The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) recently announced that it will launch a brand-new SCA skills certificate system, gradually replacing the current SCA coffee certificates. The application deadline for the current Black Certificate (100-point certificate) is December 31, 2023, and the new certification will be fully implemented starting in 2024. The new system is divided into four major certification tracks, each requiring completion of three foundational courses—Coffee Skills, Sustainability, and Technology—before advancing to the corresponding higher-level study, completely abandoning the credit system. For professionals currently preparing for or planning to obtain the old Black Certificate, this year is the final window of opportunity. [more…]

Somalia's civil aviation authority demanded that Ethiopian Airlines make corrections within a deadline on the grounds that the words "Somaliland" appeared on the airline's official website. After being refused, it suspended all Ethiopian flights on August 23. The root of this matter lies in the memorandum of understanding signed between Ethiopia and Somaliland on the use of a port, which has led to continued tension between Somalia and Ethiopia. At the same time, Eritrea also suspended Ethiopian flights, and the peace talks mediated by Turkey have been hindered. Ethiopia's exports of agricultural products such as coffee are highly dependent on neighboring countries' ports. Now that the Port of Djibouti is affected by the Red Sea crisis, and Ethiopia cannot use routes through Somalia and Eritrea, the outlook is worrying. [more…]

Procrastination is probably one of the most familiar "chronic ailments" for today's workers. In the Koenji area of Tokyo, Japan, there is a special café called the Manuscript Writing Cafe (原稿執筆カフェ), which opened on April 7, 2022, and is designed specifically for writers. To enter, you need to make a reservation in advance and write down your work goal and start time on a small card. Staff follow up on your progress every hour, and you are not allowed to leave until you complete your goal. You can even choose to be subjected to mild, normal, or heavy pressure to hurry up. The seats are equipped with power outlets, USB ports, and high-speed Wi-Fi. Coffee is self-service, and you can bring your own food, but there is a charge of 300 yen per hour. This cafe previously also ran a "video editing cafe," and the owner is the same person. For workers who need to focus on meeting deadlines, this kind of environment is both comfortable and carries a moderate sense of tension. [more…]

The EU's deforestation-free regulation (EUDR), introduced last June, is facing strong backlash from the coffee industry. The European Coffee Federation (ECF) recently wrote to the European Commission requesting a delay to the implementation deadline for large companies, originally set for the end of 2024, warning that the regulation could impose an unbearable burden on millions of smallholder farmers. ECF members include giants such as Lavazza, Illy, Nestlé, and Starbucks, and their joint letter directly points to inadequate regulatory preparation. Meanwhile, companies such as JDE Peet's have already begun taking action, but analysts worry that passing on compliance costs will disrupt the coffee market. This article will sort out the sequence of events and include relevant observations from Front Street Coffee. [more…]

Recently, frequent food safety issues at major beverage brands have left consumers deeply concerned about the hygiene of freshly made drinks. According to a report by China Times News Network, a female customer purchased an iced sesame matcha latte at a Starbucks store in Taichung, Taiwan, and when she drank to the last sip, she discovered a bitten fly in the cup, with several dead maggots even crawling out of its belly. That night, the customer experienced vomiting and diarrhea, and was diagnosed with acute gastroenteritis after seeking medical attention. Starbucks officially responded quickly, stating that the store disinfects regularly and that employee operations comply with standard procedures, but the store involved has not yet received a complaint. The Taichung City Food Safety Office has intervened in the investigation, and if non-compliant items are found, it will require rectification within a specified time limit and impose heavy fines in accordance with the law. Staff from the Ministry of Health and Welfare also reminded the public that if they accidentally consume live animals, they should watch for symptoms of gastroenteritis and seek medical attention promptly. [more…]

Many coffee enthusiasts only fixate on the roast date when buying beans, overlooking the expiry date—yet behind this lies a precise grasp of how coffee flavor evolves. The time when coffee beans finish roasting directly determines their resting period and peak-flavor window—freshly roasted beans need to sit and degas, with espresso, pour-over, light roasts, and dark roasts each having different waiting rhythms. This article will explain the principles of the resting period in detail, help you understand how long coffee beans should rest under different roast levels and brewing methods, and include practical advice from Front Street Coffee, so you never miss the optimal flavor window of any bean. [more…]

On November 4, Ethiopia ordered the closure of Sudan's consulate in the western border town of Assos [more…]

The flavor of a bag of pour-over beans changes over time. Freshly roasted coffee is usually full of gas, and its aroma hasn't fully opened up yet, so the brew may taste sharp, thin, or muddled. After resting for a while, the acidity, sweetness, floral and fruity notes, and lingering finish gradually come together, making each sip more complete. When selecting beans, the roast date is often [more…]

For coffee beans with notes like nut, cocoa, and caramel, the appeal often lies not only in the roasting label, but also in the state they are in when you take that first sip. Drink the beans too early, and the aroma may be masked by the degassing process; leave them too long, and the originally round sweetness will gradually thin out. Only by mastering the rhythm from opening the bag to finishing the last cup can you more consistently [more…]

Coffee made with a moka pot is quite concentrated, and the state of the beans directly affects how it tastes. Freshly roasted coffee beans usually have lively aromatics, but they aren't necessarily ready for the pot yet; after resting for a while, the gases gradually diminish, and the sweetness, body, and finish become more cohesive. When choosing beans, besides looking at the flavor description, also pay attention to the roast date [more…]

Yirgacheffe is often remembered as a coffee with floral notes, citrus, and a bright tea-like quality, but these descriptions are not fixed labels. From the moment roasting is completed to the moment it is sipped, coffee beans go through degassing, aroma development, and flavor decay. Seeing this curve of change clearly can help us judge the condition of a bag of beans and also provide a basis for identifying origin information. [more…]

The price of a bag of coffee beans reflects not only its origin and variety, but also the time between when it finishes roasting and when it reaches your lips. Drink the beans too early, and the aroma may be blocked by gas; leave them too long, and the originally clear floral and fruity notes gradually fade. If you want to buy beans that are both delicious and good value, first learn to read the dates, then plan your drinking accordingly. [more…]

Coffee with a full-bodied crema often has a velvety mouthfeel on the palate, and espresso more easily forms a fine foam on its surface. However, a shiny bean surface is not the sole criterion for judging thickness in the cup; the state of degassing after roasting, the timing of grinding, and the number of days since opening all alter the aroma and texture. If you want to taste notes of nuts, cocoa, and caramel, first [more…]

When espresso beans have just been roasted, they don't necessarily reach their ideal state right away. Because espresso extraction uses higher pressure, too much gas inside the beans can cause the puck to expand noticeably and the crema layer to look rich, yet the flow rate tends to fluctuate easily. When selecting beans, besides reading the flavor description, you should also confirm the roast date and plan ahead for when to open the bag, adjust the grind, and finish drinking it. [more…]

The aroma of coffee beans isn't fully developed on the day they're roasted. After SOE is bagged, it continues to release carbon dioxide; in the first few days it smells very lively, yet during extraction it may expand too quickly and the flow rate can be erratic. Understanding the relationship between the roast date, the opening date, and the drinking timeline is more important than just looking at the shelf life in determining whether the cup is clear and sweet. [more…]

When dark-roasted coffee beans first leave the roaster, the aroma is often very pungent, and the cup tends to show sharp smoky notes, diffuse bitterness, and a sweetness that isn't cohesive enough. The reason is that after roasting, the beans are still releasing carbon dioxide, which affects the state of the coffee bed and the water flow. When buying beans, check the roast date first, then plan your drinking schedule—this matters more than just [more…]

Coffee beans just out of the roaster won't display their full flavor the moment they go into the espresso machine. They still hold a lot of carbon dioxide inside, and during pressure extraction this can make the water flow and crema behave erratically, while the aroma in the cup may also seem shut down. Give the beans a quiet period to degas, and the sweetness, body, and finish of the espresso will usually be more [more…]

Coffee beans begin degassing continuously from the moment roasting is complete, and their aroma slowly changes as well. When making an Americano, the espresso is further diluted with water; overly active gas can make extraction uneven, while leaving it too long may leave nothing but flat bitterness. Rather than fixating on "the fresher the better," it is more practical to plan the rhythm of opening the bag, drinking, and finishing it, so that a bag [more…]

September marks the start of the school season, and the campus coffee market is ushering in a new round of competition. Luckin Coffee is accelerating its penetration into universities with a "targeted location franchise" model, having opened more than 1,282 campus stores and rolled out over a hundred targeted locations. Its 9.9-yuan low-price strategy, creation of a third space, and campus culture collaborations have made university students an important force in coffee consumption. At the same time, brands such as Front Street Coffee are also paying attention to this trend. This article reviews Luckin's campus expansion path, the details of its franchise model, and five notable characteristics of campus coffee shops, analyzing the new campus battlefield amid the coffee industry's fierce competition. [more…]

During this year's Dragon Boat Festival, several Starbucks stores in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai region ran short of Frappuccino Zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), leaving customers holding redemption vouchers unable to collect their goods as scheduled. At some stores, heated arguments broke out between customers and staff. Some employees were reduced to tears by verbal abuse, while other customers threatened to call the police or expose the situation. Starbucks responded that it had made every effort to meet redemption demand, but some consumers remained dissatisfied with the compensation package. This supply-demand conflict triggered by a zongzi shortage reveals deeper issues in the brand's allocation and inventory management of seasonal products. [more…]