Posts in Read
The Nuts and Bolts of Setting up a Service Department

How many techs does it take to turn a bolt?

From managing your fellow humans to financial literacy and digital tools, setting up a service department is a skill in itself. If you’ve been tasked with founding or leading a service department for a roaster-retailer, this one’s for you. (And if you enjoy brilliant tech-based jokes, this one may also be for you…)

Read More
Announcing the Results of the 2021 Guild Elections!

Today we are celebrating new members on the Leadership Councils for our three guilds: Barista Guild, Coffee Roasters Guild, and Coffee Technicians Guild!

Read More
Understanding Value | 25, Issue 16

We’ve written quite a bit, recently, about the value of coffee.

Read More
Love at First Sip: A History of Coffee in Korea | 25, Issue 16

CECILIA HAE-JIN LEE traces the history of coffee in Korea.

Read More
Malawi’s Unfulfilled Promise: The Impact of Coffee Wilt Disease and Subsidies on Coffee Production | 25, Issue 16

DEOGRACIAS KALIMA explores the complex history and state of coffee growing in Malawi.

Read More
Interpreting the Flow: Building An Overall Picture of Farmworker Conditions in El Salvador and Honduras | 25, Issue 16

Professor CARLOS CARPIO, PhD and KATIE VON DER LIETH share a preview of a forthcoming multidisciplinary Coffee Science Foundation research project on specialty coffee labor dynamics in El Salvador and Honduras.

Read More
Quantifying the Intangible: How Much Are Consumers Willing to Pay for Ecolabeled Coffee? | 25, Issue 16

Lead Author NIZAM ABDU shares the findings of a recent meta-analysis of coffee ecolabeling published in Heliyon, an all-science, open access journal.

Read More
The Information Landscape: What We Know (and Don’t Know) About Smallholder Coffee Producers | 25, Issue 16

JANICA ANDERZÉN and Professor V. ERNESTO MÉNDEZ of the Agroecology and Livelihoods Collaborative at the University of Vermont trace the efforts of a new initiative, the State of the Smallholder Coffee Farmer, and explain what’s needed to take the project beyond this first stage.

Read More
The Evolution of San José’s Cafecito | 25, Issue 16

MARÍA PAZ LOBO ZELEDÓN explains how the cafecito experience is changing in the Costa Rican capital.

Read More
World Coffee Research Survey: Your Assistance is Requested to Help Ensure the Future of Coffee

Your Assistance is Requested to Help Ensure the Future of Coffee. The Specialty Coffee Association community is invited to share their perspective on motivations and barriers to sustainability and research investments in this 15-minute survey.

Read More
Programming: 2022 Content Generation Survey

The SCA Content Development group need your input to help shape next year's events and publications. Take this survey.

Read More
Meet The Alto Mayo Landscape Peru REDD+ Project, 2021 Sustainability Award Winner for Best Project

Learn all about the 2021 winner of the Sustainability Award in the Project Model Category: the Alto Mayo Landscape Peru REDD+ Project. The project creates incentives for the local community to conserve the forest and reduces their reliance on unsustainable farming practices.

Read More
Premier Training Campus Spotlight: abcoffee

This week, Diogo Amorim and Hugo Ferraz, trainers at abcoffee’s Premier Training Campus located in Porto, Portugal.

Read More
SCA Chapter Elections: Results

The votes are in! Today we’re celebrating new SCA Chapter Committees in: Portugal, Russia, UK, Germany, Ukraine, and the Netherlands!

Read More
SCA Korea Chapter at the Cafe Show Seoul. We’re Almost Back to Normal!

In South Korea, November is known as the coffee season of the year, making coffee more aromatic with the autumn leaves. Every November, Cafe Show Seoul has been held for the last two decades and SCA South Korea Chapter joined this year’s Cafe Show with a variety of programs.

Read More
Community, ReadSCA StaffChapters
What Is UL Certification, Anyway?

Once upon a time at an unnamed company in an unnamed city, a coffee company opened a new café. They had exotic tastes in espresso machines and had purchased a beautiful, completely unheard-of model directly from a boutique European manufacturer. The crate was opened with care, the machine lifted onto the counter, and the whole staff gathered around to admire it.

“Hey,” said a bright young barista. “That machine doesn’t have a UL sticker on it.”

And at that angst-filled moment, the manager of the new café suddenly got very curious about UL. Could the machine be installed? Was it legal? Was it safe? And what, just exactly, was UL?

Read More
Livelihoods in Coffee Instagram Live Series

Join the Barista Guild Leadership Council for a new instalment of Livelihoods in Coffee, an ongoing conversation within our community.

Read More
Just Released: The New Coffee Sensory and Cupping Handbook Is Now In the SCA Store

The publication of the new Coffee Sensory and Cupping Handbook by Dr. Mario R. Fernández-Alduenda, Technical Officer at the Specialty Coffee Association, and Peter Giuliano, Executive Director of the Coffee Science Foundation and Chief Research Officer of the Specialty Coffee Association is now available for print and digital purchase in the SCA Store.

Read More
The Wonderful World of Pressure Relief Valves

In any system where steam is generated, there is always a possibility that over-pressurization can cause a catastrophic failure of the pressure vessel. This could result in destruction of property, injury, and loss of life. This is a bad day no matter how you cut it.

Learn about the good old pressure relief valve, and how it can save you and your espresso machine a whole load of bother.

Read More
Acids in Coffee: A Review of Sensory Measurements and Meta-Analysis of Chemical Composition

PETER GIULIANO, Chief Research Officer of the SCA and Executive Director of the Coffee Science Foundation, interviews lead author SARA YEAGER, Coffee Scientist at Toddy, about the newly published article, “Acids in coffee: A review of sensory measurements and meta-analysis of chemical composition,” authored by Sara E. Yeager, Dr. Mackenzie E. Batali, Professor Jean-Xavier Guinard, and Professor William D. Ristenpart.

Read More