A complex web of pressures, from climate change to tariffs, are pushing up coffee prices. But the industry has a challenge: How to communicate necessary price rises to consumers without scaring them off.
For paid subscribers: deleted scenes from last week's lexicon. Musings on the words "Sustainability", "Specialty", and the old-school buzzwords like "Artisan" and "Gourmet".
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?
We used to grudgingly turn to coffee alternatives in times of turmoil. Now, however, there is a new breed of venture capital-backed substitutes, with a more antagonistic relationship to coffee.
Knowing what to say during a coffee cupping can be daunting. When you run out of the standards—Full, Juicy, Mild, Complex etc—here are a few...non-standard adjectives to try.
