Thank you @dailycoffeenews and Roast Magazine for alerting us to a great article by Slate, dated August 25, 2025.
CLICK HERE for the full article
Here are a few of our favorite clips:
We might think of what’s going down like this: The SCA spent a pretty sum to breed a young racehorse 🏇 (let’s call him Cupping Monopoly) from the same pedigree as the world’s fastest horse 🏇 (let’s call him Q-Biscuit). And just as the young buck was about to race the veteran Q-Biscuit for the first time, the SCA purchased Q-Biscuit, then took him behind the barn and shot him. Place your bets! Cupping Monopoly, it turns out, wins the race.😂😂
...
Following the stunning agreement, Marty Pollack, a Q-Grader and co-founder of Torch Coffee, minces no words, likening the SCA to the Mafia [👍👍👍]: “They found out the No. 1 opposition to CVA global domination. It’s Q graders.” Now Q graders either train with the SCA—on a system that erases the specialty coffee community they have long been a part of—or don’t train at all.
...
In its June 2024 outline of the CVA model, the SCA writes, “There can be no calibration in
cupping, as there is no objective standard regarding the impression of
quality.” But if we are setting standards for tasting coffee, why would we
pursue objectivity over quality? I want to drink good coffee, not objective
coffee. Sadly, judging by the lack of community engagement the CQI pursued
during its agreement with the SCA, it no longer believes in sharing a common
understanding of what’s good either.
...
Further comment from me, "Why has the SCA board still not managed to fire Executive Director Yannis Apostolopoulos??"
See our related blogpost, dated June 1, 2025: CVA-Gate: Unnecessary Takeover...
