The Coffee Technicians Guild’s Ask an Expert webinar/ video series is back! Last year’s series received an overwhelmingly positive response from the coffee community, so we're excited to kick off 2021 with a second season of educational sessions for coffee techs everywhere.

In this SCA Community Spotlight, Daniela Mauro, Marketing & Communications Coordinator of the SCA Italy Chapter, tells us how the chapter’s volunteer network has mobilized to support Italian coffee professionals during the coronavirus pandemic.

Updated Rules & Regulations have been released for the 2021 Athens World Coffee Championships; the World Barista Championship, World Brewers Cup, World Cup Tasters Championship, and Cezve/Ibrik Championship. You can find the rules now on worldcoffeeevents.org/rules, which are primarily focused on COVID-19-related precautions, which have been introduced to facilitate better logistics for competitors, coaches, judges, and volunteers at the event, hosted at the Specialty Coffee Association World of Coffee Show from June 23-26, 2021.

The 2020 Coffee Technicians Guild slate selection process has come to an end. CTG members have confirmed the slate of six professionals put forward by the CTG Elections Committee and presented to members on November 5.

Barista Guild Leadership Council elections for 2020-2022 are completed with the selection of two new members—Francisco (Paco) Gudiño and Zoey Thorson!

🎉 It’s official! The 2020 Coffee Roasters Guild slate selection process has come to an end. CRG members around the globe have confirmed the slate of five professionals presented on November 5 by the CRG Election Committee, chaired by Past Chair Sonja Björk Grant.

We are excited to announce our newly expanded annual awards program, the SCA Awards, recognizing excellence in product innovation, design, and sustainability across the industry. Taking place online for the very first time, the 2021 SCA Awards are open to companies and individuals around the globe, expanding the reach and prestige of these important annual competitions.

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.

The Specialty Coffee Association is looking for professionals to apply to open positions in sales, certifications, and marketing and communications. Visit our ‘Work with Us’ page to learn more and apply today.

In 2003, the SCA put forward a Cupping Protocol as a tool to discover a coffee’s value and sensory attributes. We’re revisiting this protocol now and are asking for input from you, our community of coffee professionals and connoisseurs.

We are actively seeking proposals from individuals from all backgrounds to lead virtual workshops in 2021. Our workshops aim to provide a venue for a more in-depth understanding of different topics relevant to specialty coffee.

“Worlds Apart” tells the stories of the World Coffee in Good Spirits Championship and the World Brewers Cup, two competitions that take vastly different approaches to growing the specialty coffee community. Along the way, co-host Kimberly Yer leads us through stories of unlikely inspiration, the value of setting expectations, the push and pull of subjectivity and objectivity, and the shape of things to come through interviews with Dave Jameson, Cheryl Lee Su Yin, Nick Cho, Chad Wang, and Kristina Jackson.

Substances from the environment, water treatment, and minerals are dissolved in drinking water. Its exact composition affects the sensory dimensions of water: taste, odor, and mouthfeel. That is why BRITA developed this water wheel.

This week, GOSIA LENSZIOSZEK, Coffee Excellence Manager, tells us about Matthew Algie’s Premier Training Campuses.