No. 04 | scanews.coffee
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25 Issue 04
Contents
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In This Issue ... Welcome 05 Learning from the Past, Looking to the Future Coffee Recap News from the Coffee World
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Spotlight 12 Mapping Ethiopia Events 20 The Evolution of the Teams Competition at the World Barista Championship Research 24 Preserving Freshness: A Race Against Time Design 30 How the Middle East Influenced Today’s Coffee Vessels Insight 36 Sustainability Lessons from Tea Farmers Destinations 42 Richard Stiller and IngibjÜrg Ferrer's Guide to Guangzhou
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25 Issue 04
No. 04 Publisher: Specialty Coffee Association Editor: Sarah Grennan Advertising: Keith Amos, Susan Gates Contributors: Selena Ahmed, Cerianne Bury, Dr. Aaron Davis, Ingibjörg Ferrer, Jonathan Morris, Richard Stiller, Antony Watson Printed by: Metro Printing Published: April 2018 25 is the magazine of the Specialty Coffee Association. The articles in this issue are available in eight languages on scanews.coffee/25. Editorial submissions are invited. Please email editor@sca.coffee. To advertise please email advertising@sca.coffee. sca.coffee | scanews.coffee/25 @specialtycoffee @specialtycoffeeassociation @specialtycoffeeassociation US OFFICE
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© 2018 Specialty Coffee Association Reproduction in whole or in part, including photocopying or storing by any electronic means, is prohibited without the prior written permission of the SCA. Views expressed in 25 do not necessarily represent those of its Editor or the Publisher, the Specialty Coffee Association. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of all information, the SCA and its agents accept no responsibility for any inaccuracies that may arise. All rights reserved.
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Learning from the Past, Looking to the Future Welcome to our fourth issue of 25, your SCA publication sharing specialty coffee insights, trends, and most importantly stories from our specialty community. In this issue we continue to explore our industry’s fascinating past while peering into the future, and as always embrace the science of all things coffee. We preview a significant SCA research paper on freshness and degassing, always seeking to layer fact against the myriad of opinions on the importance of freshness and impact in the cup. We welcome the excellent Jonathon Morris as he shares a fascinating insight into the history of design in coffee, with particular emphasis on equipment in the Middle East, a region steeped in centuries of coffee consumption. Using tea as a lens, Selena Ahmed opens the oft-forgotten sustainability question – what are the effects of extreme climate change? And in our Destinations column, we enjoy an insight into Guangzhou, China, where the SCA held the sixth World Coffee Roasting Championship in December 2017. As always, if you have a story to tell, we’d love to hear from you. You can submit your ideas to editor@sca.coffee for consideration. Paul Stack President, Specialty Coffee Association
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Coffee Recap
A roundup of news from the coffee world. The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) has established two ad hoc committees and a longer-term task force to address concerns raised by members in recent months.
Stories
The objectives of the World Coffee Events (WCE) Deferred Candidacy Policy Ad Hoc Committee and the SCA/WCE Events Sponsorship & Site Criteria Ad Hoc Committee will be to address the specific needs through empowered representation and deliberation of stakeholder groups. The Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Task Force was launched simultaneously and will publish a list of recommendations on organization-wide changes required at the association. The task force will weave concrete measures into the SCA’s 2017–2020 Strategic Plan to make all parts of the organization more equitable, diverse, and inclusive. For more, see scanews.coffee/dcpolicy.
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Dunkin’ Donuts has pledged to eliminate its controversial polystyrene foam disposable cups by 2020. The company, which provides paper cups in Europe, started phasing out the foam cups in the US this year. Cafés in California may be forced to warn customers of a possible cancer risk if a judge rules that coffee contains a carcinogen. In a protracted legal battle with a number of large coffee retailers, the nonprofit Council for Education and Research on Toxins has claimed that coffee should carry a cancer warning as it produces the chemical acrylamide when brewed with hot water. The state of California lists acrylamide among the chemicals known to cause cancer. A ruling on the case is due this year.
The Barista Guild of Europe’s seventh CoLab event heads to Romania in May. CoLab: Bucharest takes place at Arcub on May 29–31, gathering an audience of international coffee professionals for three days of interactive learning and knowledge sharing. Participants will be able to explore Bucharest’s diverse café scene via a program of community events that take place alongside of a full day of talks, workshops, and panels. Visit baristaguildofeurope.com for further details. Café Imports has introduced Roasting Concepts, a free educational series featuring short instructional videos. Director of Education Joe Marrocco guides viewers through the three most important elements for roasters: the seed itself, the machine, and the taste. The series can be viewed at cafeimports.com/ education.
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Coffee Recap
Ethiopia dominated at the Good Food Awards in San Francisco in January, sweeping the board in the coffee category. All 15 coffees honored by the jury hailed from the origin. For the full list of winners, please see goodfoodawards. org/2018-winners.
World Coffee Research (WCR) has expanded its Arabica Coffee Varieties catalog, adding varieties from six new countries: Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. WCR worked with coffee experts from across Central America and Africa to update the catalog which was funded by USAID and UTZ/Rainforest Alliance. Launched at the African Fine Coffees Association conference in Kampala, Uganda in February, it contains 53 total varieties. The catalog can be viewed at varieties.worldcoffeeresearch.org. The US-based Roasters Guild and the Roasters Guild of Europe have unified to form the new Coffee Roasters Guild (CRG). Launched on February 1, the CRG’s mission is to inspire a diverse coffee roasting community through the development and promotion of the roasting profession. For more information and to find out how you can be a part of the guild, please see scanews.coffee/CRG.
Bühler has announced it is building “the world’s first ultra low emission coffee processing plant.” The plant, for the Norwegian coffee roaster Joh. Johannson, combines innovative roasting technology with record low greenhouse gas emissions. The group’s Infinity Roaster will cut energy consumption by half, it said. The plant, which is to produce up to 12,000 tons of coffee annually, is scheduled to launch in mid-2019. A new book by architects Louise Harpman and Scott Specht celebrates the design of the coffee cup lid. The architects, who began collecting coffee lids while studying at Yale in the 1990s, have chronicled the history of this essential but often overlooked piece of equipment in their aptly titled tome Coffee Lids.
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World Coffee Events has published minor updates to the rules and regulations governing the World Barista Championship (WBC) 2018. Changes include increasing the media exclusion area from a 7 meter circle to a 7×7 meter no media square, allowing national bodies to use an alternative equipment sponsor to the WBC official sponsors, and permitting the barista to use steps or platforms on the floor. The full list of rules and a summary of all changes can be found at worldbaristachampionship.org/rules. This year’s championship will take place at World of Coffee Amsterdam on June 20–23.
Over 100 seasoned coffee professionals and academics gathered at the inaugural Sensory Summit in January. The Roasters Guild event was held at the University of California Davis campus and featured an educational program focused on sensory science and sensory analysis. A full report on the summit can be found on scanews.coffee.
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Coffee Recap
Seventeen members of the Coffee Roasters Guild traveled to Yunnan Province in China for the origin trip of a lifetime in February. Organized by the Roasters Guild with support from hosts, the Yunnan International Coffee Exchange (YCE), the trip included visits to White Tiger Mountain Coffee and Baoshan Beaton Coffee Company plantations in the Baoshan region and Aini Garden plantation, Manlao River Cooperative and the Linrun Trade Company.
Cezve/Ibrik Championship finalists Marina Khuyppenen, Slava Babych (winner), Koray Erdoǧdu, and Sumit Shrestha.
Slava Babych, representing Ukraine, was crowned 2018 Cezve/Ibrik Champion at Gulfood in February. He was joined in the final ranking by Marina Khuyppenen (Russia) in second place, Koray Erdoǧdu (Turkey) in third, and Sumit Shrestha (UAE) in fourth place.
Starbucks Reserve Roastery, Shanghai.
Starbucks celebrated the completion of its “most ambitious project ever” with the launch of the new Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Shanghai. The 30,000 sq. ft. roastery is the second in the group, opening three years after the debut of the inaugural Seattle Roastery.
The UK government has rejected calls for the implementation of a new “latte levy” as an incentive to reduce coffee cup waste. A House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee report on Disposable Packaging: Coffee Cups advocated the introduction of a 25 pence tax on disposable cups to be used to fund improvements in recycling and processing facilities. The recommendation prompted widespread debate about packaging levies in the UK and worldwide. The sponsors for the 2018–2020 World Coffee Championships have been announced by World Coffee Events. Victoria Arduino returns as World Barista Championship (WBC) Espresso Machine Sponsor and Mahlkönig as WBC Grinder Sponsor. Urnex has been appointed Cleaning Products Sponsor for all world championships. Sanremo will be the Espresso Machine Sponsor for the World Coffee in Good Spirits and World Latte Art Championships, which will feature Mahlkönig and Anfim as respective grinder sponsors. Ditting will be the World Brewers Cup Grinder Sponsor, and Technivorm will be the World Cup Tasters Championship Brewer Sponsor.
The merger of Keurig and Dr Pepper Snapple Group provides further consolidation in the US beverage market, which has been marked by big name takeovers over the last year. The JAB Holding Companyowned Keurig will be the majority shareholder in the new Keurig Dr Pepper company, with Mondelez International taking a stake of approximately 13–14%. JAB also holds controlling stakes in leading US coffee players such as Peet’s Coffee and Caribou Coffee. The Coffee Roasters Guild and Barista Guild of America visited Costa Rica in February for the second SCA origin trip of the year. Hosted by the Instituto del Café de Costa Rica (ICAFE) and the Specialty Coffee Association of Costa Rica, the trip included visits to farms and mills in the West Valley, Tarrazú, Brunca, Orosí and Turrialba regions. Atlas Coffee Importers, the green coffee importer based in Seattle, US, has announced that it is to become a subsidiary of the multinational green traders, Neumann Kaffee Gruppe. Atlas joins close to 50 other companies in the coffee group.
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The new University of California Davis Coffee Center has received a further boost with news that La Marzocco has donated US$750,000 to help fund its new building. The La Marzocco Brewing and Espresso Laboratory will be the cornerstone of the university’s research and teaching efforts on brewing and espresso. La Marzocco is one of a number of industry leaders to support the center, with Peet’s Coffee, Curtis, and Behmor also providing funding. The new Coffee Center will be a hub for coffee research and education and is a major research partner of the SCA. The SCA has helped design the center to be a place where the coffee community can engage with the cutting-edge academic environment of the UC Davis engineering, food science, and viticulture and ecology departments.
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Europe’s largest coffee trade show heads to The Netherlands in June. The SCA-owned World of Coffee will be held in the RAI Amsterdam on June 21–23 and plays host to the 2018 World Barista Championship, Re:co, the Sustainability Forum, expert lectures, and more. New to the show this year is Automating Excellence, an initiative partnered by Cup of Excellence, which brings major super-automatic machine manufacturers together to create a space where visitors can taste the world’s finest coffee brewed by a selection of the most innovative fully automated machines. To learn more about the show and to register for tickets please visit worldofcoffee.org. A trading company owned by a nonprofit in the UK and an intelligent water management program in Colombia are to be honored at the SCA Sustainability Awards at Re:co Seattle.
Re:co, the specialty coffee symposium, celebrates its 10th event in April with a new format for the Seattle symposium, which takes place on the eve of the Specialty Coffee Expo. For the first time in the history of Re:co Symposium, delegates will take part in a collaborative strategy session to look back over the past decade and design a specialty coffee agenda for the next 10 years. This change in the format of Re:co Symposium is meant to provide delegates with a real opportunity to affect change in the industry. See recosymposium.org for a list of speakers and sessions.
Twin has been selected for the Business Model Award in recognition of its innovative and impactful aid-through-trade model, while Manos al Agua, a public–private partnership which works to provide intelligent water management at micro and macro level across Colombia, has been chosen for the Project Award. The selection process was led by the Awards Committee of the SCA Sustainability Center, chaired by Rosemary Trent of Save the Children. The winners will be recognized and speak at Re:co, receive travel and accommodation support to attend Expo, and promotion throughout 2018.
The SCA’s 30th anniversary Specialty Coffee Expo is returning to the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle, Washington on April 19–22. Gathering hundreds of exhibitors with thousands of visitors under one roof, the event includes a number of new interactive exhibits and stalwart favorites, including the Roaster Village, Design Lab, Best New Product Competition, Scientific Poster Session, The Market, and Uppers & Downers – a unique new space exploring the shared parallels between craft coffee and craft beer. Keep up to date with the news at coffeeexpo.org.
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Spotlight
Mapping Ethiopia
Coffee worker Sirna is pictured in Fasil Hamza’s coffee seedling nursery in Yayu, south-west Ethiopia. Image: Emily Garthwaite, courtesy of Union Hand-Roasted Coffee.
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Spotlight
Ethiopia needs little introduction in terms of coffee. Often quoted as the birthplace of Arabica, and known for its wide range of unique flavor profiles, it regularly ranks among the favorite producing countries for baristas and coffee lovers. But how well do we know this large and diverse origin country? Not that well it turns out – until now. Together with a team of research colleagues, DR. AARON DAVIS began charting the Ethiopian coffee landscape five years ago. What followed was an extraordinary journey around one of Africa’s most important producing countries.
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Spotlight
In 2013 a team based at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in the UK and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, started a three-year project to investigate the impact and opportunities for coffee farming in Ethiopia under accelerated climate change. One of our first key tasks was to gain a broad understanding of where coffee was farmed and harvested across Ethiopia. To do this, we drew on our previous studies on the wild coffee forests of Ethiopia and our knowledge of coffee farming areas gained during that fieldwork, and then scanned the available literature to add in all the rest. Job done — or so we thought.
The Kew part of the Coffee Atlas of Ethiopia team, from left to right: Jenny Williams, Tim Wilkinson, Aaron Davis, Susana Baena, and Justin Moat. Image: David Post.
Adam Overton and team’s Gesha Village estate, a newly established eco-coffee plantation at Gesha, the biological home of Gesha (Geisha) coffee in the Bench Maji coffee area, south-west Ethiopia. Image: Jenny Williams.
Landsat 8 false color composite satellite image for West Arsi and a part of the Sidamo coffee area, south-east of Hawassa. The bright red represents forest and forest-like vegetation, including coffee forest, and the lighter colors mainly represent cultivated and pastoral activities. Image: Landsat 8, United States Geological Survey (2015).
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A few months later we took our provisional map to a workshop in Addis Ababa, where representatives from Ethiopian academia and the coffee sector had come along to add much-needed advice and guidance. On showing them our draft map of the coffee producing areas it became clear that the coffee landscape of Ethiopia was much larger and more complex than we had anticipated. Using NASA satellite data and computer modeling we would carefully map the coffee areas of Ethiopia remotely, that is, from the comfort of our offices. Many researchers stop at this point, but we wanted to test these data on the ground, via an activity known as ground-truthing. This would require some serious legwork, given what we had learned at the first workshop. Although Ethiopia is eight times smaller than Brazil, it is three times bigger than Vietnam, and around the same size as Colombia. In total, over three years, we made 16 field expeditions, covering an estimated 35,000 kilometers (mostly by car) visiting all the major and most of the minor coffee producing areas, with some areas visited numerous times. We viewed farms and forests to assess numerous variables, but mainly to look at the health (particularly climate-related stress) and productivity of the coffee trees, and carry out detailed climate recording for specific sites. We also spent time talking to farmers about their experiences with coffee growing and their local environment, not only gathering information for each year but also over the longer term, at a generational timescale (e.g. almost 100 years). The information retrieved from the ground-truthing was vital for the assessment and validation of our climate change modeling work, but once we had finished we thought perhaps that our mapping data might have further uses. Originally, we believed that a series of simple maps might be useful for those working in the coffee sector in Ethiopia, and perhaps green coffee buyers. It did not take long for the idea to develop and become altogether more ambitious and more
Spotlight
complex. Two of the project team based at Kew, Tim Wilkinson and Justin Moat, are experienced cartographers (mapmakers). Tim and Justin believed that a basic coffee map might be useful, but without roads, towns, rivers, lakes, and topographical features (hills, mountains, and plateaus), known to map makers as “layers,� the maps would lack context. So, after some considerable extra work we produced the first version of our coffee maps for Ethiopia, which we eventually called the Coffee Atlas of Ethiopia. A few months later, which was by now towards the end of our three-year project, we found ourselves back in Ethiopia and with more travel planned, initial testing of the atlas was scheduled. All went well for the first few hundred kilometers, and then some serious issues arose. Many towns were in the wrong place, some by a few kilometers, others by much more, and some of the roads were also wrongly located. This was partly due to accuracy of the acquired mapping data: Ethiopia is generally not very well mapped. This is evident if you look at the (few) tourist roadmaps that are available, and at Google Earth. Mapping data for Ethiopia is often woefully inaccurate and thin on the ground, in many areas. In addition to this, villages have grown into towns, many new roads have been built or upgraded, and others had fallen into either disuse or bad repair. We now had to do much of the basic cartography ourselves. Fortunately, we had a few more trips to Ethiopia planned, giving us the opportunity to update much of the mapping data from ground observation. This also meant more time at our computers: with our newly acquired field data and with the aid of satellite imagery, we set to producing an atlas that would be more reliable, and hopefully more useful. One of the most enjoyable activities during the time spent traveling around Ethiopia was sampling the coffee first hand from each of the origins we visited, and where possible taking samples for a more thorough sensory evaluation back in the UK. Since Arabica coffee is found naturally (that is, wild) in Ethiopia, it has much more genetic diversity than other Arabica producing countries. →
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Moreover, Ethiopian Arabica DNA diversity has a distinct geographical pattern, which, in combination with the diverse local climates of each origin, yields a cornucopia of flavor profiles. The ad hoc tastings across Ethiopia, and more sophisticated cupping sessions in the UK, revealed a few surprises. It became clear that there are many unique and interesting flavor experiences that are hardly known outside Ethiopia, and that there are several origins barely touched upon, if at all, by specialty coffee providers. In many cases, however, it was difficult to gain a satisfactory understanding of any particular flavor profile due to quality issues, which were mainly related to farm-level processing. On the sensory side, there is still much more work to be done with Ethiopian coffee, but before this can happen much will need to be done in terms of quality improvements. It was also evident that the physical and sensory characteristics of each region’s coffee is heavily influenced by the climate, particularly rainfall, and soil fertility. Initially, the intended audience for the Coffee Atlas of Ethiopia were those engaged with the coffee sector in Ethiopia, chiefly within the public (government) domain, the development sector, and scientific research. Once we started to tell the wider coffee community, however, it emerged that there was interest in what we were doing. This was not only due to the fact that coffee people are generally very curious and value information, but also because of the practical benefit of having an atlas. A good example would be those undertaking an origin trip, either out of pleasure or as part of their occupation. One might ask the following questions, for example: Exactly where are the coffee areas, coffee forests, and various origins? How would I get to these places and how far away are they? We have also provided other mapping information within the atlas pages in order to help the traveler in Ethiopia, such as the locality of airports, a classification of road types (main to minor), and the identification of regional capitals and major towns. These larger settlements are likely to have good services, such as fuel/service stations,
Spotlight
Ethiopian Arabica DNA diversity has a distinct geographical pattern, which, in combination with the diverse local climates of each origin, yields a cornucopia of flavor profiles. The ad hoc tastings across Ethiopia, and more sophisticated cupping sessions in the UK, revealed a few surprises. It became clear that there are many unique and interesting flavor experiences that are hardly known outside Ethiopia, and that there are several origins barely touched upon, if at all, by specialty coffee providers. restaurants, and accommodation. Some of the tourist maps we used on our travels in the early days of the project left us with very dubious accommodation choices. Among the worst was staying in a small hotel that served as a temporary fuel station, with petrol and diesel stored underneath the bedrooms where we were staying. The fumes were so strong our eyes watered as we lay awake all night, scared stiff that someone might light a cigarette. On other occasions we ran out of fuel after arriving at what was indicated as a “major town” but finding no more than a small settlement without services. →
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For those with no immediate plans to visit Ethiopia, we hope that the atlas will still provide interest and utility. We have already been able to help with the location and classification of various origins, mainly for roasters. Common enquiries include the location for Gesha and Guji, and West Arsi, and the uncoupling of numerous distinct Sidamo origins from Yirgacheffe. In total, the Coffee Atlas of Ethiopia includes 40 A4 pages of maps, and these are accompanied by a gazetteer, an index of place names, and other features included on the maps. The maps show where coffee is farmed (forest/tree cover) and could be farmed (non-forest), the climatic suitability of these areas for coffee farming (excellent, good, or fair), where wild coffee occurs, and the location of coffee garden areas (small-scale coffee production, mostly without tree cover). The coffee landscape is divided into five coffee zones, and 16 coffee areas. For those with a cartographical bent, the maps are at a scale of 1:500,000; a typical tourist roadmap would be 1:1,600,000. The maps are accompanied by 61 pages of text and images. There are three chapters covering basic geographical information, cartographical methods, and how to use the atlas; and seven coffee-specific chapters, including coffee use and consumption, the botany of Arabica coffee, the coffee climate, agroecology, coffee farming, harvesting and processing, and an overview of the coffee areas. Copies went on general sale in February 2018, and as this is a non-profit publication the proceeds from sales will be used to develop the atlas, hopefully to produce Ethiopian language versions. We hope that by producing this tome we can provide greater insight into this very special origin. â—Š DR. AARON DAVIS is Senior Research Leader of Plant Resources, and Head of Coffee Research at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (UK).
Serving coffee, the traditional Ethiopian way. Image: Emily Garthwaite, courtesy of Union Hand-Roasted Coffee.
Spotlight
Building a Climate Resilient Coffee Economy The Coffee Atlas of Ethiopia is a product of the project Building a Climate Resilient Coffee Economy for Ethiopia, conducted under the Strategic Climate Institutions Programme (SCIP) Fund. The SCIP Fund was designed to build Ethiopia’s capacity to cope with climate change across the public, private, and civil society sectors and to respond to the challenges of transitioning to a Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE). The SCIP Fund was financed by the governments of the UK, Norway, and Denmark.
Coffee Atlas of Ethiopia by Davis, A.P., Wilkinson T., Challa, Z.K., Williams, J., Baena, S., Gole, T.W. & Moat, J. (2018) is published by Kew Publishing and available to purchase on shop.kew.org.
Have Your Say: To express your views on this issue and other topics covered in 25, please email a letter to the Editor, editor@sca.coffee.
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Team Talk The Teams Competition has been an exciting evolution in the World Barista Championship. CERIANNE BURY talks to members of the 2017 winning team, Team Tamper, and learns how the competition has helped them grow as baristas.
Kenya Barista Champion Martin Shabaya won the wildcard to compete in the WBC semifinal.
Events
When the World Barista Championships (WBC) took place in Seoul last November it was an exciting time for me – not just as I was there as a sensory judge, but also because I am part of the Evolution Group, a team of coffee professionals whose mission it is to oversee the continued development and strategic evolution of the championship. One of the elements to come out of the Evolution Group was the Team Competition and 2017 was the first year where one competitor could win a wildcard to the semifinal of the championship. Of course the WBC is all about finding that one barista, one ambassador. However, winning is a team effort, as is the coffee industry as a whole. There are so many hands and so many partners to create one cup of coffee, from the farmer to the barista and beyond. The Team Competition was set up in 2016 to celebrate this partnership and the element of friendship which is so evident in the coffee scene. So how does the Team Competition do this? Each competing nation is placed in a team based on historical performance data, where countries who have a high track record are mixed with countries who historically have a lower ranking. The team does not influence individual results in the WBC. Instead their individual performances contribute to an overall team score. At the end of the first round, the winning team is determined by the average of the individual team member scores. Additionally each team has a designated shift at the Team Bar, where they work together to create a menu, decide on what equipment to use and how to structure their service. When asked about whether he enjoyed working on the Team Bar, Kenya Barista Champion Martin Shabaya exclaimed: “Absolutely! There is a lot of support while working with each other. I learned a lot from good baristas like Ben Put from Canada on slow brewing and Lavinia Toma from Romania on espresso extraction.” China Barista Champion Jeremy Zhang agrees. “We had fun with coffees that differed to the competition coffees and we shared different techniques with each other.” An added bonus is that the Team Bar provides WBC visitors with the chance to order a cup of coffee from their favorite national champion and gives these star baristas the opportunity to showcase their on-the-job bar skills. The teams are put into contact with each other ahead of the competition so they can connect with each other, align plans for the Team Bar element, and get tips, share knowledge and stories, or voice any anxiety they have about the championship with competitors who are going through the exact same thing. And that can have a lot of added value. “Since we formed a team long before the competition it was easier for us to work together at the same table. Even though competition solely
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depends on a barista’s own performance, our team members did help to soothe some pressure,” says Jeremy Zhang. Italy’s Francesco Masciullo agrees. “The Team Bar is about serving good coffee and talking with people about what you love to do in life: serving coffee. In some way this provides comfort; subconsciously your mind is getting ready and prepared for the WBC competition.” Evolving the Competition Many competitors will tell you advancing in the competition is not just about wanting to win. Often it is about learning – not just from each other, but from the feedback you receive from the audience and the judges. Receiving a debrief and sheets full of notes in the form of score sheets helps baristas advance in the WBC or other competitions in the future. The Evolution Group thought it would be appropriate to celebrate the winning team by giving participants a chance to learn. And therefore on the second year of the Team Competition we decided to not only give the best scoring team a ticket to an All Star Event, but also to give one team member a ticket to the semifinal of the WBC. This offers one standout competitor the chance to show their skills again, to compete among the best baristas in the world, and to receive more vital feedback to bring home. This extra feedback is important not just for the competitor, but also for the thousands of baristas and other coffee professionals who watch the live streams online and want to compete and better themselves in their respective countries. And so, there we stood in Seoul. At the sidelines. Shifting our feet. Hearts pounding. Our eyes skimming all the faces around us. All the national champions competing at the WBC lining up in the arena, side by side, shoulder to shoulder. Waiting. Anxious. Trying to keep their cool. Who would win the first ever wildcard to the semifinal? And then the name, shouted by the emcee: the national champion of Kenya Martin Shabaya! The entire crowd, from audience to judges, volunteers and all of the best baristas in the world, →
Team Tamper triumphed in the second annual Team Competition.
" Teamwork promotes a wider sense of ownership which really helped me own the stage during my routine, especially at the semis. My team was happy to assist me both backstage and in the arena. I felt I belonged. The game itself was bigger than the winning for me because I came out of Seoul feeling like a champion.”
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cried out and cheered; the first African country to make it to the semis! The members of Team Tamper, the winning team, surrounded and celebrated Martin, who was absolutely beaming for the rest of the night. All of them would go on to compete the next day. Getting to show their skills again to the world, and getting a chance to advance even further to the finals. Martin pays tribute to his team mates: “Teamwork promotes a wider sense of ownership which really helped me own the stage during my routine, especially at the semis. My team was happy to assist me both backstage and in the arena. I felt I belonged. The game itself was bigger than the winning for me because I came out of Seoul feeling like a champion.” So what does the future of the Team Competition bring? For Martin: “Talent wins games, but teamwork wins championships. If it were not for the brilliant, out of this world idea, I wouldn’t be where I am today. The team aspect has provided a super opportunity for all baristas in the world, something that has never been there before. It’s hard to believe I won the wildcard, even now! I feel privileged to be the first fruit of the team aspect. Rubbing shoulders with other champions at the semis was simply satisfying. It’s all about the coffee and the level of passion with intelligence that matters. The sky is the limit! I think it will be the next big thing in the World Barista Championship. It has created and will create more opportunities.”
Jeremy Zhang (China), Martin Shabaya (Kenya), and Lavinia Toma (Romania) at the Team Bar.
It is these opportunities that are the backbone of the Teams Competition. It provides national champions with another way to introduce themselves to the audience, it brings them closer to consumers, it provides an informal education platform of knowledge-sharing, and allows these amazing baristas to bring home more experiences, for themselves, and all the other people in their coffee network. And with this in mind, we will pave the way forward for the Team Competition. ◊
CERIANNE BURY is Quality Supervisor at Trabocca. She is a Licensed Q Grader, International Sensory Judge at World Coffee Events, and a member of the World Barista Championship Evolution Group.
WORLD barista CHAMPIONSHIP amsterdam JUNE 20–23 RAI AMSTERDAM THE NETHERLANDS worldbaristachampionship.org
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Research
Preserving Freshness: A Race Against Time There is now universal acceptance in the coffee community that freshness has a huge impact on flavor and aroma. But what do we mean by freshness and, crucially, how do we measure it? ANTONY WATSON delves into the findings of a new SCA Handbook which combines scientific research from the laboratory, sensory data from the field, and comment from the industry. Freshness is often cited as a mark of specialty. However, given that the mantra of “freshness” can be subjective from a sensory perspective, it is important to establish a common understanding of the concept. In their seminal publication Espresso Coffee: The Science of Quality, Illy and Viani describe the loss of freshness as a “progressive imbalance in the aroma profile,” while others define freshness as a product which has retained its “original unimpaired qualities.” Now analysis of member-driven SCA sensory data and scientific efforts towards quantifying freshness conducted at the Zurich University of Applied Science (ZHAW) in collaboration with the SCA have made
significant advances in unlocking the key to better understanding the change on coffee quality over time. Their insights are now featured in a newly published SCA Handbook on Coffee Freshness: Understanding & Preserving the Freshness of Coffee. “The findings reveal that if we can further develop the tools to preserve coffee freshness, we can also maximize flavor potential,” notes Peter Giuliano, Chief Research Officer at the SCA. “It’s a win-win situation but the laws of physics show that the odds are heavily stacked against us. This calls for a fresh approach where creativity and ingenuity in the scientific, sensory, and technological fields will help us to achieve our goal.”
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Research
The Enemies of Freshness Firstly, it is worth firing the starting gun on the topic of freshness by identifying its age-old enemies: oxygen, moisture, and temperature – and, of course, time. To a lesser or greater extent, all can affect loss of freshness in different ways. Evidence shows that the oxidation process can dramatically decrease the shelf life of roasted coffee. For example, simply reducing oxygen content to 0.5% in a coffee container can increase shelf life by up to 20 times. Secondly, since water allows for the movement of molecules that further accelerate oxidative reactions, it has been demonstrated that a high moisture environment acts as a catalyst for aging in coffee. Thirdly, as temperature is positively linked to the kinetics of chemical changes and therefore is the main driver of all coffee-staling reactions, we also know that it can speed up the release of carbon dioxide. There is evidence to suggest that a mere 10°C increase in temperature will double the degassing rate. This can mean not just the loss of volatile aroma compounds, but the formation of new aroma compounds that impart unwanted off-flavors in our favorite brew. Armed with this knowledge, the team of researchers at ZHAW have been working around the clock to help measure the aging process in coffee by investigating coffee freshness and aging from a chemical standpoint. Science Associate at ZHAW’s Institute of Chemistry and Biological Chemistry Dr. Samo Smrke explains: “As we know, one of the first perceivable changes in the loss of freshness is aroma as it fades over time. Not all volatile aromatic compounds, however, behave the same way. Some are highly reactive and are rapidly lost while others are relatively stable and released slowly. Identifiable compounds can be accurately analyzed using various analytical techniques as they become less prevalent in the aroma. As there are more than 850 detectable volatile aromatic compounds in freshly roasted coffee, the race is now on to develop a practical application that could potentially be used in the roastery or coffee shop environment to
detect chemical markers with which to gauge the freshness of a coffee.” Before a future game-changing test such as this falls into the hands of coffee professionals, training centers also have a vital role to play. Sandra Azevedo, Authorized SCA Trainer and Director of Lisbon’s SCA Premier Training Campus, Academia do Café, says that education is crucial to raising awareness around freshness. “We always impress the importance of coffee freshness on our students, be they roasters or baristas. The coffee’s journey doesn’t end after the roast and so it is crucial that they know how to correctly package or store their coffee at home or in the coffee shop. People will invest in a topof-the-range grinder or espresso machine but preserving freshness can often be overlooked when it comes to treating coffee correctly. Educating coffee professionals and consumers on freshness means that they have more understanding of how it affects extraction and, ultimately, the changing flavor attributes in the cup.” Analyzing Off-Gassing Back in the laboratory, another area of study has focused on the physical process of off-gassing, as a relatively large amount carbon dioxide is released after roasting. Tests show that up to 2% of the weight of freshly roasted coffee is gas trapped inside its porous structure. Taking into account coffee density, roast speed, and degree as well as the environmental conditions in which it is stored, the rate of carbon dioxide release can be analyzed and accurately mapped as a physical marker of freshness. Using the gravimetric method to analyze the amount of gas →
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Research
“As there are more than 850 detectable volatile aromatic compounds in freshly roasted coffee, the race is now on to develop a practical application that could potentially be used in the roastery or coffee shop environment to detect chemical markers with which to gauge the freshness of a coffee.” release, researchers discovered that the faster and darker the roast, the more CO2 is released over time. Meanwhile, a light roast was found to off-gas at a significantly slower rate. As expected, the highest rate of gas release was observed during the first 24 to 48 hours after roast time before tapering off. The researchers at ZHAW also found an interesting role that off-gassing plays once a freshly roasted coffee is packed. An increased build-up of carbon dioxide in poly-foil valve bags during the first week after roasting partially mitigates oxidation because the release of CO2 forces out the oxygen from the headspace. This means that concentrations of carbon dioxide in a coffee bag typically reach 80%, reducing the oxygen content considerably, and therefore slows down the composition of aroma change over a prolonged period of time. The same is true of single-serve capsules where the protective pressure build-up of gas in the capsule prolongs freshness but also aids crema formation during extraction. Experiments into freezing coffee found that storing a freshly roasted coffee at subzero temperatures actively prolongs shelf life. When comparing a freshly roasted coffee sample stored at elevated temperatures of 35°C, and another at −25°C, the researchers found that freezing coffee significantly slowed down the rate of off-gassing. Although it does not stop the process altogether, a temperature difference of 60°C can reduce this process by
up to 35 times. In other words, a coffee with a freshness window of one to four weeks can theoretically be extended from three months to up to a year if stored and cooled correctly. The Future of Freshness As our scientific understanding in measuring chemical and physical markers of freshness evolves, so too does our sensory knowledge and understanding of coffee quality. Chahan Yeretzian, Professor of Analytical Chemistry and Diagnostics at ZHAW, believes that new trends in specialty coffee such as cold brew, nitro, soluble – and now even edible coffee – are shaping the way that we define freshness: “Today, I believe that the future of specialty coffee is more about mastering coffee than attributes in the cup. Freshness and consistency are still central concepts, but creativity and fully exploiting the sensory potential of coffee are becoming important to future generations of specialty coffee pioneers.” The Roasters Guild has also taken up the challenge over recent years. It organized a series of member-driven sensory experiments to investigate, and collect data on, the coffee aging process and how different packaging types have a perceptible influence on quality. One particular test was designed to assess how different resting times after roasting before packing affected the coffee flavor profile. Four resting times (0, 12, 24, and 48 hours) after the roast date →
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were chosen and cupping scores were collected for each sample. The results highlighted that coffees with longer resting times before packing showed a steeper linear decline in quality. The findings also support the ZHAW research team’s work into the effects of off-gassing and how changes in aroma composition can affect coffee chemistry. Although science can be credited for leading the charge in deepening our understanding of what drives the aging process at a chemical and physical level, the clock on freshness never stops. Some industry commentators argue that the specialty coffee industry has been too slow in developing innovative strategies to combat the enemies of coffee freshness. While we have seen interventions in coffee packaging to extend shelf life – such as pre-flushing with nitrogen or removing the oxygen content by vacuum, to the development of one-way aluminum-lined valve bags – more teamwork is required if we are to truly get a head start on preserving freshness. Rob Hoos, coffee roasting consultant and Director of Coffee for Nossa Familia Coffee in Portland, US, says that while the coffee community can preserve flavor using a variety of methods such as experimentation with packaging, there is no substitute for offering freshly roasted coffee. From refining business practices to reducing wastage and setting standards for quality and taste, he is confident that coffee professionals everywhere can make a tangible difference by putting shared knowledge into best practice: “Following lean production principles is one of the best things we can do as an industry,” he adds. “Produce what we need only, avoid overages, and package immediately in appropriate packaging to make sure we’re providing a product that we can all be proud of.” ◊
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A Fresh Look at the Aging Process This article highlights just some of the key insights from a newly published handbook that investigates the science behind quantifying freshness and the aging process in coffee, starting at the very moment coffee leaves the roaster. The SCA Handbook on Coffee Freshness: Understanding & Preserving the Freshness of Coffee includes leading research from the Roasters Guild and Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW). Available to SCA members and the wider coffee community, the handbook is available to buy in print format from the SCA Store, store.sca.coffee.
ANTONY WATSON is a coffee roaster and journalist. His new specialty coffee roastery and brew bar – Olisipo Coffee – is due to open in Lisbon, Portugal, soon.
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Images: Coffee Museum, Dubai.
Design
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Design
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Vessels Through the Ages How the Middle East influenced many of the designs we still use today Coffee is a Muslim beverage which originated in the Middle East. So what, in design terms, has the region bequeathed to global coffee culture? JONATHAN MORRIS takes us on a journey through the annals of coffee vessels. The exact origins of coffee drinking are still obscure and likely to remain so. We know that the Oromo people, inhabitants of the regions of Ethiopia in which C. arabica is indigenous, made use of the leaves, flowers, and fruits of the plant. These were incorporated into both beverages and foodstuffs. An infusion made by boiling the desiccated remains of the fruit in water, which appears to have been adopted by Sufi mystics in Yemen during the second half of the fifteenth century, enabled them to remain awake to perform their devotions during the night. How this got to Yemen is another matter. The Persian physician, philosopher, and polymath Ibn Sina ̄ ̄, otherwise known as Avicenna (980–1037), described a medicinal plant he called bunchum that grew in Lebanon, and that some believe to have been coffee. However, his description is very generic, and there is no subsequent reference to coffee until the manuscript of the scholar Abd al-Qadir alJaziri, written in the 1550s, which took qahwa, the Arabian word for coffee, as its subject. Al-Jaziri claimed coffee was first brought to Arabia by the Sufi mufti Muhammed al-Dhabani (d. 1470), who had recommended its use in the form of qishr, the infusion of dried fruits and spices that he encountered when traveling in Ethiopia.
The take-off of coffee drinking occurred when the use of the beverage moved beyond ritual occasions and into everyday life. In 1511 an Islamic court ruled that consumption of coffee was consistent with the religion. Thereafter, coffee literally traveled up the Arabian peninsula, the Gulf, and the Red Sea, eventually arriving in Istanbul, capital of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, in the 1550s. Increasingly emphasis shifted more and more towards brewing solely with the beans, probably because these were easier to transport. This beverage became known as qahwa in Arabia where it was prepared using lightly toasted beans and mixed with spices such as cardamom, and kahve in Turkey where the beans were dark roasted and the liquor sweetened with sugar. This led to the first iterations of coffee brewing and roasting equipment as we know it today. In terms of brewing, any pot suitable for boiling might be used for the first part of the preparation in which the water and coffee-based powder were heated together, while subsequent stages might involve the transfer of the liquor into another pot for infusion with spices and so on, and eventually into a heat-retaining decorative vessel for pouring. This was the origin of the distinction between the cezve and the dallah – the two forms of equipment most commonly associated with coffee preparation in the Middle East. The cezve was developed for the initial brewing phase. Its long handle enables it to be placed over, and removed from, the heat source without burning the user. It is open-topped, preventing pressure build up, and the conical shape tapering upwards assists in retaining the grounds on transfer. The spout allows for pouring the liquor into another vessel. If a cezve was to be used for serving, then it would be equipped with a hinged lid, and →
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engraved or decorated with fretwork: many of these were not actually used for coffee preparation itself. The more usual serving vessel within Arabia was a dallah however. These have a flat-bottomed, bulbous body narrowing inwards towards the middle of the vessel, before curving back outwards in the top section with a flippable lid. Their most characteristic feature, however, is the outsize spout, recalling a large beak, through which the coffee is poured. Dallahs used purely for serving can be highly ornamental but their design is inherently practical. The flat bulbous bottom ensures the weight of the contents can stabilize the vessel if it is placed in the desert sands, or on a bed of embers. The lid sits heavily on the rim to avoid spillage during pouring, while the height, shape, and size of the spout acts to minimize the flow of sediment. Today the same basic shapes can be seen in heavy duty dallahs designed for stove-top use, or plug-in electric models. The dallah is also, however, an object designed for visual and tactile enjoyment. The handle is usually curved in an attractive manner and is pleasing to hold, while the sensuous shape of the body echoes the feminine form. The spout evokes the crescent moon that is an icon of Islamic imagery. Rich households displayed large numbers of dallahs lined up by the kitchen fire, despite the fact only a few would ever be needed for coffee preparation. These were objects of ostentation, designed to send a message from the host to the guests. The same applies to the long, slenderspouted ibriks that are now commonly seen in Arabia, Turkey, and North Africa. These were used purely for coffee service, and were often manufactured as part of a set accompanying finjans, the small cups in which the coffee was served. The elongated narrow necks to these pots were intended to reduce the possibilities of spillage or evaporation in the heat. It is important to note that these are very distinct from the cezve – the use of the term ibrik as a synonym for cezve arose only because Europeans found the word cezve too difficult to pronounce, and lighted
Design
on ibrik as a catch-all term to cover two very different pieces of equipment in form and function. As for roasting, the beans would usually be placed in an open pan and stirred over a fire. Naturally this equipment also required a long handle in order to avoid burning the operator. These handles would often be decorated with patterns incised into the metal. A notable feature of the roasting pans was that these handles were often collapsible, so that they could be transported easily by the Bedouin and travelers across the desert. Cezves were similarly designed with fold-out handles for such uses. In the major cities of the Ottoman Empire, however, it does seem that so-called coffee kilns were constructed and operated as businesses. This might also have contributed to coffee becoming much more darkly roasted. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, European coffee makers essentially imitated the equipment and preparation methods that were common in the Middle East. Early images of coffee houses show a range of cezve-type coffee makers with long extended wooden handles stacked on the shelves. The small bowls into which the coffee was poured (misleadingly referred to as “dishes” in the language of the time) clearly imitated finjans. Domestic coffee services owed much to the dallah with early examples showing the same beak-type spout. The first deviation from this came with the development of infusion coffee makers in which water heated in an ordinary pan or kettle was then poured over the coffee grounds that had been placed in the designated pot. This was, of course, similar to the way in which Arabian coffee was prepared in a series of dallahs. Indeed the Dutch dröppelminna, probably the first distinctive European coffee maker, retained the bulbous form of the dallah, although instead of a spout, it was equipped with a tap at the bottom of the vessel through which the infusion could be dispensed, providing it was not clogged up with grounds. →
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Design Insight
Rich households displayed large numbers of dallahs lined up by the kitchen fire, despite the fact only a few would ever be needed for coffee preparation. These were objects of ostentation, designed to send a message from the host to the guests.
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Design
That problem was addressed by the development of the biggin – a pot or urn in which a muslin bag was attached to the interior, enabling the grounds to be held back when poured. Nonetheless, the habit of using separate vessels for serving was maintained, accounting for the development of the highly decorative porcelain pots characteristic of the eighteenth century. The matching demitasse cups that formed part of the coffee service clearly echoed the finjans of the Middle East, a reference point maintained in the modern-day espresso cup. The coffee made over the campfires by Union soldiers during the US Civil War and cowboys on the range was brewed using the same basic techniques that originated in the Middle East. It was only in the late nineteenth century that filter, percolator, and pressure brewing apparatus began to be developed, and not until well into the twentieth century that these came to dominate domestic brewing in the West. Household roasting in an open pan remained common up until the early twentieth century when industrial products took over. The industry may have moved a long way on from its Middle Eastern origins, yet it is right to remember how coffee making evolved, and recall the genius of the peoples behind it. The revival of interest in these techniques in recent years, exemplified in the establishment of the World Cezve/ Ibrik Championship, has shown us just how effectively these traditional coffee making methods may be used to prepare outstanding specialty beverages. ◊
JONATHAN MORRIS is Research Professor in History at the University of Hertfordshire in the UK, and the European editor of Coffee: A Complete Guide to the Bean, the Beverage and the Industry, which has recently been republished in paperback. His new book Coffee: A Global History will be published in autumn 2018.
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Insight
The Taste of Climate Change Sustainability Lessons from Farmers of Tea Agroforests By SELENA AHMED There are many memorable cups of tea. For me, the most memorable cups are those that change the way we look at the world, the cups that spur action and shape the direction of what we do. It has been more than a decade since a cup of green Pu-erh drove my research journey to examine the effects of climate change on tea quality. It was the late spring of 2007. I was in an Akha village in the Bulang Mountains of Yunnan Province of southwestern China, carrying out fieldwork for my doctoral studies on the ecology and culture of tea. Southern Yunnan and the adjacent montane areas of Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, and India are the motherland of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis), the source of all green, white, black, oolong, and Pu-erh tea. The mountains of southern Yunnan are the epicenter of diversity for tea. I had spent the day measuring plant biodiversity in the community’s tea agroforests. While wandering through these agroforests, it is sometimes difficult to decipher the managed tea systems from the forests that buffer them. Ancient tea plants dripping with orchids and covered in moss flourish in these shady agroforests, reaching heights of up to 15 meters tall. Tea grows side by side with other trees locally used for food, medicine, construction material, dye, fodder, fuelwood, ritual, and tools. The tea plants themselves seem to vary from one to the next in every way – different
sizes, ages, and cultivars. In fact, a hectare of agroforest managed by an Akha smallholder family may be home to up to 15 different cultivars of tea. I packed up my plant press and other research tools as the early evening glow set in and headed to Li Gan and Aye Ying’s house for a cup of tea. This had become a frequent ritual after a day of fieldwork. Aye Ying would brew a cup of the freshest harvest that she had pan roasted. After drinking a mouthful of green Pu-erh, she noted with confidence, “It has changed. The taste has changed.” It had been just a few days previously that I shared tea with these tea farmers on their porch overlooking the remarkable tea agroforests beyond the village settlement. That was the dry season, and the East Asia monsoon had since arrived. Aye Ying was referring to the flavor changes in tea brought about by the advent of the monsoon. Spring tea in Yunnan fetches the highest price of the three harvest seasons because it is associated with the most complex, intense, yet balanced flavor profile, characterized by a strong floral, citrus, and woody aroma, and a bittersweet taste with a sweet lingering after taste at the back of the throat, referred to as gaan. Tea’s medicinal and stimulant attributes are also perceived to be stronger for the dry spring harvest. As soon as the monsoon hits, tea in southern Yunnan is classified as monsoon tea with a less-intense tasting infusion compared to spring tea. Sensory perceptions of tea farmers and tea traders dictate when this shift occurs, with price signals and flavor shifts that reverberate through the entire supply chain, and back to influence farmer income as well as the way farmers manage their tea gardens. Tea farmers are concerned with these sensory changes because monsoon tea
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fetches only half the price of spring tea. In the past few decades, tea farmers have observed that the monsoon season is getting longer due to climate change, including more intense and unpredictable rains. Li Gan explained that while the variability in precipitation is the biggest climate driver to influence tea quality in their tea gardens, this is not the only change that people, plants, and ecosystems are experiencing. In addition to climate change, this tea community is also experiencing tremendous change from an expanding tea market, globalization, political and lifestyle changes, deforestation, and more. All of these changes are impacting the culture and ecology of tea. As regards climate change, Li Gan and Aye Ying have also observed that temperatures have increased during their lifetime leading to fewer cold days, warmer winters, warmer summers, and less frequent occurrence of frost. The changes in precipitation and temperature impact both tea quality and yields, sometimes with an inverse relationship. Li Gan went on to share that the spring harvest season is also starting earlier but the early tea bud burst is regarded to disrupt flavor development processes during plant dormancy as well as heighten the vulnerability of young leaves to frost damage. →
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As soon as the monsoon hits, tea in southern Yunnan is classified as monsoon tea with a less-intense tasting infusion compared to spring tea ‌ Tea farmers are concerned with these sensory changes because monsoon tea fetches only half the price of spring tea. In the past few decades, tea farmers have observed that the monsoon season is getting longer due to climate change, including more intense and unpredictable rains.
Images: Michael Freeman, published in the book Tea Horse Road: China's Ancient Trade Road to Tibet by Michael Freeman and Selena Ahmed.
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Aye Ying brewed another cup of tea from leaves harvested from a relatively new tea garden, cultivated as a monoculture open-sun tea garden grown from clonal propagules, where tea plants are uniformly pruned into shrubs. “This tea has really changed. We should try processing it differently, maybe a black tea instead of Pu-erh,” she ventured. Monoculture-style tea gardens were introduced to the village by the Chinese Government as part of the Grain for Green program and provide farmers with subsidies. Many farmers in Yunnan have replaced their traditional tea agroforests with these monoculture-style gardens. These systems require agrochemical input including fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides unlike the community’s agroforests that rely on a diversified forest-like structure to provide ecosystem services of fertility and pest control. However, numerous farmers in this Akha village continue to manage tea agroforests because of the higher quality tea and because these systems are tied to their cultural identity. Li Gan revealed that tea from their agroforests is more resilient to overall climate variability and unpredictability compared to tea from their monoculture tea gardens. He explained that this is partially because tea plants cultivated from seeds rather than from clonal propagules are more resilient to climate variability. Tea plants managed as trees rather than pruned into shrubs are also more resilient to climate extremes. Aye Ying added that this is another reason why they are mindful of maintaining canopy coverage in their tea agroforests as well as forested buffers. It was this cup of tea over a decade ago that introduced me to not only the vulnerability of tea systems to climate change, from the plants through the whole supply chain, but also of the power of human management and processing in actively responding to climate change. The experience drove my research agenda – tea farmers provided me with research observations and hypotheses to test. Frequent reports in the news since 2010
Insight
highlight that climate change is also impacting tea systems in tea producing countries around the world – including India, Kenya, and Sri Lanka – resulting in severe and irreversible impacts on tea production and associated livelihoods. I have since gone on to initiate a collaborative tea project with an interdisciplinary team of scientists and industry partners to quantitatively measure how climate change is impacting tea quality, using state-of-the-art techniques. Tea plants provide a compelling system to understand climate change, as they are cultivated in production systems for numerous decades and thus experience the multiple decadal effects of climate change. Field Research Our interdisciplinary team has been carrying out research on tea and climate change across agroclimatic zones in major tea producing regions in China since 2012. Drawing from the seasonal variability that farmers are experiencing, we have been carrying out in-field experiments across different seasons coupled with manipulative greenhouse experiments as proxies for understanding long-term climate change. A snapshot of one field season shows that tea growth during the monsoon onset period in southwestern Yunnan was up to 50% higher compared to the spring drought. Bringing back to the lab tea samples that were collected before and during the onset of the monsoon, I found the amounts of catechin and methylxanthine secondary metabolites – major compounds that determine tea quality, including flavor – were up to 50% lower during the monsoon onset while total phenolic concentrations and antioxidant activity increased. While the inverse relationship between tea growth and concentrations of individual secondary metabolites suggests a dilution effect of precipitation on tea quality, the increase in total phenolic concentrations and antioxidant activity suggests additional plant stress responses.
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My collaborators in the lab of Albert Robbat at Tufts University in Massachusetts, US further analyzed these samples for their aromatic profiles and found that the spring tea from Yunnan had a slightly greater number of aromatic compounds (201) compared to the monsoon tea (196) with a total of 59 seasonally unique compounds. Some of these aroma compounds are associated with desirable flavor attributes, while others are associated with less desirable flavor attributes. Within each family of aromatic compounds, metabolite concentrations increased, decreased, or stayed the same following the onset of the monsoon, pointing to the complex impacts of climate variability on tea quality. The changes we have measured in the amounts of tea secondary metabolites correspond to the sensory perceptions of farmer, consumer, and standardized taste panelists during our taste tests. We also documented a decline of up to 50% in household income from tea sales with the onset of the monsoon and precipitation variability. Hundreds of interviews with tea farmers in Yunnan regarding climate patterns and their effects on tea yields and quality show consensus with the observations of Aye Ying and Li Gan. However, these observations vary with agroclimatic region. While precipitation is the major climate driver of tea quality in southern Yunnan, temperature is the major climate driver of tea quality in eastern China, pointing to the importance of geography in understanding the impact of climate change on tea. It is also critical to highlight that tea is not the only species in the tea garden that is shifting with climate. All species are vulnerable to climate change, resulting in a cascade of effects with shifting dynamics between species and abiotic and biotic stressors. Some of these interactions can cancel out the effects of climate change, while others can amplify these effects. For example, in a manipulative greenhouse experiment that I led, we found that increased water availability (that parallels extreme precipitation events
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that are anticipated to become more frequent in the tea producing area of Yunnan) resulted in significantly lower concentrations of a key tea quality compound, epicatechin-3-gallate, while the interactive effects of water with simulated pest pressures canceled out the effects of water alone. While our interdisciplinary team is still in the process of synthesizing our findings from experiments over the last six years, it has become clear that tea quality is directly impacted by shifts in precipitation and water availability, temperature, greenhouse gases, ultraviolet radiation, and shifting pest pressures associated with climate change. Extrapolating findings from our long-term seasonal and greenhouse studies to long-term climate scenario projections suggests that farmers and consumers face variable implications with forecasted climate scenarios. Our findings further highlight the need for research on management practices to facilitate climate adaptation for sustainable tea production. Luckily, we can start by learning from farmers of tea agroforests. →
Selena Ahmed will take to the stage at Re:co Seattle to share findings from her research on climate change. To find out more, please visit recosymposium.org.
A tea agroforest. Image: Selena Ahmed.
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Insight
10 Tips from Tea Farmers 01
Recognize linkages between environmental, agricultural, and human health. Our interaction with the environment is a key factor in attaining crops that are delicious and support food security and human health.
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Manage for diversity through the food supply chain. At the agricultural level, this includes managing for biodiversity at the landscape, species, and genetic levels above and below the soil. Agricultural diversification is a promising strategy for climate resilience. Biodiversity should be enhanced in the market sector through diversified product offerings and market strategies to consumers from diverse demographics.
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Mimic natural ecosystems in managing agricultural systems for multiple ecosystem services. Natural ecosystems provide crucial ecosystem services that support high quality crops including regulating soil nutrients, water quality, and climate regulation. Relying on ecosystem services in agricultural systems rather than agrochemical inputs also helps minimize chemical pollution of soil and water during food production.
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Cultivate crops for high quality rather than yields and work towards promoting synergies between human and environmental health. It is important to realize that food quality is a multi-dimensional parameter that includes flavor, health attributes, and the resilience of crops to climate variability.
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Don’t “pamper” crops with agrochemicals. Ecological stress in agricultural systems influences the presence and concentration of secondary metabolites and nutrients in crops that determine flavor and health attributes. Plants produce secondary metabolites as a defense response to stress in their environment. Producing secondary metabolites represents an energetic cost for plants. When plants are overly pampered with pesticides and herbicides, they lose some of their ecological cue to produce many of the secondary metabolites that we value in our cup of tea and coffee.
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Manage your agricultural systems and food enterprises for the long-term and worst-case scenarios. Expect the unexpected. Realize that systems and connections within and between systems are always changing – you have to keep moving just to stay in the same place with climate change. Don’t put all your seeds in one basket. And most importantly, focus on creating food systems for your great-grandchildren. The resources we have today have been stewarded by generations past. Plant fruit trees you may never harvest, and shade trees whose foliage crowns you may never enjoy.
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Continuously experiment with innovation in production, processing, and marketing.
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Share and exchange knowledge, crop germplasm, and skills through developing norms of cooperation. A great rising tide will lift all boats; work together to create big waves. Friendly competition and information-sharing and -exchange among tea growers and supply chain members will result in synergy and progressive ideation that will lead to a more resilient world.
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Manage for context specificity and interacting effects. What works today may not work tomorrow. What grows well here may not grow well over there. What tastes delicious to me may not taste so good to you. And remember, always try to take a systems approach to see all the connections and interactions. For example, when managing for rainfall in agricultural systems, it will not only be the crops impacted but also the pollinators and microbes and all of their dynamics with plants, the environment, and each other.
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Support the rights of workers and farming households while fostering direct connections between farmers, enterprises, and consumers to ensure transparency and trust through the food supply chain. ◊
SELENA AHMED is Assistant Professor, Sustainable Food Systems and Principal Investigator at The Food and Health Lab in Montana State University in the US.
21-23 June 2018 www.worldofcoffee.org
FEATURING
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25 Issue 01 04 Summer 2017
Sign Post Destinations
RICHARD STILLER and INGIBJÖRG FERRER visit
Guangzhou
The 2017 World Coffee Roasting Championship was held in Guangzhou, China, where the amazing Rubens Gardelli roasted his way to the top of the world. After the championship there was time to explore the city – a bustling metropolis with more than 14 million inhabitants. Images: HAY Coffee Company.
In this big conglomerate of old and new where long-standing structures mix with striking new edifices, and parks and skyscrapers cohabit in densely populated areas, the most eye-catching buildings are the iconic Canton Tower and the Guangzhou Opera House designed by Zaha Hadid. These features pay tribute to the modern, more globalized era of the city, marking it as a perfect location to hold the World Coffee Roasting Championship. Though China is mostly known for its tea, coffee is rising fast and more and more specialty cafés are opening in all the major cities. There are a handful of specialty cafés in Guangzhou serving great coffee in stylish surrounds, and surfing the third wave of coffee. Our first stop was APF.KAFE, a coffee shop that draws inspiration from the Scandinavian approach to design, coffee shops, and coffee: clean and minimalist in style with light-roasted coffee. The shop, located off a main road in the Tianhe District, is quiet, and entering is like stepping into another world, a world that is in stark contrast to the massive, loud city outside the door. The space feels like an oasis for the body with its welcoming, relaxing, and calming atmosphere. The filter coffee is served in a clay jug with matching small clay cups positioned on a wooden tray – a stylish arrangement which focuses on the coffee and its taste. Within walking distance from APF.KAFE, through the city’s noise and dust, we found HAY Coffee Company. This café provides
a very different atmosphere, leaning into industrial design with a stylish espresso and brew bar. Big neon letters blaze brightly on the wall, and artwork around the café features a mix of street art, anime, and comic-style figures. HAY’s large international magazine collection invites you to linger over coffee that it roasts itself. Although strikingly different in style to APF. KAFE, the café also provides a quiet and relaxing environment where you can enjoy the coffee in all its beauty. Finally, visiting Feel More Coffee & Bagels rounds up the variety of specialty coffee shops Guangzhou has to offer. This coffee shop, also in the Tianhe District, has the vibe of a secret surf hot spot with dominant hues of bright yellow, great music and, you guessed it, amazing bagels. Located in a tiny, green park this coffee shop not only satisfies the coffee enthusiast but also diners hungry for some Americanstyle bagels. With a friendly atmosphere and happy vibe, Feel More Coffee & Bagels is very welcoming. There are, of course, more places to visit; however, our short glimpse into Guangzhou ends here. As the city develops so does its third wave coffee scene, although specialty coffee remains a niche product favored by ex-pats and high-income earners due to its relatively expensive price tag. There is still some way to go for specialty coffee in this exciting city, but the first crucial steps have been made with a diverse line-up of cafés catering to every taste. ◊
LIVE HAPPILLY José Abelardo Díaz Enamorado, winner of the Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award in 2017, has been perfecting coffee farming his entire life, to offer the world his very best harvest. illy has been perfecting its unique blend of nine Arabica origins for more than 80 years, to offer the world its greatest coffee.
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