Sociolinguist ANDRE JOSEPH THENG explores what the application of semiotic theory—the study of signs and symbols—to specialty coffee spaces can tell us about how we construct and identify them (and at what cost). Photos by NIKKO PASCUA.

Lead author Dr. MACKENZIE BATALI outlines findings from a recently published paper, “Titratable Acidity, Perceived Sourness, and Liking of Acidity in Drip Brewed Coffee,” that illuminate a key specialty coffee flavor attribute.

ANDREW COTTER considers the results of recent scientific publications focused on the impact of coffee’s brewing temperature on consumer preferences of brewed coffee.

ELISA CRISCIONE examines the digitalization in coffee and suggests a shift in the current data collection model that could help it become a tool for more equitable value distribution.

New Orleans is today a thriving coffee city, with a world-class specialty coffee scene. But New Orleans also has a deep history, and its coffee legacy makes it one of the most important places for coffee culture in the world.

Issue 15 sponsor, Pacific Barista Series, shares its approach to developing and delivering community support programs.

RAY MWAREYA and NYASHA BHOBO tell the story of Zimbabwe’s coffee collapse and recovery as the country grapples with the legacies of its colonial history.

KATIE VON DER LIETH revisits the findings of the SCA’s COVID-19 Community Impact Survey while exploring the role of “snapshot” surveys in a greater ecosystem of market data.

Researchers Dr. JANINA GRABS and Dr. ELIZABETH A. BENNETT explore profit sharing with suppliers as an innovative way to secure a more just and stable future for coffee growers and, thus, the entire supply chain.

Rabobank’s JIM WATSON, STACIE WAN, SUDIP SINHA, and GUILHERME MORYA share an overview of COVID-19’s impact on the global coffee market.

ERIKA KOSS explores the nuances of the word “empowerment,” the complications of its twenty-first century usage, and why an update to our vocabulary is required.

Once an industrial powerhouse and exemplar of post-war urban modernism, the city of Leicester would eventually lose its place as the jewel in the crown of the United Kingdom’s East Midlands, overtaken by its aesthetically more majestic neighbor Nottingham.

In some ways, this issue is all about rebuilding our industry’s foundations.

DAGMAWI I.E. explores the long, obscured history of Ethiopian coffee as told by others, and how owning and changing the narrative can lead it to a more sustainable future.

Postdoctoral scholar SCOTT FROST, PhD candidate MACKENZIE BATALI, Professor JEAN-XAVIER GUINARD, and Professor WILLIAM D. RISTENPART share the results of sensory descriptive experiments at the UC Davis Coffee Center, revealing new trends in brewed coffee that suggest an updated brewing control chart.

LISA ANTOSHAK and EVIE SMITH share the results of an interdisciplinary research project conducted during the summer of 2019 that sought to learn more about the biggest challenges facing coffee producers today.

NICOLE LIN and CHARLEY BIDDLE share their view of the Chinese coffee market, tracing its rise through to the unexpected impacts of 2020’s COVID-19 pandemic.

Professor LOURIVAL CARMO MÔNACO, a geneticist who took part in the coffee journey that identified several coffee varieties we enjoy nearly 60 years later, recalls the mission. As told to JONAS LEME FERRARESSO.

JESSICA HERNANDEZ visits Oaxaca, Mexico.