heard a CRASH."

There are big questions facing specialty coffee sellers and buyers. According to numerous studies in different coffee-producing countries, prices paid for green specialty coffees often don’t cover the full cost of production, let alone support thriving livelihoods for farmers and their families. Moreover, unless price discovery moves beyond commodity price references, younger farmers cannot expect these prices to evolve in ways that make them excited about remaining in the industry. As such, more and more farms will struggle to find a next generation to take over. This makes buyers increasingly concerned about future supplies of the different coffees that are needed to push the industry forward. Today, with help from presenter Chad Trewick, you’ll learn about the inception of and future plans for the Specialty Coffee Transaction Guide, a project housed at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. The Guide uses donated contract information about industry pricing behaviors that are anonymized and aggregated to create tables to serve as a guide to help both sellers (producers) and buyers (exporters, importers, roasters) land on pricing that does not rely on the volatile commodity price as a baseline. Leaders creating the guide propose that Specialty coffees are deserving of their own pricing scale and present current industry purchasing behaviors as the basis for that scale. The team responsible for the Guide has plans to expand the pool of data donors to ensure more global representation and to formalize the tool over the next years introducing governance, an advisory board, and securing funding to support its work. Come learn about this exciting new tool for the Specialty Coffee industry.Related Links: Learn more about the coffee price crisisLearn more about the Specialty Coffee Transaction Guide

With producers facing issues of climate change, migration of the younger generations to urban areas, and fluctuating coffee prices, it has become increasingly difficult for smallholder farmers to be successful and sustainable. It’s been 17 years since the last coffee crisis, and since then the industry has largely failed in making sustainable coffee a reality. Coffee prices are near record lows, overproduction and deforestation are continuing at a rapid pace, natural resources are being depleted, and youth are losing interest in coffee. The current prospects for farmers and youth are therefore limited. Key sector stakeholders hold the power, but what is needed are the insights, experiences on successes and failures, and know-how to tackle these issues and bring focus to the farmers. For farmers, family is important; they strive for improved livelihoods through access to markets, valuable trainings, stable organizational structures, and a level playing field. Here, a panel discussion featuring Jörn Severloh, Christopher Mujabi, Karina Orellana, Sara Morrocchi, and Kathrine Löfberg brings together coffee industry leaders and farmers to discuss these critical issues to find common understandings and a path forward. By developing innovative partnerships that cater for social and environmental values, these issues can be addressed, creating opportunities for all stakeholders alike to establish a more sustainable coffee industry.Related Links: Learn more about the coffee price crisis Join us for a new open discussion series, "United in Sustainability"

This week, we're taking a break from the 2019 World of Coffee lecture series to share Recap's fifth episode. The Recap podcast offers a brief overview of recent coffee developments every two weeks from the Specialty Coffee Association. Now a pandemic, the COVID-19 outbreak continues to have a devastating impact on the coffee industry. Around the world, coffee shops, roaster/retailers, and factories have been greatly impacted by government-mandated closures to mitigate the virus’ spread. As the situation continues to rapidly evolve, we are still waiting to understand the full impact of the pandemic on global supply chains and we watch with great concern as the virus is now appearing in coffee-growing countries. Many businesses are being forced to close their doors or operate in a limited capacity, highlighting the precarious position of service labor across our industry. This is an unprecedented situation for all of us, but we are heartened by the way communities are coming together to support each other and to make their voices heard. Over the coming weeks, the SCA will work to aggregate and amplify these community responses to this crisis. Significantly attended trade shows and specialty coffee community events have taken steps to postpone their events. The SCA recently announced the postponement of World of Coffee Warsaw, including the Warsaw World Coffee Championships, and the Melbourne World Coffee Championships in Australia. Re:co Symposium and the Specialty Coffee Expo, scheduled to take place in Portland, Oregon, US this April, are still pending postponement. Contradictory directions from the US federal and Oregon state government have left the SCA and the business partners who make these events possible every year in legal limbo. For a full statement, the most recent update, resources, and answers to frequently asked questions, please visit sca.coffee/covid19. The SCA will continue to update this page and its FAQ as the situation evolves and we receive new questions. Amidst our collective efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus’ and its impact on communities around the world, companies and organizations are continuing important work on the sustainability of the coffee supply chain. On March 13, World Coffee Research released a study confirming that Arabica coffee--the main species that millions of people around the world consume daily--is the least genetically diverse major crop species in the world. The study confirms that Coffea arabica likely originated from a single plant between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago, providing clear, definitive evidence that Arabica’s genetic diversity is even lower than previously thought. The results also confirm that recent approaches in coffee breeding programs worldwide, which look to related species in the Coffea family, are the best way to introduce the genetic diversity required to meet the challenges ahead. The government of Colombia will invest nearly $64 million in a newly-launched coffee stabilization fund. The fund will be used to fill the gap between the C market price and the cost of production by allowing growers to lock in a predetermined market price up to a year in advance of their harvest. According to Colombia’s Finance Minister Alberto Carrasquilla, this will allow farmers to focus on growing the best coffee possible without worrying about price fluctuations. Folgers, the leading brand of regular ground coffee in the US, has adopted blockchain technology into its 1850 Coffee brand. Packaged with a QR code, consumers will be able to research and track the coffee in each canister by scanning the code into the “Thank My Farmer” app, a collaboration between tech-giant IBM and start-up Farmer Connect. The app is not the first to offer solutions to connect coffee producers with others in the supply chain: iFinca and Just Coffee Co. also use blockchain technology to help consumers trace their coffee’s journey. Folger’s adoption of Farmer Connect is a striking example of large industry players adopting a level of traceability previously broadly associated with the smaller scale of specialty coffee.If you want to dive deeper into anything you heard today, check out the links in the description of this episode. Recap will be back in two weeks’ time. Thanks for listening. Relevant Links: Updates on COVID-19 and SCA EventsSpecialty Coffee Community COVID-19 Resource Database World Coffee Research Study on the Genetic Diversity of Arabica Colombia invests in a newly-launched coffee stabilization fundFolgers adopts blockchain technology

This session brings together recent work on the history and anthropology of coffee in the context of a discussion about the role of specialty in rebalancing the fundamentals of the market. Professor Jonathan Morris presents an overview of the history of price volatility across the five eras of coffee history he has identified, with some suggestions as to how this might be resolved in a sixth era as producer countries start consuming their own coffee. Sabine Parrish focuses on Brazil where this has already occurred, discussing the overall growth in consumption, and relating this to a specialty culture that has to operate within constraints imposed by Brazil’s primacy in the field of production.Relevant Links: Listen to other episodes of the SCA PodcastRead "Vessels Through the Ages" by Jonathan Morris in Issue 4 of 25 Lecture Handout:  A Sixth Era of Coffee? Specialty and Sustainability in Historical and Anthropological PerspectivesJonathan Morris (j.2.morris@herts.ac.uk) Sabine Parrish sabine.parrish@anthro.ox.ac.ukSituating Sustainability in the Six Eras of Coffee History - Jonathan Morris Coffee. A Global History, Reaktion Books, £10.99 use code COFFEE20 for 20% discount            ;Available US via University of Chicago Press US$19.95 – check Amazon for offers inc e-book.Distribution of Global Coffee Production 1700-2015 Coffee. A Global History, p.8Characteristics of the Five Eras (Author’s copyright, Do NOT cite without permission)Distribution of Global Consumption 2014-2018 calculated from ICO data, April 2019 Specialty Coffee Consumption in Brazil – Sabine Parrish Brazil is the world’s largest producer of coffee (28% of world total production in 2018), and one of the largest consumers (largest by volume; second-largest per capita).Ethnographic research conducted in São Paulo between June 2017 and July 2018 in order to understand how consumers in a nation typically classed as ‘producing’ engage with specialty coffee as a transnational commodity-specific consumer culture. São Paulo population = 12.18 million people; metropolitan area = 21.57 million peopleJune 2017, 32 specialty shops in São Paulo (= 1 shop per every 386,625 inhabitants)May 2019, 51 specialty shops in São Paulo (= 1 shop per 238,823 inhabitants)For loose reference (based on European Coffee Trip data) there are 61 shops in Berlin, or 1 per every 58,606 people.Key experiential difference in producing countries: much more difficult to obtain international coffees. Flexible definitions of ‘origin’ and where coffees can be from; strategies to partake in international specialty coffee discourse. Origin of raw material does not always outweigh added production input.United States, Italy, and Germany as examples of coffee originsAn expanded understanding of what is involved in the work of production (e.g. production not exclusively confined to agricultural work, but instead also encompassing things like roasting and barista-craft) highlights that labor is located in many spaces throughout the supply chain.Valorization From the Portuguese ‘valorização’; first introduced in Brazil in 1906 to stabilize falling coffee prices.What of specialty coffee and the secondary definition of valorize? What else do we assign value to and what are the possibilities when we valorize different forms of labor as part of the production process? 

Consumer-driven changes will reshape the global coffee world. To help companies throughout the coffee value chain prepare for the future, today’s presenters - Maria Catroviejo and Michaël de Groot - look ten years ahead at key change they expect to stir up the coffee market, offering a TED-style discussion about how changes in consumer preferences, their perspective on coffee, and their buying behaviors will change the global coffee world. Related Links:  Learn about the SCA's 2017 Western Europe Coffee Market Size Report Read the updated 2018 Report  Listen to other episodes of the SCA Podcast Learn more about this year's World of Coffee in Warsaw

The SCA has a history of investigating the scientific principles of coffee, from chemistry to physics to agronomy and sensory perception; this research is then used to develop education, standards, and best practices. In today's lecture, learn about the science driven by the SCA's Research Center, with reports on projects and outputs of our research streams in sensory science, coffee extraction, coffee freshness, and more. Many of these projects are still ongoing, so this is a chance to get a sneak-peek of soon-to-be-published studies, including the first-ever update of the brewing control chart, and work that's just starting. Related Links:  Read the coffee freshness methods paper by Chahan Yeretzian and his team at ZHAW's Coffee Excellence Center Read the "warm-up" study for the UC Davis brewing control chart research on basket geometry in Food Science Read "Flat vs. Cone: Basket Shape is as Important as Grind Size in Drip Brew Coffee" in Issue 8 of 25  Read "Less Strong, More Sweet" in Issue 11 of 25  Read "Using Single Free Sorting and Multivariate Exploratory Methods to Design a New Coffee Taster's Flavor Wheel" in Food Science Learn about the International Multilocation Variety Trial, undertaken by World Coffee Research

In December of 2018, the SCA launched its Coffee Price Crisis Response Initiative to develop alternative economic models for the specialty coffee sector. In today's lecture, recorded at World of Coffee in Berlin, representatives from the SCA Sustainability Center and Board of Directors identify factors that contributed to the wholly unsustainable economic position facing many coffee producers, discuss the limitations of current coffee purchasing practices, and explore actions that industry actors can take to address the crisis in the short term while building a sector that truly benefits the entire value chain in the long term.Related Links: Learn more about the current coffee price crisisRead Vera Espindola's feature on increasing domestic consumption in Issue 10 of 25Listen to other episodes of the SCA Podcast

Throughout its long history, coffee has been cast in very different roles: exotic beverage, colonial good, global commodity – but also as a staple of the local cuisines of the countries where it was produced. Leaning on an ongoing Sociological study conducted in Paris, today’s lecturer - Noa Berger - will show how specialty coffee changes and adapts to the culture of the countries in which it is introduced, and exploring what it means for coffee, a global commodity, to become “local.” According to Noa, the local specialty coffee market increasingly mobilizes the past and local traditions through aesthetic choices, in what not only allows it to reach a larger audience, but also serves as means to extract and create value, in line with contemporary tendencies in global capitalism. But while doing this, the local specialty coffee market also puts the geographical provenance of coffee at its center. As Noa wrote in Issue 9 of 25, this combination of approaches makes it a “glocal” movement, constantly trying to strike a balance between “origin” and local culture, innovation, and tradition.Related Links: Follow along with Noa's lecture slidesRead Noa's piece in Issue 9 of 25 Learn more about this year's World of Coffee in WarsawSubmit a lecture proposalListen to other episodes of the SCA PodcastSubscribe to Recap

This week, the SCA Podcast is taking a quick break while we put the finishing touches on an upcoming lecture series recorded at last year’s World of Coffee event in Berlin. In the meantime, I’d like you to meet Recap. It’s our newest podcast! Every two weeks, Recap offers a brief overview of recent coffee developments in less than five minutes. If you like what you hear, subscribe by following the link in the show notes. Related LinksListen to the first episode of RecapRecap's RSS FeedSubscribe to Recap on SpotifySubscribe to Recap on iTunes World of Coffee Warsaw Get in touch with us Full Episode TranscriptHi there! I’m Richard Stiller, a community manager at the SCA, and you’re listening to the SCA Podcast. This week, the SCA Podcast is taking a quick break while we put the finishing touches on an upcoming lecture series recorded at last year’s World of Coffee event in Berlin.  In the meantime, I’d like you to meet Recap. It’s our newest podcast! Every two weeks, Recap offers a brief overview of recent coffee developments in less than five minutes. If you like what you hear, subscribe by following the link in the show notes.  Welcome to Recap, a new podcast from the Specialty Coffee Association offering a brief overview of recent coffee developments every two weeks. The monthly materials science journal, Matter, just published a study suggesting a new mathematical model for repeatable espresso extraction. Focused on the computational and physical attributes of espresso, the authors suggest that, if widely implemented, the protocol outlined in the study could significantly reduce coffee waste. Remarkably, the study was co-authored by Brisbane baristas Michael Cameron and Deschen Morisco, who tested the techniques of the study in a coffee shop. This study has already received significant attention from popular media outlets in the US and Australia. The study’s co-author, the computational chemist Christopher Hendon, will present the work at the SCA’s Specialty Coffee Expo in Portland this April.  Meanwhile, across the Pacific in the Philippines, the Taal volcano has erupted, covering coffee trees in thick volcanic ash. The ash causes the leaves of coffee trees to wither, effectively starving them of energy which in turn reduces their ability to mature fruit. To assist, the Philippines’ Department of Agriculture distributed water power sprayers to help remove the ash. It’s not a perfect solution: the intense spray sometimes removes flowers and nearly-mature coffee cherries. Although Taal’s eruption has caused considerable damage to many high-value crops in the area, coffee is reported to be the most affected. This will be a difficult harvest year for the affected Phillipino farmers, so the Department of Agriculture is also offering up to the equivalent of a million US dollars to affected farmers through a combination of cash aid and zero-interest loans. The effects of the eruption are likely to impact the country’s recent growth in specialty coffee production. A long-time producer of coffee, this is not the first time the Philippines’ coffee production has been decimated by environmental changes: a widespread influx of coffee rust at the turn of the twentieth century led local farmers to favor Robusta, Liberica, and Excelsa.  A recent feature in the New York Times explores a culture-shift in Saudi Arabia through the lens of coffee shops. In December, the government announced it would no longer require businesses to segregate their customers by gender. Since the law passed, some specialty coffee shops already pursuing a more inclusive vision can now continue to do so without fearing a visit from the country’s law enforcement. Reports suggest Saudi Arabia is the Middle-East’s fastest-growing coffee market and, in December 2019, the country held its first-ever sanctioned national barista championship. Ahmed Bahaa of Camel Step Coffee Roasters will fly to Melbourne, Australia to represent Saudi Arabia for the first time at the World Barista Championships in May. If you want to dive deeper into anything you heard today, check out the links in the description of this episode. Recap will be back in two weeks’ time. Thanks for listening and have a great week!You can also find Recap on iTunes, Spotify, or Transistor by searching for “Recap: Recent Developments in Coffee.” Have a story you think might be a good fit for Recap? Drop it into our contact form at scanews.coffee/contact or email us at editor@sca.coffee.  Thanks for listening! We’ll see you again next week, when we kick off the 2019 World of Coffee Lecture Series. Recap LinksEspresso variability and repeatability research in Matterhttps://www.cell.com/matter/fulltext/S2590-2385(19)30410-2?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS2590238519304102%3Fshowall%3Dtrue#%20https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/22/us/how-to-make-brew-better-espresso-study-scn/index.htmlhttps://www.wired.com/story/the-science-behind-crafting-a-perfect-espresso/https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/884q8v/materials-scientists-learn-weve-been-brewing-espresso-all-wronghttps://arstechnica.com/science/2020/01/the-math-of-brewing-a-better-espresso/Taal Volcano Eruptionhttps://www.cnnphilippines.com/business/2020/1/17/Coffee-Batangas-Cavite-recovery-Taal.htmlhttps://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1218876/farmers-pray-for-rain-to-wash-ash-from-farmshttps://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2020/01/colorless-landscape-around-taal-volcano/605266/https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/money/economy/722106/coffee-most-affected-commodity-in-taal-volcano-eruption-da/story/https://time.com/5763630/philippines-taal-volcano-eruption-lava/https://scanews.coffee/25-magazine/issue-11/english/from-road-to-cup-a-glimpse-into-philippine-coffee-25-magazine-issue-11/“Saudi Society Is Changing. Just Take a Look at These Coffee ...

Coffee shows an appealing bitterness when properly roasted and prepared. But how do the compounds that make coffee taste bitter develop during roasting and how do you analyze and identify them? What lessons can be learned from academic research on coffee roasting to make coffee even more pleasantly bitter-tasting? And after a century of intensive research, why does research still not know exactly what makes coffee bitter at all?Learn more as Dr. Sara Marquart, curator of the “Cosmos Coffee” exhibition at the Deutsches Museum, shares excerpts of her academic research into bitterness during her Ph.D. at TU Munich in Food Chemistry focused on the highly sophisticated elucidation of reaction pathways and kinetics leading to bitter tastants in roasted coffee. Also, I will jump in occasionally to help you follow along. Special Thanks to Softengine Coffee One, Powered by SAP This episode of the Expo 2019 Lectures podcast is supported by Softengine Coffee One, Powered by SAP.  Built upon SAP's business-leading Enterprise Resource Planning solution, Softengine Coffee One is designed specifically to quickly and easily take your small-to-medium coffee company working at any point along the coffee chain to the next level of success. Learn more about Softengine Coffee One at softengine.com, with special pricing available for SCA Members. Softengine: the most intelligent way to grow your business.Related Links Read a full transcript on SCA NewsListen to other episodes of the SCA Podcast Learn more about the upcoming 2020 Lecture Series at the Specialty Coffee Expo Episode Table of Contents0:00 Introduction2:00 An overview of coffee’s sensory universe8:15 The different types of bitterness and Sara’s work discovering what bitter compounds are in a cup of coffee19:15 How to control for bitterness during roasting24:30 Audience Questions

The original brewing control chart is overlaid with acceptability zones describing cup flavors. However, these terminologies (strong, bitter, weak, over, and under-developed) are outdated and their definitions are not standardized in the industry. In this lecture, the newest results from the UC Davis Coffee Center will be presented, which used the WCR Sensory Lexicon in order to elucidate new flavor attributes related to coffees of different strengths and extractions. The experiment evaluated a single origin coffee roasted to three different development times in order to assess the importance of roast on the flavor at different strengths and extractions. The position of the coffees on the brewing control chart was modified by using a programmable batch brewer. A descriptive analysis panel was used to capture the sensory profile of these coffees. The results presented will be used to update the descriptive zones of the new brewing control chart.In today’s lecture by Dr. Scott Frost, you’ll learn all about how flavor can be modified through the brewing process, and how the control chart can be used to create different flavors for a specific coffee. Scott received his Master of Science in Viticulture and Enology and Ph.D. in Agricultural and Environmental Chemistry from the University of California, Davis. His graduate research focused on evaluating the sensory and chemical changes in wine as a result of specific enological practices. At the time of the recording, Scott worked at the UC Davis Coffee Center as a Postdoctoral Scholar. His project applies quantitative sensory methods to capture the sensory profile of brewed coffee.Special Thanks to Softengine Coffee One, Powered by SAP This episode of the Expo 2019 Lectures podcast is supported by Softengine Coffee One, Powered by SAP.  Built upon SAP's business-leading Enterprise Resource Planning solution, Softengine Coffee One is designed specifically to quickly and easily take your small-to-medium coffee company working at any point along the coffee chain to the next level of success. Learn more about Softengine Coffee One at softengine.com, with special pricing available for SCA Members. Softengine: the most intelligent way to grow your business.Related Links Read a full transcript of this episode on SCA NewsSee examples of the Lockhart Brewing Control Chart Listen to other episodes of the SCA Podcast Learn more about the upcoming 2020 Lecture Series at the Specialty Coffee Expo Episode Table of Contents0:00 Introduction3:20 The methodology and results of Scott Frost’s experiments36:15 Audience questions41:15 Outro

Last April, much of the discussion - at Expo and Re:co Symposium - was centered on the Coffee Price Crisis and the future of specialty. In a special episode to kick off the new year, we’re releasing a two-part lecture on the C market that sought to provide clarity and actionable data for the specialty industry. Over the past few years, many began to question coffee’s ability to provide a sustainable household income to smallholder producers. Although there’s still much to learn about the full cost of producing specialty coffee around the world, a widely-acknowledged hypothetical benchmark of US$1.40 per pound demonstrates how current levels of productivity and market pressures continue to fail smallholder producers. Throughout all of 2018 and 2019, the C market, the main price discovery mechanism and clearing house for coffee, has been below this hypothetical price of US$1.40. As a result, our industry has been questioning the value and existence of the C market as well as expressing concern over the multi-dimensional costs to producers, countries, and the environment. Special Thanks to Softengine Coffee One, Powered by SAP This episode of the Expo 2019 Lectures podcast is supported by Softengine Coffee One, Powered by SAP.  Built upon SAP's business-leading Enterprise Resource Planning solution, Softengine Coffee One is designed specifically to quickly and easily take your small-to-medium coffee company working at any point along the coffee chain to the next level of success. Learn more about Softengine Coffee One at softengine.com, with special pricing available for SCA Members. Softengine: the most intelligent way to grow your business.Related Links Read a full transcript of this episode, including an English translation of the Spanish discussion, on SCA News Listen to other episodes of the SCA Podcast Learn more about the upcoming 2020 Lecture Series at the Specialty Coffee Expo Listen to Part 2 of A Two Part Arc About the C Market and the Future of Specialty Learn more about the coffee price crisisEpisode Table of Contents: Part 10:00 Introduction2:30 Colleen Anunu introducing the speakers, anti-trust considerations and the issue of low prices for coffee producers10:30 Ed Canty on how specialty coffee buyers can support producers with contractual floor prices while offsetting risks with futures and options contracts28:15 Rene Leon Gomez of Promecafe on the human and environmental costs of low prices in ten coffee producing countries43:45 Juan Esteban Orduz of the Colombian Coffee Federation on the World Producer Forum, its mission and its role on the international scene and the relationship between costs and low prices for World Coffee Producer Forum members1:06:15 Outro

Last April, much of the discussion - at Expo and Re:co Symposium - was centered on the Coffee Price Crisis and the future of specialty. In a special episode to kick off the new year, we’re releasing a two-part lecture on the C market that sought to provide clarity and actionable data for the specialty industry. Over the past few years, many began to question coffee’s ability to provide a sustainable household income to smallholder producers. Although there’s still much to learn about the full cost of producing specialty coffee around the world, a widely-acknowledged hypothetical benchmark of US$1.40 per pound demonstrates how current levels of productivity and market pressures continue to fail smallholder producers. Throughout all of 2018 and 2019, the C market, the main price discovery mechanism and clearing house for coffee, has been below this hypothetical price of US$1.40. As a result, our industry has been questioning the value and existence of the C market as well as expressing concern over the multi-dimensional costs to producers, countries, and the environment. Special Thanks to Softengine Coffee One, Powered by SAP This episode of the Expo 2019 Lectures podcast is supported by Softengine Coffee One, Powered by SAP.  Built upon SAP's business-leading Enterprise Resource Planning solution, Softengine Coffee One is designed specifically to quickly and easily take your small-to-medium coffee company working at any point along the coffee chain to the next level of success. Learn more about Softengine Coffee One at softengine.com, with special pricing available for SCA Members. Softengine: the most intelligent way to grow your business.Related Links Read a full transcript of this episode on SCA News Listen to other episodes of the SCA Podcast Learn more about the upcoming 2020 Lecture Series at the Specialty Coffee Expo Listen to Part 1 of A Two Part Arc About the C Market and the Future of Specialty Learn more about the coffee price crisisEpisode Table of Contents: Part 20:00 Introduction1:40 Colleen Anunu introducing the panel speakers6:15 Kim Elena Ionescu on the SCA’s response to the coffee price crisis23:30 Juan Esteban Orduz of the Colombian Coffee Federation on the response he received when asking coffee chain actors for help addressing the coffee price crisis32:15 Ben Zwerling Baltrushes on how Fair Trade USA is trying to address coffee price crisis35:50 Audience questions1:03:30 Outro