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This paper explores the work experiences of specialty coffee baristas in São Paulo, Brazil, considering specifically the role of passion and aspiration. Through ethnographic profiles of four baristas, it reveals how the pursuit of a good life through employment extends beyond immediate economic gain, but that there are complexities in converting forms of capital within the café workplace which are shaped by Brazil’s social context and distinct histories and hierarchies around food service labor. Success and longevity in the position was shaped by baristas’ preexisting capital, and heavily mediated by socioeconomic status; although certain baristas faced more precarious trajectories, they called upon discourses of passion to mitigate challenges inherent in lower-waged food service work. By exploring the experiences and aspirations of baristas in Brazil, this paper sheds light on the complex dynamics of social mobility and labor in emerging connoisseur and artisan markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human geography has a history of engaging with place-based-quality products through a variety of concepts such as terroir, geographical indicators (GIs), and fictive places. While the efforts necessary to construct a "taste of place" have been explored, it remains unclear how a "taste of place" is established, and by whom. The article explores how relations between quality, products, and places are produced on the ground. More specifically, it addresses the question of what it takes to reconfigure a "taste of place." Based on ethnographic fieldwork carried out in 2017 concerning a coffee producer in Burundi, the article shows how Burundian coffee was reconfigured from an inferior commodity coffee to a sought-after specialty coffee. The findings show that reconfiguring "a taste of place" requires both material and symbolic quality attributes. By underlining the importance of material quality attributes that are place-dependent, it provides a different angle to the discursive approach to "taste of place" in human geography. The author concludes that creating a "taste of place" requires taming space into a consumable representation of place through discursive and material practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to explore the specialty coffee sector in Turkey as an emerging business and culinary culture. Semi-structured in-depth interviews are collected with individuals that work as baristas, managers, and sectorial experts, to examine how individuals who offer service within the market perceive the sector and consumers. Results show that individuals who work within the market embrace distinctive characteristics of specialty coffee and see coffee making as a life style. Symbolic value of specialty coffee is a substantial source of motivation for participants. Consumers' involvement with third wave is seen as limited. A major issue for the sector comes forward as the lack of standardization, which is observed through the instabilities within product and service quality and branding. Our study contributes to the existing literature as it demonstrates how specialty coffee culture emerges in a particular context, Turkey and examines third wave coffee with an interdisciplinary perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethiopian specialty coffee is exported to the international market based on the cup quality classification; however, there is limited information on the chemical characteristics. In this study, dry and wet-processed sixteen Ethiopian specialty coffee genotypes were investigated for total polyphenols, chlorogenic acids, caffeine, and trigonelline at different stages using UV-Vis spectrophotometric and Rapid Separation Liquid Chromatographic methods. Cup qualities of green coffee beans and brewed coffee were also assessed by professional cuppers. The results indicated that the bioactive compounds and cup qualities were significantly influenced by genotypes, green bean processing methods, and medium roasted-ground and brewed coffees. It was shown that the percentage of reduction in total polyphenols, chlorogenic acids, caffeine, and trigonelline concentrations were 77.3%, 82.5%, 47.8%, and 70.6%, respectively as the beans are transformed to brew. This study also fills the gap of information on the influence of processes and correlation to cup quality with bioactive compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the dry processing of coffee, beans are classified by size, shape, weight, and color, resulting in the commercial preparation requested by the client, who can be of American, European, or other descent. The preparations consist of a combination of bean sizes and shapes, with a specified maximum number of defects. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of the shape and size of the bean of the three main Catimors grown in Mexico, i.e., Colombia, Costa Rica, and Oro Azteca, on the cupping quality attributes of the beverage. The results showed that there was no significant difference between the cupping quality parameters of the Colombia and Costa Rica varieties, whereas Oro Azteca exhibited a final score significantly lower compared to those varieties. For beans of size 13/64 (Z13), significant differences were found between bean forms (flat, peaberry, and mixed) of the Colombia variety. Flat (FL) beans scored almost seven points higher in the final score compared to peaberries (PE). In coffee beans of size Z14 or Z15, mixed (MI) samples scored equal or significantly higher than FL samples in the three varieties. Small beans (Z13 and Z14) of samples not separated by shape (PE and FL together) obtained equal or significantly higher scores in the cup quality attributes of the beverage compared to bigger beans. It was demonstrated that the shape and size of the coffee bean significantly affect the cup quality parameters depending upon the variety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Brazil, specialty coffee is a burgeoning market, stimulated by product-related events, research and opening of specialized coffee shops. However, there is a paucity of public domain information and statistics about Brazilian specialty coffee consumers' characteristics and buying behavior. Through a descriptive and quantitative research, based on 834 self-administered questionnaires analyzed through descriptive and multivariate statistics, this paper builds a general profile of the Brazilian specialty coffee consumer. Furthermore, it verifies the applicability of the 'connoisseurship' and 'third wave' concepts to the national market and identifies three distinct consumer groups - regular consumers, enthusiasts, and experts - that differ by their level of interest and engagement with specialty coffee, shown by their product acquisition criteria and consumption motivations. There were similarities between Brazilian connoisseurs and coffee professionals, here combined in the same cluster and named 'experts', which leads to important questions about the current context of the Brazilian specialty coffee market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past few decades, many food niches have emerged with a specific focus on quality. In specialty coffee, micro roasters have brought about Direct Trade coffee as a way of organising an alternative around new tastes and qualities through ongoing and ‘direct’ relations to farmers and cooperatives. But Direct Trade also involves exporters. We ask, how do exporters and roasters work together in these new coffee relations, and what do they work on? We observe and participate in a situation where Colombian coffee exporters visit Danish roasters. They tour the roasting facilities and taste a number of coffees. Often, the term power is used to analyse such value chain interactions, but we argue that the term coordination better opens up these interactions for exploration and analysis. What emerges is a coordination of quality. Through touring and tasting, issues emerge and differences are laid out. We learn that quality is a continuous achievement. There is friction between the ways in which the roasters and exporters do quality, but these are not done away with through power. They are made known and discussable through the work of coordination. The activity of tasting quality is a coordination device that allows for bringing out differences in how quality is done in practice. Coffee, in this event, is not a fixed object, but shifts as issues of quality are brought up in tasting. This suggests a decentering of the object on the issue of quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]