Column: Coffee is Life; It Should Also Be a Living

Column: Coffee is Life; It Should Also Be a Living

Weekly Coffee News: EUDR and Africa + More Celebrity Coffee

Welcome to DCN’s Weekly Coffee News. Keep up with all the latest coffee industry stories and career opportunities by subscribing to DCN’s newsletter. Tell our editors about your news here. Report: Small-Scale Farmers in…


Thread Coffee Roasters Opens Tailor-Made Roastery in Baltimore

The interwoven actions of Thread Coffee Roasters in Baltimore are finding exponentially more space this week with the grand opening of a brand-new production roastery and training lab. The worker-owned…


U.S. Coffee Championships 2023 Denver Qualifiers Reach New Heights

The next group of coffee champions moves on to nationals at the Denver qualifiers. BY KATE VAN PETTENSPECIAL TO BARISTA MAGAZINE Photos by Matthew Temple and courtesy of Specialty Coffee Association The high-flying world of U.S. CoffeeChamps competitions reached new heights as coffee professionals flocked to the Denver qualifiers for the 2023 season, hosted in […]


Torr Launches the Hive Cafe Countertop Coffee Concentrate System

Commercial cold coffee equipment company Torr Industries recently rolled out a countertop-friendly version of its signature Hive Brew cold coffee system, called the Hive Cafe. The northern California coffee company…

Column: Coffee is Life; It Should Also Be a Living

Breaking New Ground: A Sicilian Coffee Plantation, Part One

The impacts of climate change are starting to be felt in Sicily, but while they’re causing problems, the rising temperatures are also bringing new opportunities. BY JOSEPH PHELANSPECIAL TO BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Featured image courtesy of Henrique Ferreira on Unsplash The Sicilian love affair with coffee is known the world over. Sicily, the largest of […]


Understanding the Process: Double Fermentation

Continuing our series on coffee processing, we learn about double fermentation, a term that can refer to several different processes. BY TANYA NANETTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos courtesy of Cafe Imports Editor’s note: Check out other entries in our “Understanding the Process“ series here. When exploring the wonderful world of high-quality coffee, you’ll discover that no […]


Joven and Atucún Join Forces to Empower Young Farmers

The two brands have collaborated to create a unique coffee bar and support young farmers in the coffee and cacao industries. BY VASILEIA FANARIOTISENIOR ONLINE…


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 […]

Column: Coffee is Life; It Should Also Be a Living

3 Elements Coffee: Supporting Veterans, One Cup at a Time  

The Australian roasting company helps to create opportunities for veteran communities.  BY VASILEIA FANARIOTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos courtesy of 3 Elements Coffee  Brisbane, Australia-based 3 Elements Coffee, founded by Navy veteran Terry McNally in 2016, has a mission to support the transition of ex-military personnel into the commercial workspace. To help achieve their goal and raise […]


In Tbilisi, Parsek1 Merges Comic Books with Specialty Coffee

We take a look at how this innovative café has changed the face of comics and coffee in the capital of Georgia. BY VASILEIA FANARIOTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos courtesy of Parsek1 When it comes to coffee and comic books, Japan is a longtime leader in the field. Manga cafés have been around for decades, combining […]


Brewing at Home and On the Road with Darrin Daniel

We check in with the Cup of Excellence executive director to learn his current coffee-brewing habits. BY TANYA NANETTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Featured photo by Emre via Unsplash Brewing coffee is, for many coffee professionals, more than just a job.   They usually brew coffee every day, both for themselves and their customers. Perhaps they do it […]


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 […]

Column: Coffee is Life; It Should Also Be a Living

Column: Coffee is Life; It Should Also Be a Living

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...

Column: Coffee is Life; It Should Also Be a Living

honey coffee drying

[Note: This column is part of an ongoing editorial collaboration with Cory Gilman of Heifer International focused on deconstructing the subject of sustainability in coffee. Follow the full series here.]…

Column: Coffee is Life; It Should Also Be a Living

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.

Column: Coffee is Life; It Should Also Be a Living

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