An Espresso With Notes of Canal

A Short Lexicon of Coffee Buzzwords

Coffee is filled with buzzwords that lack agreed-upon definitions: slightly woolly terms like “Sustainable,” “Ethical,” even “Specialty.” Companies use them constantly to sell more coffee—but what do these words actually mean?

Just when I thought I was done with tariff stories, they pull me back in.

Here's a taster of the latest coffee news:

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is targeting Hawaii's coffee-growing regions. ICE agents are using supposed welfare checks on undocumented minors to gather information about—and eventually detain—the children and their adult guardians. Hawaii's coffee sector uses a lot of migrant labour, and some of the raids have taken place on South Kona coffee farms. This has left many workers living in fear and constantly watching their backs.

A couple of years ago I wrote about a respected Mexican producer in Hawaii who was deported in 2017, and how his daughter had no choice but to take over his farm.

Venice is famous for its watery locale, and visitors to this year's Biennale can get a literal taste for the city by enjoying an espresso brewed with canal water. Just head on down to Canal Café, a design project which uses a series of filtration tanks to purify lagoon water before brewing and serving it to guests. The idea is to make attendees think more closely about clean water and climate change: “It’s visceral — to drink or not to drink — and will provoke people to confront the issue that is literally right in front of them", Biennale director Carlo Ratti told the New York Times.
The Trump administration's tariffs are impacting much of the coffee industry, and equipment manufacturers are no exception. Most coffee gear is made in China, the country hit hardest by the tariffs (well, until today when everything changed again) and the launch of Fellow Product's fancy new espresso machine has suffered from the uncertainty and disruption.

For more on all these stories, plus a double dose of Boston-based unionisation news, check out the full Roundup over at Fresh Cup Magazine:

If you missed it, why not check out my latest piece, a deep-dive into the vagaries of coffee buzzwords in collaboration with Ashley from Boss Barista:

Paid subscribers (it could be you!) will receive a new article this Friday with some bonus buzzwords, but until then it's goodbye from a sassy-looking Maru:

A stripey cat with a white chest and paws lounges in a sunbeam, staring sassily at the camera — Well hello there.