It’s no secret that young people living in Marsella Risaralda have migrated to other cities in search of better opportunities – if coffee farming doesn’t provide guarantees of economic stability for small producers, coffee picking certainly won’t.

Forces of disruption in agricultural supply chains – intensifying production demands, accelerating climate change, an urbanizing labor force – have led to marginal incomes at the production level for both farmers and farmworkers, but the latter remain largely hidden in coffee price discourse.

SOPHIA JIYUAN ZHANG and FLORAC DE BRUYN share research findings amassed during a four-year research collaboration focused on creating a better understanding of the impact of post-harvest coffee processing on coffee quality across different geographic locations.

VICENTE PARTIDA sat down with development economist and SCA Board Member VERA ESPINDOLA RAFAEL to learn more about the preliminary results of a forthcoming research project challenging the industry to rethink the pervasive export-oriented approach to coffee growing.

If “sustainability” became the buzzword of specialty coffee towards the end of the twentieth century, then “resilience” is fast on its way towards earning the title in the twenty-first.

An unrecoverable coffee addict, I’ve been traveling to Ukraine since 2009 when I moved to Kyiv for work with the European Commission.

Si la «sostenibilidad» se convirtió en la palabra de moda dentro del café de especialidad hacia finales del siglo XX, parece que el término «resiliencia» va camino de tomar su relevo en este siglo XXI.

VICENTE PARTIDA se sentó a charlar con VERA ESPINDOLA RAFAEL, economista de desarrollo y miembro del Consejo de la SCA para conocer más cosas acerca de los resultados preliminares de un inminente proyecto de investigación que desafía a la industria a replantearse el enfoque generalizado hacia la exportación que tiene el cultivo de café.

SOPHIA JIYUAN ZHANG y FLORAC DE BRUYN comparten los descubrimientos hechos durante su investigaciones conjunta de cuatro años centrada en la creación de un mejor entendimiento del impacto del procesamiento del café posterior a la cosecha sobre la calidad del café a lo largo de diferentes zonas geográficas.

Las fuerzas de disrupción existentes en las cadenas de suministro agrícolas – las demandas de producción cada vez más exigentes, el acuciante cambio climático, una mano de obra que emigra a zonas urbanas – han hecho que el nivel de ingresos tanto para agricultores como para trabajadores de sus tierras sea marginal a nivel de producción, si bien los segundos se omiten en el discurso sobre los precios del café.

Two years ago in Budapest, we released our first-ever 25 Magazine. It’s exciting to begin our third year of insights, stories, and research with the release of Issue 09!

While the global demand for coffee is steadily increasing, climate change and other threats are posing significant challenges to the future of coffee production. STEPHANIE ALCALA explores the current state of genetic diversity and how we can create climate resilient crops, as she shares some highlights from her research project investigating the genetic composition of the beloved Panamanian Geisha.

Pure water is a thing of ephemerality – outside of a lab in nature or civilization, water is never by itself. MARCO WELLINGER of ZHAW (Wädenswil, Switzerland) explains why alkalinity is more important than pH and why you should adjust your water recipes to your beverage ratio and extraction method.

Until recently, Paris was renowned more for its cafés than the quality of its coffee, but the past decade has seen the city experience a growing wave of specialty coffee shop openings. NOA BERGER traces how French cafés and roasters navigate the “glocalization” of specialty coffee. All photos by Albin Durand for La Fontaine de Belleville.

This year, South Korea's Jooyeon Jeon was crowned the 20th World Barista Champion at the World Coffee Championships in Boston. KELSEY KUDAK traces the evolution of the global competition and its impact on the specialty coffee industry over the past 20 years.

Great coffee is often given distinction through great design. In an increasingly crowded specialty coffee retail market, great design also serves an important function in distinguishing one product from another.

Welcome to Issue 8 of 25, your quarterly SCA publication sharing specialty coffee research, insights, trends, and stories from our specialty community.

Dr. JOSEPH KING explores the role of specialty coffee across two case studies of conflict and development efforts in Rwanda and Eastern Congo.

LEAD Scholar SMAYAH UWAJENEZA reflects on her personal experience working as a specialty coffee professional in Kigali, Rwanda in a 25 Magazine online exclusive.

One of the most reliable ways of starting a passionate argument, at least in a room filled with coffee aficionados, is to ask a simple question: What is the best shape for a drip brew filter basket? 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.