The Barista Magazine August + September 2021 issue features Emi Fukahori and Mathieu Theis of Switzerland on the cover.
Also included: A special section on ’Retail’s Untapped Potential,’ ’A Living Wage – Part 2,’ ’Tech Support,’ ’Field Reports’ from Tunisia and Louisville, Ky., and much more!
BY KENNETH R. OLSON
BARISTA MAGAZINE
As a new month has begun, and with it the publication of the Barista Magazine August + September 2021 issue, we move forward with some excitement mixed with trepidation. By the end of the issue’s two-month span, we’ll be gathered with many members of our coffee community at Expo in New Orleans. Before then we’ll be in Anaheim, Calif., for Coffee Fest. We’ve already had the pleasure of attending a Coffee Fest this year, and its resurgence is surely something to be celebrated. We’ve recently also received news of the 2021 World Barista Championship coming to HOST Milan in October. And after that, the 2022 WBC will be at the Melbourne International Coffee Expo in Australia.
In other news, coffee prices on the C market have recently reached a five-year high. But the reason for that rise is not because global commodity markets are finally concerned that farmers aren’t earning enough. Instead, it’s because of heavy frosts in Brazil.
And that’s the part of the current feeling of trepidation we have here in Oregon. We’ve had the largest wildfire in the country burning in the southern part of the state for weeks. And unfortunately, the heart of wildfire season is just starting. And though frosts and fire are on opposite ends of the spectrum in most instances, they’re not when it comes to climate change. Climate change isn’t only affecting coffee-growing or coffee-consuming countries. It affects all of us. And while 2020 taught us some hard lessons on our interconnected economy and the fragility of it and our own immune systems, it seems like 2021 may be teaching us all about the reality of climate change. It’s not going to happen sometime in the future. It’s happening right now.
’FOAM’: News + Trends
While climate change imperils the survival of Arabica coffee, scientists have been searching for other species and varieties that may better adapt to a hotter world. One species that may help coffee continue into the far future has just been rediscovered in Sierra Leone, Coffea stenophylla. It took years of study and in-field research to find the plant, which also has apparent resistance to coffee leaf rust. You can read about the species, what it took to find it, and more in the “Foam” section of the August + September 2021 issue.
’FIELD REPORT’: Tunis
Tunisia boasts a longstanding and unique coffee culture. Nowhere is it more evident than in the narrow streets of the capital, Tunis. Specialty coffee has yet to find a strong foothold in the city, but Tunisians use traditional brewing methods and recipes to enjoy coffee throughout their days. Find out more about one of the oldest coffee cultures in the world in the latest issue of Barista Magazine!
COVER FEATURE: Emi Fukahori and Mathieu Theis
Emi Fukahori and Mathieu Theis may be best known as coffee competitors. They’ve both won the Swiss Barista Championship; Emi is the 2018 World Brewers Cup Champion, and she will represent Switzerland at the 2021 WBC; and Mathieu reached the WBC finals twice after winning the national barista championship twice. But while competitions played an important role in their relationship, where they really connect is over their mutual love of natural and fermented coffees, which they serve at MAME, their cafés, and roastery. They’ve parlayed that love into a successful business, and relationship, but also into a community of coffee enthusiasts in Zurich. We are very excited to have this amazing couple on the cover of Barista Magazine and invite you to read more about them in the August + September 2021 issue.
SPECIAL SECTION: ’Retail’s Untapped Potential’
The COVID pandemic brought a number of changes to retail spaces. Most of them were the results of cafés adapting to local government restrictions. Some of those changes may last, while others fall away with the pandemic. But in this special section, we have 3 articles offering options on how to rebuild retail spaces for the future. They include strategies and techniques for selling high-end coffees and others for helping your customers improve their home-brewing setups. Additionally, Jen and Wes Farnell, founders and operators of Canada’s Eight Ounce Coffee, give five suggestions on reimagining retail.
’A LIVING WAGE’: Part 2 of 3
What does a living wage mean for farmworkers? Writer Sunghee Tark, co-founder and CEO of Bean Voyage, tackles the topic in the second of her three-part series on living incomes. Find out what it takes to survive for coffee farmworkers, how they are paid, and what we as consumers can do to make sure they are fairly compensated for their labor in this article.
’ONE ON ONE’: Margaret Fundira
Margaret Fundira is an expert on yeast, the tiny single-celled organisms that give so much flavor to fermented products. She began her professional career using her knowledge to improve wine making. As the company she works for began to become more and more involved with coffee production, Margaret transferred from the wine department to coffee and cocoa. And now she is one of the leading experts on using yeast to improve coffee processing. Barista Magazine’s editor-in-chief, Sarah Allen, had a fascinating conversation with Margaret from her LalCafe office in Cape Town, South Africa, about her history, why yeast is important, and what makes coffee processing unique in “One on One.”
These are just some of the stories you’ll find in the August + September 2021 issue of Barista Magazine. You have your choice to read Barista Magazine in paper or digital format. You can order a hard copy through our online store here or start a subscription. While supplies last, you’ll get a copy of the 2nd Crack comic book for free with any new subscription!
Read the August + September 2021 issue for free with our digital edition. Visit our digital edition archives here.
