Think roasting coffee is hard? Try doing it without the benefit of sight.

[The Unseen Bean: Roasting Coffee In The Dark]

A Cuppa Day | 2012 in Empty Cups

Not a particularly unique business model among responsible roasters, but definitely a great video.

[via Coffee Circle - Our vision of Direct Fair Trade on Vimeo]

There are a lot of reasons why you should never buy this type of coffee. Here’s one more.

[Worlds most expensive coffee tainted by horrific civet abuse | Environment | guardian.co.uk]

Chapter 13 focuses on coffee production in Oaxaca during the 1990′s and early 2000′s, but the entire book is also available.

[via Google Books]

“Everything that we do here in our roastery in San Francisco, from roasting the coffee, tasting the coffee, quality control, packaging; it’s all to make the coffee taste better”. 

[via A Morning with Ritual Coffee Roasters on Vimeo]

Merry “Corky” White, author of Coffee Life in Japan, on coffee culture in America.

[The History of Coffee Culture in America Video | Smithsonian Magazine]

Coffee Break (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) from John Harrison on Vimeo.

The Good Food Awards launches its third year with a call for entries August 5-31!

Seedling Projects, the “‘do tank’ for the food movement” behind the initiative, is inviting food producers from across the country to submit their beer, charcuterie, cheese, chocolate, coffee, pickles, preserves, pickles and – new this year – confections. A blind tasting with Alice Waters, Nell Newman, the food editors of Bon Appetit, and 130 other taste makers will determine who is recognized as the Good Food Award winners of 2013.  The catch: everything must be produced in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. 

Last year’s 99 winners received some unexpected perks, from special placements in Whole Foods Market and Williams Sonoma stores nationwide to media coverage in the San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post and New York Times. All winners are honored in a gala ceremony and marketplace at the San Francisco Ferry Building and receive the Good Food Awards Seal to place on their winning products all year long.

You can review the sustainability criteria and enter online at www.goodfoodawards.org. The entry fee is $50, which goes to cover the sorting, storing and transporting of an anticipated 1,000 entries. Members of the brand new Good Food Merchants Guild get one free entry.

 

More details available via this press release [PDF].

An interesting study on aroma published in Flavour Journal.