One of 25’s goals is to share academic research on coffee in plain language and in free-to-access formats. But we also believe that the coffee sector is full of stories and that these stories are important and influential. Research can sometimes feel abstract and theoretical, but we also know that there’s a story behind every project—even those conducted in a chemistry laboratory or by poring over data from scientific studies in something known as a global meta-analysis.

Peter Giuliano, SCA Senior Advisor of Science Communication, shares insights from research into the perspectives of coffee farm workers, and how this research has shaped knowledge building at the SCA.

Emily Pappo, Ph.D., a Postdoctoral Fellow with Smithsonian Bird Friendly Coffee & Cocoa, draws on a global meta-analysis to argue that while tree planting dominates current climate strategies in coffee, protecting existing biodiverse agroforestry systems should also be recognized as an effective climate and biodiversity solution. When incentivized, this approach can build shared value for producers and buyers.

The SCA’s Content Development Manager, Laurel Carmichael, speaks to researchers at the Hendon Coffee Lab about their chemistry lab that looks like a café, and about how they use electrochemistry and Design of Experiments to better understand the complexities of espresso extraction.

An interdisciplinary research team from Switzerland, Bolivia, and Colombia, led by Chahan Yeretzian, Nelson Gutiérrez Guzmán, and Johanna Jacobi, and including researchers Derly Lara, Daniel Castro, Sebastian Opitz, Sabine De Castelberg, Sergio Urioste, and Alvaro Irazoque, worked alongside coffee farmers, processors, and traders to examine which value chain structures improve farmer livelihoods in the Yungas of Bolivia and Huila, Colombia.

Dr. Aaron Davis, Senior Research Leader of Plant Resources and Head of Coffee Research at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, shares the history of Liberica coffee, recent genomic research that has redefined it as three distinct species, and how Liberica and Excelsa’s climate resilience and unique flavor profiles offer new opportunities for the specialty coffee sector.

Neuroscientist Dr. Fabiana Carvalho explores the specialty coffee sector's perceptions of canephora and how the development of the new Canephora Flavor Wheel could help cuppers better describe and value the species' sensory potential.

IARA NORONHA, Algrano's Content Team Lead, shares practical insights on how to manage business risks as a roaster. This article is based on a lecture given by Algrano CEO, RAPHAEL STUDER, at the Coffee Science and Education Summit at the Coffee Excellence Center, Zürich University of Applied Sciences.

DAPHNE ALLISON a trained therapist and former coffee professional, shares practical insights into how to build psychological safety in specialty coffee workplaces, and why it’s so important.

ELISA CRISCIONE, Founder & CEO of Digital Coffee Future, shares practical strategies for how specialty coffee companies can collect, manage, and visualize data in this two-part series. 

In this first instalment of a two-part series,ELISA CRISCIONE, Founder & CEO of Digital Coffee Future, shares practical strategies for how specialty coffee companies can collect, manage, and visualize data.

Back from Milan, BWT water+more can look back upon a successful HOST 2025. As the the 2022-2025 Official Water Filtration Sponsor for the World Barista Championship, the company provided perfect water on the world championship stage and captivated visitors to its own booth with an impressive presentation. 

As presented to SCA members on August 30, the SCA Board of Directors, led by President Pamela Chng, nominated a group of seven professionals from a pool of dozens who responded to our annual call for nominations made in June. As the number of candidates this year is equal to the number of open seats, there is no need to proceed with a voting process, and the SCA Board has confirmed the seven professionals listed below as members of the SCA Board of Directors, in accordance with Section 7.4(f) of the SCA Bylaws.

The coffee sector is in constant flux. Increasingly our definitions of consumer, creator, and producer are blurring. The way we drink coffee is changing, even how we define the term “coffee” itself.

JENN RUGOLO, Specialty Coffee Association Innovation Officer, shares early insights from a project exploring the possibility of building a common language around green coffee identity.

Green coffee sales representative and author KOSTA KALLIVROUSIS offers insights and new marketing strategies that engage “digital natives,” the postmillennial generation that is evolving the relationship between brands and consumers.

The SCA’s Publications Manager, LAUREL CARMICHAEL, introduces a Coffee Science Foundation research project on the sensory impact of physical defects in green coffee, undertaken at the Coffee Excellence Center at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences. 

Scholar and PhD candidate JORDAN BUCHANAN shares their research into the rise of the specialty café scene in Puebla state, Mexico, focusing on the journey and testimony of coffee-shop owners.

PhD student ANNA LUIZA SANTANA NEVES shares their research into Brazil’s everyday and culturally informed coffee and food pairings, from pão de queijo to chocolate.

Communications expert and researcher DANIEL MURAGA shares insights into Kenya’s domestic specialty coffee consumption, tracing how migration, economic shifts, and urbanization have fueled a dynamic local café and roasting scene, blurring the distinction between “producing country” and “consuming country.”