Latest publications
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10 min readHome RoastingKaffelogic Nano 7: Everything You Need to Know
Whether you have just bought a Kaffelogic or you are considering one, this guide covers setup, the built-in profiles including...
Kaffelogic Nano 7: Everything You Need to Know
Whether you have just bought a Kaffelogic or you are considering one, this guide covers setup, the built-in profiles including altitude-matched options, how levels work, the Studio software, the BOOST...
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4 min readHow colonialism built Kenya's coffee industry
Coffee isn't native to Kenya - even though the country shares a border with Ethiopia, where arabica originated, and Uganda,...
How colonialism built Kenya's coffee industry
Coffee isn't native to Kenya - even though the country shares a border with Ethiopia, where arabica originated, and Uganda, home of robusta. It was introduced in 1893, most likely...
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8 min readGreen Coffee BasicsCoffee Cupping: How to Cup Coffee at Home
Cupping is the most reliable way to evaluate your roasts and the green coffee you buy. Here's how to set...
Coffee Cupping: How to Cup Coffee at Home
Cupping is the most reliable way to evaluate your roasts and the green coffee you buy. Here's how to set it up at home - the method, what to taste...
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9 min readCommercial RoastingHow to Blend Coffee: A Practical Guide for Home and Small-Batch Roasters
Blending is one of the most useful and most underrated skills in roasting. Here's how to decide between pre-roast and...
How to Blend Coffee: A Practical Guide for Home and Small-Batch Roasters
Blending is one of the most useful and most underrated skills in roasting. Here's how to decide between pre-roast and post-roast blending, how many components to use, which coffees work...
All Articles
10 min read
Home Roasting
Kaffelogic Nano 7: Everything You Need to Know
Whether you have just bought a Kaffelogic or you are considering one, this guide covers setup, the built-in profiles including...
Kaffelogic Nano 7: Everything You Need to Know
Whether you have just bought a Kaffelogic or you are considering one, this guide covers setup, the built-in profiles including altitude-matched options, how levels work, the Studio software, the BOOST...
4 min read
How colonialism built Kenya's coffee industry
Coffee isn't native to Kenya - even though the country shares a border with Ethiopia, where arabica originated, and Uganda,...
How colonialism built Kenya's coffee industry
Coffee isn't native to Kenya - even though the country shares a border with Ethiopia, where arabica originated, and Uganda, home of robusta. It was introduced in 1893, most likely...
8 min read
Green Coffee Basics
Coffee Cupping: How to Cup Coffee at Home
Cupping is the most reliable way to evaluate your roasts and the green coffee you buy. Here's how to set...
Coffee Cupping: How to Cup Coffee at Home
Cupping is the most reliable way to evaluate your roasts and the green coffee you buy. Here's how to set it up at home - the method, what to taste...
9 min read
Commercial Roasting
How to Blend Coffee: A Practical Guide for Home and Small-Batch Roasters
Blending is one of the most useful and most underrated skills in roasting. Here's how to decide between pre-roast and...
How to Blend Coffee: A Practical Guide for Home and Small-Batch Roasters
Blending is one of the most useful and most underrated skills in roasting. Here's how to decide between pre-roast and post-roast blending, how many components to use, which coffees work...
4 min read
How coffee sent Japan's rural poor to Brazil - and then brought their grandchildren back
Brazil is home to 1.5 million people of Japanese descent, the largest Japanese community outside Japan. Japan, in turn, is...
How coffee sent Japan's rural poor to Brazil - and then brought their grandchildren back
Brazil is home to 1.5 million people of Japanese descent, the largest Japanese community outside Japan. Japan, in turn, is home to roughly 230,000 Brazilians, most of them ethnically Japanese, many...
14 min read
Home Roasting
How to Roast Coffee in a Pan, Wok, Oven, or Air Fryer
Kitchen methods can produce genuinely good roasted coffee with zero investment. This guide covers five no-machine approaches in detail -...
How to Roast Coffee in a Pan, Wok, Oven, or Air Fryer
Kitchen methods can produce genuinely good roasted coffee with zero investment. This guide covers five no-machine approaches in detail - pan, wok, oven, air fryer, and popcorn maker - with...
9 min read
Home Roasting
Types of Coffee Roasts: Roast Levels, Methods, and How to Choose
Coffee roast levels explained - what light, medium, medium-dark, and dark roasts look like, taste like, and how to achieve...
Types of Coffee Roasts: Roast Levels, Methods, and How to Choose
Coffee roast levels explained - what light, medium, medium-dark, and dark roasts look like, taste like, and how to achieve each one. Covers the traditional naming system (City, Full City,...
8 min read
Home Roasting
Underdeveloped Coffee: What It Tastes Like, Why It Happens, and How to Fix It
Underdevelopment is one of the most common roast defects, especially for home roasters aiming for lighter profiles. This guide explains...
Underdeveloped Coffee: What It Tastes Like, Why It Happens, and How to Fix It
Underdevelopment is one of the most common roast defects, especially for home roasters aiming for lighter profiles. This guide explains what it tastes like, what causes it, how to tell...
11 min read
Home Roasting
Mastering the Rate of Rise in Coffee Roasting: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How to Use It
The rate of rise (RoR) is one of the most useful - and most misunderstood - metrics in coffee roasting....
Mastering the Rate of Rise in Coffee Roasting: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How to Use It
The rate of rise (RoR) is one of the most useful - and most misunderstood - metrics in coffee roasting. It tells you how fast your beans are gaining heat,...
5 min read
The Cold War coup that protected Brazil's coffee oligarchy
Between 1894 and 1930, Brazil was governed by so-called "coffee presidents" - leaders drawn from the planter oligarchies of São...
The Cold War coup that protected Brazil's coffee oligarchy
Between 1894 and 1930, Brazil was governed by so-called "coffee presidents" - leaders drawn from the planter oligarchies of São Paulo and Minas Gerais, who ruled in the direct interests...
9 min read
Home Roasting
Scorching and Tipping in Coffee Roasting: How to Spot It and Avoid It
Scorching and tipping are surface-level roasting defects that leave visible marks on your beans and off-flavours in the cup. They're...
Scorching and Tipping in Coffee Roasting: How to Spot It and Avoid It
Scorching and tipping are surface-level roasting defects that leave visible marks on your beans and off-flavours in the cup. They're easy to spot once you know what to look for,...
8 min read
Green Coffee Basics
Carbonic Maceration Coffee: What It Is and How It Works
Borrowed from winemaking and refined at origin over the last decade, carbonic maceration is now a recognised processing category in...
Carbonic Maceration Coffee: What It Is and How It Works
Borrowed from winemaking and refined at origin over the last decade, carbonic maceration is now a recognised processing category in its own right. This guide explains how it works, how...
11 min read
Green Coffee Basics
How Value Moves Through the Coffee Supply Chain
Where does the money go in the coffee supply chain? Explore the journey from farm to cup, the impact of...
How Value Moves Through the Coffee Supply Chain
Where does the money go in the coffee supply chain? Explore the journey from farm to cup, the impact of colonial trade history, and how value is distributed across the...
10 min read
Green Coffee Basics
What Makes Good Green Coffee? How to Think About Value
Is expensive green coffee actually better? Discover the factors that drive green coffee prices - from origin and processing to...
What Makes Good Green Coffee? How to Think About Value
Is expensive green coffee actually better? Discover the factors that drive green coffee prices - from origin and processing to grading - and learn how to find the best value...
9 min read
Green Coffee Basics
Coffee Cooperatives: What They Are and How They Work
Most of the world's coffee is produced by smallholders who rely on cooperatives for processing, market access, and collective bargaining...
Coffee Cooperatives: What They Are and How They Work
Most of the world's coffee is produced by smallholders who rely on cooperatives for processing, market access, and collective bargaining power. This guide explains how coffee cooperatives are structured, what...
11 min read
Green Coffee Basics
Green Coffee Grading Explained: How the Coffee Grading System Works
There is no single coffee grading system - different countries grade on size, defects, altitude, or cup quality. Here's what...
Green Coffee Grading Explained: How the Coffee Grading System Works
There is no single coffee grading system - different countries grade on size, defects, altitude, or cup quality. Here's what each system actually measures and what it means when you...
10 min read
Green Coffee Basics
What Does a Coffee Research Institute Actually Do?
Who are World Coffee Research, Cenicafé, and CIRAD? Go inside the coffee research institutes developing climate-resilient varieties and the future...
What Does a Coffee Research Institute Actually Do?
Who are World Coffee Research, Cenicafé, and CIRAD? Go inside the coffee research institutes developing climate-resilient varieties and the future of specialty coffee.
5 min read
Green Coffee Basics
How to Understand Physical Measurements of Green Coffee Bean: Moisture Content, Density and Water Activity
A practical guide to green coffee beans physical measurement, covering moisture content, green coffee density and water activity in coffee....
How to Understand Physical Measurements of Green Coffee Bean: Moisture Content, Density and Water Activity
A practical guide to green coffee beans physical measurement, covering moisture content, green coffee density and water activity in coffee. Learn how they interact and when measurement matters.
9 min read
Green Coffee Basics
Co-Fermented Green Coffee: What It Is and What to Expect
Co-fermented coffee is one of the fastest-growing and most debated categories in specialty. This guide explains what co-fermented green coffee...
Co-Fermented Green Coffee: What It Is and What to Expect
Co-fermented coffee is one of the fastest-growing and most debated categories in specialty. This guide explains what co-fermented green coffee is, how the process works, the difference between co-fermented and...
5 min read
Why producing countries can't roast their own coffee
Producing countries account for 74% of global coffee export volume but receive just 57% of the value. The stages where...
Why producing countries can't roast their own coffee
Producing countries account for 74% of global coffee export volume but receive just 57% of the value. The stages where the real money is made - roasting, branding, packaging -...
14 min read
Green Coffee Basics
Coffee Fermentation Process: What It Means for the Green Coffee You Buy
Names like World Coffee Research, Cenicafé, and CIRAD come up constantly in specialty coffee, but what these organisations actually do...
Coffee Fermentation Process: What It Means for the Green Coffee You Buy
Names like World Coffee Research, Cenicafé, and CIRAD come up constantly in specialty coffee, but what these organisations actually do is rarely explained clearly. This guide breaks down the different...
6 min read
Why Different Coffee Origins Use Different Processing Methods
Why does Brazil favour natural processing while Colombia has long relied on washed coffee? The answers lie in geography, climate...
Why Different Coffee Origins Use Different Processing Methods
Why does Brazil favour natural processing while Colombia has long relied on washed coffee? The answers lie in geography, climate and history as much as in technique. This article explores...
5 min read
Green Coffee Basics
What Direct Trade Coffee Actually Means (And How It Really Works)
What is direct trade coffee? Learn what direct trade coffee actually means, how it compares to fair trade, and how...
What Direct Trade Coffee Actually Means (And How It Really Works)
What is direct trade coffee? Learn what direct trade coffee actually means, how it compares to fair trade, and how coffee really moves from producer to buyer.
5 min read
Green Coffee Basics
Coffee Bean Species Explained: Arabica, Robusta, Liberica, Excelsa, Racemosa and Stenophylla
Learn the differences between coffee bean species including Arabica, Robusta, Liberica, Excelsa, Racemosa and Stenophylla, and how each shapes flavour,...
Coffee Bean Species Explained: Arabica, Robusta, Liberica, Excelsa, Racemosa and Stenophylla
Learn the differences between coffee bean species including Arabica, Robusta, Liberica, Excelsa, Racemosa and Stenophylla, and how each shapes flavour, farming and the future of coffee.
6 min read
Green Coffee Basics
The Coffee Trade Explained: How Coffee Is Graded, Priced and Traded Globally
Coffee moves through one of the most complex agricultural trading systems in the world - yet for most roasters and...
The Coffee Trade Explained: How Coffee Is Graded, Priced and Traded Globally
Coffee moves through one of the most complex agricultural trading systems in the world - yet for most roasters and coffee drinkers, the mechanics behind it remain largely invisible. This...
5 min read
Green Coffee Basics
Coffee Varietals Explained: Understanding Cultivars and Plant Types
Coffee varietals are the cultivated types of coffee plant that shape how coffee grows and what it can become in...
Coffee Varietals Explained: Understanding Cultivars and Plant Types
Coffee varietals are the cultivated types of coffee plant that shape how coffee grows and what it can become in the cup. Learn what coffee varietals and cultivars mean, how...
4 min read
Is the Strait of Hormuz about to disrupt your coffee supply?
Escalating tensions between the United States, Israel and Iran have pushed the Middle East into another period of deep instability. In...
Is the Strait of Hormuz about to disrupt your coffee supply?
Escalating tensions between the United States, Israel and Iran have pushed the Middle East into another period of deep instability. In response to recent military strikes, Iran has threatened to disrupt...
4 min read
Green Coffee Basics
Coffee Terroir Explained: What Terroir Really Means in Coffee
Coffee terroir describes how climate, altitude, soil and environment shape how coffee grows and tastes. Learn what terroir means in...
Coffee Terroir Explained: What Terroir Really Means in Coffee
Coffee terroir describes how climate, altitude, soil and environment shape how coffee grows and tastes. Learn what terroir means in coffee and how origin influences flavour and buying decisions.
7 mins
Sample Roasting
What is the Best Coffee Sample Roaster? (2026 Professional Guide)
Sample roasting in 2026 is no longer about babysitting 50g batches; it’s about clinical ROI and risk management. We analyze...
What is the Best Coffee Sample Roaster? (2026 Professional Guide)
Sample roasting in 2026 is no longer about babysitting 50g batches; it’s about clinical ROI and risk management. We analyze why the 120g threshold is the new professional standard and...
5 min read
Green Coffee Basics
Washed Coffee Beans Explained: What They Are and How Washed Processing Works
If you’ve been exploring green coffee processing, you’ve likely seen the term washed coffee beans. They are often described as...
Washed Coffee Beans Explained: What They Are and How Washed Processing Works
If you’ve been exploring green coffee processing, you’ve likely seen the term washed coffee beans. They are often described as clean, bright, or structured - but what does that actually...
5 min read
Green Coffee Basics
What Is Natural Process Coffee? A Clear Guide to Natural Coffee Processing
Natural process coffee is shaped by a single, critical choice: drying the seed inside the whole fruit. While this method...
What Is Natural Process Coffee? A Clear Guide to Natural Coffee Processing
Natural process coffee is shaped by a single, critical choice: drying the seed inside the whole fruit. While this method produces unmatched sweetness and a heavy, fruit-forward body, it requires...
12 min read
Green Coffee Basics
How to Buy Green Coffee Beans & Choose the Right Supplier
Green coffee buying can feel overwhelming — origins, processing methods, varietals, grading, suppliers. In reality, most decisions come down to...
How to Buy Green Coffee Beans & Choose the Right Supplier
Green coffee buying can feel overwhelming — origins, processing methods, varietals, grading, suppliers. In reality, most decisions come down to a small number of fundamentals. This guide walks through what...
6 min read
Green Coffee Basics
What Is Honey Processed Coffee? A Clear Guide to the Honey Processing Method
Honey processed coffee sits between washed clarity and natural intensity. This guide explains how the honey processing method works, where...
What Is Honey Processed Coffee? A Clear Guide to the Honey Processing Method
Honey processed coffee sits between washed clarity and natural intensity. This guide explains how the honey processing method works, where it came from, what the different colour categories mean, and...
8 min read
Commercial Roasting
Best 1kg Coffee Roasters for Small Businesses (Under £7,500)
A practical guide to the best coffee roaster machine for small business and cafés, comparing small batch commercial roasters under...
Best 1kg Coffee Roasters for Small Businesses (Under £7,500)
A practical guide to the best coffee roaster machine for small business and cafés, comparing small batch commercial roasters under £7,500. Includes real output maths, running costs, home setup, and...
8 min read
Home Roasting
Best Home Coffee Roasters for 2026 (Beginner to Advanced Buyer’s Guide)
Choosing a home coffee roaster isn’t just about specs. Heat source, temperature sensing, power requirements, and build quality all shape...
Best Home Coffee Roasters for 2026 (Beginner to Advanced Buyer’s Guide)
Choosing a home coffee roaster isn’t just about specs. Heat source, temperature sensing, power requirements, and build quality all shape how a machine performs day to day. This comparison breaks...
3 min read
How the Dutch redesigned the coffee trade
Coffee became a global commodity through colonial expansion, trade networks, and shifting production origins. This article explores how empire, geopolitics,...
How the Dutch redesigned the coffee trade
Coffee became a global commodity through colonial expansion, trade networks, and shifting production origins. This article explores how empire, geopolitics, and labour systems shaped the coffee industry we know today.
3 min read
Land grabbing and coffee: The Kaweri case and how dispossession happens within the law
Land grabbing is a central feature of the industrialised production of agricultural commodities, and coffee is no exception. Large-scale land...
Land grabbing and coffee: The Kaweri case and how dispossession happens within the law
Land grabbing is a central feature of the industrialised production of agricultural commodities, and coffee is no exception. Large-scale land acquisition by private corporations rarely involves genuinely unused land. Instead, these...
8 min read
Green Coffee Basics
Green Coffee Defects: How to Spot Them and What They Do
Green coffee defects affect both flavour and roast behaviour. Here's how to identify them, what the SCA categories mean, and...
Green Coffee Defects: How to Spot Them and What They Do
Green coffee defects affect both flavour and roast behaviour. Here's how to identify them, what the SCA categories mean, and what to do when you find them.
4-5 min read
Brazil’s coffee politics: from Bolsonaro’s neoliberalism to Lula’s smallholder focus
Brazil’s place in the global coffee market is often treated as apolitical. Large producers doing what large producers do and...
Brazil’s coffee politics: from Bolsonaro’s neoliberalism to Lula’s smallholder focus
Brazil’s place in the global coffee market is often treated as apolitical. Large producers doing what large producers do and working with scale and efficiency in mind. That framing, however,...
5-6 min read
Is Asia becoming the new centre of the specialty coffee world?
For much of the modern coffee trade, roles were relatively fixed. Coffee was grown in producing countries and consumed elsewhere,...
Is Asia becoming the new centre of the specialty coffee world?
For much of the modern coffee trade, roles were relatively fixed. Coffee was grown in producing countries and consumed elsewhere, with most value added far from where the coffee was...
2-3 min read
Why the EUDR has been delayed again
Why the EUDR has been delayed again A couple of months ago, we wrote about the EU Deforestation Regulation and...
Why the EUDR has been delayed again
Why the EUDR has been delayed again A couple of months ago, we wrote about the EU Deforestation Regulation and the risks it poses if ambition isn’t matched by practical...
9 min read
Coffee Roaster Ventilation: How to Set Up an Extraction System for Small-Batch Roasting
Managing smoke is one of the first practical problems you hit when roasting on a dedicated machine. This guide covers...
Coffee Roaster Ventilation: How to Set Up an Extraction System for Small-Batch Roasting
Managing smoke is one of the first practical problems you hit when roasting on a dedicated machine. This guide covers why ventilation matters, how to think about it for different...
5 min read
Angola, coffee, and the long shadow of extraction
Angola’s relationship with coffee is often reduced to a simple rise-and-fall story. A former giant of global production, undone by...
Angola, coffee, and the long shadow of extraction
Angola’s relationship with coffee is often reduced to a simple rise-and-fall story. A former giant of global production, undone by war and instability, now trying to find its way back....
3-4 min read
The new CVA: who decides value in coffee?
This year’s move from the 2004 SCA cupping form to the Coffee Value Assessment (CVA) is being presented as an...
The new CVA: who decides value in coffee?
This year’s move from the 2004 SCA cupping form to the Coffee Value Assessment (CVA) is being presented as an overdue modernisation. But it raises a deeper question that has...
5-6 min read
November Unfiltered: What's been happening behind the scenes
Welcome to November’s Unfiltered. This month has been a big one behind the scenes. A lot of what we’ve been...
November Unfiltered: What's been happening behind the scenes
Welcome to November’s Unfiltered. This month has been a big one behind the scenes. A lot of what we’ve been working on isn’t glamorous, but it’s important, especially as we...
4-5 min read
Beyond the C-price: rethinking power and risk in the coffee industry
The rising C-price is dominating conversation in the coffee world. But a higher market price hasn’t translated into better livelihoods...
Beyond the C-price: rethinking power and risk in the coffee industry
The rising C-price is dominating conversation in the coffee world. But a higher market price hasn’t translated into better livelihoods for most producers. The structure of the industry still directs...
3-4 min read
What Trump’s tariff reversal means for the global coffee trade
A turbulent week for U.S. coffee policy The past week has reshaped the coffee conversation worldwide. After months of volatility,...
What Trump’s tariff reversal means for the global coffee trade
A turbulent week for U.S. coffee policy The past week has reshaped the coffee conversation worldwide. After months of volatility, the United States has removed almost all tariffs on green...
4-5 min read
Yemen’s coffee story in the middle of a humanitarian crisis
Yemen’s crisis in context Yemen’s war began as a domestic political struggle, but it quickly grew into a regional proxy conflict...
Yemen’s coffee story in the middle of a humanitarian crisis
Yemen’s crisis in context Yemen’s war began as a domestic political struggle, but it quickly grew into a regional proxy conflict shaped by shifting alliances and competing interests. When the Houthis took...
