Good morning dear Friends readers lovers of Good Coffee. I take inspiration from this article published in the magazine "Il Gambero Rosso" of which I leave you the link at the bottom.
It is extremely interesting to understand what we are experiencing in recent times; on the one hand I see with extreme pleasure the growing interest in "Special Coffees" called by Americans and Europeans and coffee gourmets "Specialty Coffee" and on the other hand the continuous and unstoppable growth in the importation of raw Robusta and Arabica coffees of low and very low quality that today 07 January 2024 have also reached very high and absurd prices; these coffees are intended for mass production for the most diverse extraction and consumption systems, first of all certainly the plastic and aluminum capsules ...!
What's happening? Is it the fault of the final consumer who still doesn't really know how to distinguish true quality? Is it the fault of the roasters who don't want or don't know how to communicate the value of their products? Or does this whole problem have much deeper and more complicated causes to explain...?
I would like to try with your help and interest in these problems to explain what we are experiencing; if you have questions, ideas or answers, I invite you to leave a comment, Thanks and Good Coffee!
It seems like a forbidden topic: coffee. And while the world now talks about specialty, extractions, blends, here we continue to simply and vaguely say coffee. Maybe it's time to reopen a discussion that has been blocked for years
Every morning a roaster wakes up and knows that he will have to run faster than a journalist to avoid clichés and false myths that revolve around the world of coffee. Now, if specialty in Italy is still struggling on its path to success, the fault is not (only) of the media, but those who deal with communication play - or at least should have done so - a fundamental role in the sector.
Language is the most powerful weapon there is to change things, just think of the way we insist on calling the drink, coffee, without making the effort to use its real name, espresso . Or filter, depending on the case. If it is true that the newspaper is the morning prayer, then espresso is the sacrament of Italians. And most of the time reading the newspaper happens while sipping a good cup, a ritual of many early risers who concentrate their energy in the early hours of the day. Then it would be desirable for the words to match well with the aromas released by the moka that mumbles: no more gossip and set phrases, pre-set storytelling on the barista-friend-confidant and the bar intended as a meeting place for those four friends who wanted to change the world. But correct, healthy, effective information , straight to the point.
Trends on TikTok
We, like everyone else, have made mistakes, including setting the topic aside for a while, believing that there was nothing interesting to say. But as long as illogical trends like adding salt to the cup continue to be popular on TikTok, as long as newspapers persist in peddling the good old study "If you drink bitter coffee, you're a psychopath" every two years, then talking about the price of espresso, about work on the plantation, about correct procedures for an ad hoc espresso, will still make sense.
The sex appeal of coffee
Even if only to give coffee back that sex appeal that, deep down, it has always had: what's more captivating than a product that, day after day, you never get bored of?
