What sets apart one technician from another? What are the two different paths a technician can choose to take? And what lessons can we learn from Greek mythological figures Prometheus and Epimetheus?

Members of the Specialty Coffee Association have cast their ballots in the elections to fill five seats on the Board of Directors in the 2022-2023 cycle.

The ZWILLING ENFINIGY has been awarded the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) Certified Home Brewer mark. In a crowded and competitive market, the SCA Certified Home Brewer mark helps consumers find and choose the best coffee makers, backed by the science and experience of the Specialty Coffee Association. Certified Home Brewers are thoroughly tested in the laboratory and must meet the SCA’s quality standards for brewing specialty coffee at home.

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…)

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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?

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