Posts in Read
Webinar: Meet the Members of the 2023-2024 SCA Board of Directors

As presented to SCA members on August 31, the SCA Board of Directors, led by President Juan Luis Barrios, nominated a group of eight 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 eight professionals listed below as members of the SCA Board of Directors, in accordance with Section 7.4(h) of the SCA Bylaws.

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The Cold Grind Uprising

Undoubtedly, a high degree of obsession is required for engineering better coffee grinders in the pursuit of making coffee better. Re-engineering, tweaking, and testing with the objective of product improvement and optimization is the only road to the elusive grinding utopia. As with all great journeys the path is windy and long, and progress is realized in years, not days or months.

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A Long and Winding Road | 25, Issue 18

On a very basic level, we all know that our present actions are the seeds of our future—but it can be easy to forget the exact steps you took to get to where you are, unless you deliberately stop to mentally retrace them.

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Valuing Coffee: Evolving the SCA’s Cupping Protocol into a Coffee Value Assessment System | 25, Issue 18

Today’s SCA Cupping Protocol and the SCA Cupping Form are among the most used tools of the coffee industry, applied daily by thousands of people around the world, serving actors across coffee’s vast and complex value-generating system.

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ESG for You and Me: Takeaways for the Coffee Industry | 25, Issue 18

Originating in the early 2000s as an acronym to capture non-financial areas connected to business performance, the term ESG—short for “environmental, social, and governance”—has become significantly more visible over time. While the term now appears in mainstream outlets more often than it did a decade ago, many people are still unclear on what it really means, how it differs from or aligns with sustainability, and its potential relevance for their own organizations. KELLEM EMANUELE offers an ESG primer tailored for the coffee industry.

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One Size (Does Not) Fit All: The Incommensurability of Sustainability | 25, Issue 18

The word “sustainability” is everywhere, but do we really know—or agree on—what it means? Professor SARAH GRANT explains why, despite its difficulty, understanding “sustainability” as a framework is a worthwhile endeavor, especially in understanding culturally relative perspectives and the power relations inherent in the promotion of sustainable coffee.

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How Do Cuppers Cup? Evaluating and Evolving Elements of the SCA Cupping Protocol | 25, Issue 18

Dr. JORGE BERNY and Dr. MARIO FERNÁNDEZ-ALDUENDA share initial results of a collaborative study examining how cuppers cup and exploring the potential impacts of a proposed component of the reengineered cupping protocol.

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What Would it Cost? Calculating Specialty Coffee Farmworker Living Wages in Honduras and El Salvador | 25, Issue 18

Professors CARLOS CARPIO, PhD and LUIS SANDOVAL, PhD worked with BRENDA MAMANI, MSc to ask: what are the living wages in El Salvador and Honduras, and how would current total costs and profitability of coffee production be affected if farmworkers were paid living wages?

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Amped Up: Using Electricity to Detect and Quantify Molecules in Brewed Coffee | 25, Issue 18

Assistant Professor CHRISTOPHER H. HENDON shares the theory underpinning an ongoing Coffee Science Foundation research project, supported by Simonelli Group, toward deepening our understanding of espresso extraction.

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All in the Mind: How External Cues Impact Brain Activity and Preference | 25, Issue 18

Corresponding author MATEUS MANFRIN ARTÊNCIO shares the findings of a recent paper, “A Cup of Black Coffee with GI, please! Evidence of Geographical Indication Influence on a Coffee Tasting Experiment,” published in Physiology & Behavior, confirming the significant influence an extrinsic attribute like a geographical indication has on consumers’ tasting.

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SCA Czech Republic Chapter Election: Nominations Now Open

The 2022 SCA Czech Republic Chapter Election has started! Nominations are open October 12 - October 19 and voting will take place November 2 - November 16. The results of the election will be announced on November 23.

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SCA France Chapter Election: Nominations Now Open

The 2022 SCA France Chapter Election has started! That means that it’s time to make your voice heard by nominating and voting for the volunteer committee who will be leading the chapter's activities for the next two years.

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La SCA nombrará un grupo de trabajo para apoyar a los catadores de café

The SCA’s Cupping and Grading Protocol has become the universal language of trade within the specialty coffee community, which is critically important to coffee producers, traders, and roasters, as well as the skilled professionals who work within the value chain. Today, we are announcing that we will appoint a task force to help build a stronger, more accessible, and more transparent system for coffee cuppers and graders.

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SCA to Appoint Task Force to Support Coffee Cuppers and Graders

The SCA’s Cupping and Grading Protocol has become the universal language of trade within the specialty coffee community, which is critically important to coffee producers, traders, and roasters, as well as the skilled professionals who work within the value chain. Today, we are announcing that we will appoint a task force to help build a stronger, more accessible, and more transparent system for coffee cuppers and graders.

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Content Generation: Results from the Spanish, English and Korean-Language Surveys

PETER GIULIANO and MARY BASCO share the results of the Korean, Spanish and English language editions of the survey, highlighting interesting findings and making comparisons between subject matter interest.

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Learning to Love Electrical Schematics

Yes, electrical schematics look imposing. Yes, they take time and effort to decode. But troubleshooting often involves finding what is broken by determining what isn’t broken, and few tools provide more information about the proper function of electrical circuits than an electrical schematic.

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Congratulations to the 2022 Best New Product Awards Winners!

The winners of the specialty coffee industry’s most prestigious awards for new products in the specialty coffee and tea industries were announced today at World of Coffee Milan.

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SCA Research Is Conducting a Survey to Assess the Overall Health of the Specialty Coffee Industry

Tell us about the state of your business to help us better understand the overall health of our industry in this short survey.

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SCA Greece Chapter: Meet the Committee

SCA members in Greece cast their ballots in the 2022 elections to select their new leadership. Today we are pleased to welcome and celebrate the SCA Greece Chapter’s new committee.

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Discussing Key Findings: 2022 National Coffee Data Trends Report

Amid the excitement of returning to Re:co Symposium and Specialty Coffee Expo, the US National Coffee Association released the 2022 NCDT Specialty Coffee Report. JENN RUGOLO and PETER GIULIANO share some of the key findings of the report that were integrated into this year’s Re:co Symposium and look ahead to future iterations.

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