Maintaining our humanity (and sanity) through the mask

Maintaining our humanity (and sanity) through the mask

5 Cool Cafés Worth a Try in Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai, one of Thailand’s most fascinating cities, is home to a vibrant specialty-coffee scene, with many cafés and roasteriess often offering locally grown coffee. BY TANYA NANETTI SENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Featured photo by Tim Durgan via Unsplash With a population of 3 million, Chiang Mai is a little (by Asian standards) gem in northern […]


Brewing at Home and on the Road With Diego Campos

We talk to the first Colombian World Barista Champion and Diamante Coffee Farm founder Diego Campos about his brewing habits. BY TANYA NANETTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos courtesy of Diego Campos The focal point of a coffee worker’s professional life is, obviously, coffee. Whether for a customer, to check a specific production batch, or to verify the […]


A Recap of The Barista League’s Mystery Coffee Vacation in Colombia

The Barista League’s Mystery Coffee Vacation in Colombia is over, and we’ve got the scoop on all the fun! BY VASILEIA FANARIOTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos courtesy of Vasileia Fanarioti and Juan Henao During the last week of February, the 2022 Barista League champions gathered in Colombia for this year’s Mystery Coffee Vacation. It was an […]


Get Ready for The Barista League’s 2024 Season

The Barista League has announced 12 competitions across four continents. BY J. MARIE CARLANBARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Photos courtesy of The Barista League When The Barista League announces new events, it’s worth paying attention! This year, the schedule will be organized by geographic location, bringing together coffee people in various communities. At The Barista League in […]

Maintaining our humanity (and sanity) through the mask

Florencia y Fortunata: A Café Empowering Women in Peru

The Cusco café, founded by Carolina Peralta Minaya, sells coffee from women producers and features women demonstrating their skills behind the bar. BY JORDAN BUCHANANBARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Photos courtesy of Carolina Peralta Minaya Traceability, sustainability, and conscientiousness are key values pervading the specialty-coffee trade. For many consumers and traders, these values inform their decision to […]


Competition, Cold, and More from the 2024 U.S. Coffee Competition Qualifiers in Houston

The first round of qualifiers for the 2024 season of the United States Coffee Competitions featured the U.S. Barista, Cup Tasters, and Roasters qualifying competitions. BY KATE VAN PETTENSPECIAL TO BARISTA MAGAZINE Photos courtesy of U.S. CoffeeChamps The first round of qualifiers for the 2024 season of the United States Coffee Competitions took place January […]


Understanding the Process: Koji Fermentation

Continuing our series on coffee processing, we learn about koji fermentation, a unique process usually associated with the brewing of sake. BY TANYA NANETTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos courtesy of Forest Coffee If brewed properly, a cup of coffee can offer countless variations of flavor and aroma. The quality and complexity of these attributes depend on many different […]


From Malawi to Edinburgh: The MF Coffee Project

We take a trip from North Carolina to Northern Malawi to Edinburgh, exploring the roots, roasts, and impact of the MF Coffee Project. BY VASILEIA FANARIOTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos courtesy of the MF Coffee Project In the quaint village of Manchewe, Northern Malawi, a story unfolded when Cameron Mcallister made the life-altering decision to relocate […]

Maintaining our humanity (and sanity) through the mask

Exploring the Potential of Drones in Coffee Production 

New drone technology has the potential to revolutionize coffee farming from the air. BY VASILEIA FANARIOTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Cover photo by David Henrichs via Unsplash In an ever-evolving technological landscape, coffee producers have begun turning to drones in an attempt to increase efficiency and operations. These unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) offer a wide range of […]


Playing Leaderboard, the Arcade-Inspired Coffee Game

We sat down to try the newest version of the game—a fun opportunity to learn more about coffee while vying for cool coffee prizes.  BY TANYA NANETTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos by Tanya Nanetti I’ve never been much into video games, except for the classic arcade games of my youth.   Growing up in the ‘80s meant […]


New AFCA Director Gilbert Gatali on the 20th African Fine Coffees Conference

As the African Fine Coffees Association (AFCA) prepares for the 20th iteration of its flagship event, the African Fine Coffees Conference and Exhibition, the group is operating under new executive…


Coffee News Recap, 2 Feb: Applications open for Australia’s Richest Barista 2024, De’Longhi reports 4.6% revenue increase after La Marzocco move & other stories

Every Friday, Perfect Daily Grind rounds up the top coffee industry news from the previous week. Here are this week’s coffee news stories. The word of the week is: expansion. Mon, 29 Jan AeroPress launches limited-edition Clear Pink brewer. The coffee brewer is made from the same Tritan material used in the standard Clear model. […]

Maintaining our humanity (and sanity) through the mask

Maintaining our humanity (and sanity) through the mask

minimum dose size?

Jan 31, 2024 |

I use the Hario switch to brew my coffee and am trying to reduce my caffeine consumption. Hence I would like to brew smaller cups of coffee. I am currently using 10g of coffee with 160g of water. (1:16 Ratio) I am wondering if there is a minimum amount of coffee...

Maintaining our humanity (and sanity) through the mask

Another day, another mask

By Lisa Frania, Guest Blogger

Thanks a lot, COVID-19 … For now communication skills have imploded.

We’re not hanging with friends and family like we used to. We’ve been forced to cancel most of our much-needed travel and dinner plans, and we can’t rock out to our favorite artists at the concert venues we love! We’re standing at an awkward six-foot distance from others. And forget fashion—we look like we’re about to rob a bank with half our faces covered up!

Sure, I probably don’t flinch quite as much when I forget that shaking hands has become a thing of the past. And I have finally stopped applying a glob of lip gloss that acts like glue to the underside of my mask as I head out the door. I suppose, I probably even worry a little bit less about how I look in my mask.

Woman wearing "Coffee Breath Cover" Death Wish Coffee mask

Honestly, though, when I am in social situations (at the grocery store, seated in a restaurant, passing neighbors when I walk my dog), I still feel awkward. I find that I laugh nervously from behind my mask. At least I’m smiling; are they?

Despite finding some sense of “new normal” as COVID-19 has lingered now for far too long, I doubt I’m alone when I say that living with our mouths (and half our faces) covered has made communication close to impossible at times. 

So, what can we do to improve communication during the era of the mask?

British Vogue includes a few reminders to become more intentional and step up our communication skills to deal with the times we’re living in.

1. Speak up!

Since it can be harder now to hear someone’s voice from behind the masks (don’t forget to speak up!), we can’t rely on the mouth or forget to pay attention to the eyes when we talk to people (especially at a distance). If we do, we are likely to miss the full story.

2. “Smize” aka smile with your eyes.

Ladders reminds us that Tyra Banks’ famous term “Smize” was a brilliant addition to her show America’s Next Top Model a few years ago. When coining the term, she wanted the contestants to smile with their eyes. Who knew she’d be giving all of us such great advice for 2020?

Tyra Banks wearing a face mask

A piece of good news in all this is that the eyes are truly the windows to the soul. Our eyes tear up when we’re sad. We roll our eyes when we feel angry or irritated. They narrow and squint when we’re suspicious and widen when we feel concerned about something.

The eyebrows need some equal attention too. Raising the brow can show interest, suspicion, surprise, where furrowing the brow could make you appear angry or aggressive. Being hyperaware of nonverbal eye communication is key in the era of the mask.

3. Body language is key.

Tone of voice and body language have become more important than ever in a masked world. In fact, Psychology Today estimates that 80-90% of all body language is non-verbal, according to Ladders.

So pay attention to visual cues too. How a person stands, sits, uses hands, crosses arms, etc., will indicate moods and feelings attached to the message as well. 

Two women wearing Death Wish Coffee apparel

As more states enforce (or continue to enforce) the mask mandate as part of our new normal in 2020 and beyond, we need to continue to understand others—and be fully understood by those around us.

Direct eye contact, smiles, and conversation are going to be important ways to heal us during these challenging times and will serve us well post-COVID-19 too!

 

RELATED: What Social Distancing Did to 13,000+ Hardcore Coffee Drinkers

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maintaining our humanity (and sanity) through the mask

Perfect Little Beans

Chinmey Hill Coffee uses specialty-grade beans with zero primary defects (such as black beans or sour beans) and less than five secondary defects (such as broken beans). This is important because primary defects will greatly affect the taste of the coffee. Having zero defects allows the coffee to be the most optimal flavor.

Window for Optimal Flavor

Chimney Hill Coffee ships our coffee the same day it was roasted, so you will receive it before it enters the window of optimal flavor.  This means you’ll never miss the opportunity to enjoy the coffee’s peak flavor.

Coffee Ratings

Coffee undergoes many scoring processes by professionals who achieved their Q Grader certification. Coffee is first graded when it’s green. If there are defects the coffee is determined to be “not-specialty grade”. For those coffees that pass green grading, they are sample roasted and cupped. (Cupping is the official term for critically tasting and scoring coffees. The official cupping form is standard worldwide, and where the 100-point scoring system comes from.) A coffee’s dry fragrance, wet aroma, flavor, aftertaste, body, acidity, balance, and overall impression are taken into consideration while uniformity issues and defects, will lower the overall score.

Specialty Coffee

Specialty coffee, coined by Erna Knutsen in 1974, refers to a coffee that receives a quality grading score of 80 percent or higher. While “premium” or “gourmet” seem like they’re synonymous with “specialty,” they simply are marketing terms with no defined standards. Specialty coffees are grown in specific and ideal micro-climates, and have distinctive and unique flavor profiles, with little to no defects.

Third-Wave Coffee

We’re currently in the third wave of coffee. The first wave of American coffee put pre-ground, vacuum-sealed cans in kitchens across America. The second wave started with the late ‘60s introduction of Peet’s coffee (by Alfred Peet) through the proliferation of Starbucks. The third wave of coffee focuses on origin transparency, nuanced flavors, and artisan roasting. The term “third wave” is synonymous with specialty coffee.

Maintaining our humanity (and sanity) through the mask

Shopping cart0
There are no products in the cart!
Continue shopping
0