Specialty coffee is not a type, kind, or variety of coffee plant. To me, specialty coffee is a landscape of connected and interdependent people and processes that is focused on quality not quantity of the coffee experience. From farmers, their families, their seasonal workers, quality control processes, the wet and dry milling stations, storage, exporters, importers, commercial and home roasters, cafe owners, baristas, organizations such as SCAA, ACE, and WCR, trainers and educators, universities, sensory scientists, botanists and agronomists, sustainability initiatives, climate scientists, software coders and app developers, equipment and device manufacturers, private and public investors, supply chain and logistics experts, commodities traders, local and national governments, cultural innovators, and more.

When a drop of specialty coffee hits your tongue, you are tasting your connection to the fortunes and misfortunes of everyone in this landscape.