The World Coffee Championships quietly changed competitors’ country affiliations from Taiwan to Chinese Taipei. Plus, zap your coffee to see if it tastes good, and Trader Joe’s sued because their beans don’t have enough caffeine.
‘Taiwan Is Now “Chinese Taipei” At The World Coffee Championships’ – via Sprudge
On April 12, Bala won the 2026 World Latte Art Championship representing Taiwan. However, last week, the World Coffee Championships (WCC) replaced all mentions of Taiwan with Chinese Taipei on its website, the Taipei Times reported.
The name “Chinese Taipei” is used for Taiwanese athletes competing in international sporting competitions to avoid offending the Chinese government. Internationally, various countries, including the United States, maintain a deliberately ambiguous stance to continue diplomatic relations with the PRC while still engaging with Taiwan.
The WCC is the organizing committee for many major coffee competitions. As Zac Cadwalader reports for Sprudge, it has used Taiwan as the country designation for competitors since 2007. But on April 28, all mentions of Taiwan on the WCC website were replaced by Chinese Taipei.
A photo of Bala on stage, with a screen showing he was representing Taiwan, was taken down. The Wayback Machine shows that the website previously listing past WCC winners was removed (it’s still accessible here) and now shows a statement from the organizing body about its decision to switch from using the name “Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei.”
Coffee professionals have been critical of the switch. In a newsletter article, writer Jenn Chen called it “a bullshit, spineless move, doing it silently and hoping that no one notices. The erasure of Taiwan means less visibility of the country on the proverbial coffee world stage, brushing aside all the inroads and contributions it has made, and sets a dangerous precedent on SCA’s end.”
Berg Wu, who won the 2016 World Barista Championship, wrote on Facebook that “I once had the opportunity to stand on the World Barista Championship stage representing Taiwan … To me, Taiwan is not just a name. It is an identity and a shared memory built by many competitors, coaches, judges, cafes, roasters, and all the consumers who have supported us along the way.”
On May 1, the WCC released a statement on its website, stating that the change was an administrative decision to align with the naming conventions of international sporting bodies such as FIFA and the International Olympic Committee. “This is an update to how competitors are recorded, administratively. It does not change who can compete, how they qualify, or the experience they have on the WCC stage”, the statement reads in part.
Read more on the WCC’s renaming controversy here.
‘Electrical Current Might Be the Key to a Better Cup of Coffee’ – via Ars Technica
Many coffee shops use a refractometer to assess coffee quality. Refractometers use light to measure the total dissolved solids (basically, its strength or how much of the actual coffee bean is dissolved in the cup you’re drinking), which can be a marker of quality. There’s even a whole chart showing how a coffee’s strength can affect its flavor, and in general, there’s an accepted TDS range where coffee tastes good to most people.
However, a refractometer can’t account for other variables, specifically roast level, which also affects coffee flavor. A sample of a light- and dark-roasted coffee might yield the same TDS, but taste wildly different.
A group of researchers at the University of Oregon has now developed a new technique that measures both, and it involves zapping your coffee with an electrical current.
“The reason you have an enjoyable cup of coffee is almost certainly that you have selected a coffee of a particular roast color and extracted it to a desired strength,” the study’s lead author, Christopher Hendon, said in a press release. “Until now we haven’t been able to separate those variables. Now we can diagnose what gives rise to that delicious cup.”
For the study, published in Nature Communications, the team repurposed a lab tool called a potentiostat (we had to watch a video to understand—kind of—how they work). When the potentiostat’s electrode is immersed in a cup of coffee, the tool measures how electricity interacts with the liquid.
To test the real-world implications, the team assessed four coffees from an English coffee roaster. One of the samples had failed the roaster’s quality controls. The coffees all looked the same, and other tests, such as color analysis and TDS readings, could not differentiate among them. But the new technique identified the failed sample.
The researchers hope that, using the tool, baristas will be able to quickly assess coffee in a cafe setting and maintain consistent brews. “In the short term, we hope this is something that will make a difference in coffee shops and in the coffee industry,” Hendon said.
Read the full story on the electric coffee measurement here.
‘Brewing Trader Joe’s Controversy: Customers Allege They Were Misled About Coffee’s Low Caffeine’ – via NBC News
People take legal action against coffee brands all the time, a common topic of this newsletter. Some are sued over forced labor allegations; others have been accused of publishing misleading recycling claims. One of the funnier ones we’ve talked about in the newsletter is two companies battling over who can lay claim to the concept of death itself in their branding.
Trader Joe’s is the target of the latest coffee lawsuit. The claim? The grocery chain’s low-acid coffee contained less caffeine than it should.
According to NBC News’ Gary Grumbach, four customers from across the U.S. filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that Trader Joe’s French Roast Low Acid coffee is marketed as fully caffeinated despite tests showing it is closer to half-caf. (An 8 oz cup of brewed coffee contains around 95mg of caffeine, according to the USDA.)
“Consumers purchase the product believing that it is fully caffeinated when it is not,” the lawsuit reads, according to USA Today. “This is a material misrepresentation … The amount of caffeine in a coffee blend affects a consumer’s purchasing decision.”
The lawsuit cites results from an independent test measuring the caffeine content of Trader Joe’s coffee, conducted as part of a separate 2025 lawsuit brought by Florida-based low-acid coffee brand Puroast Coffee Company. The testing found that Trader Joe’s low-acid coffees contained 51% as much caffeine as the retailer’s Dark French Roast and 45% as much as its House Blend.
The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages, attorney’s fees, and for Trader Joe’s to audit and correct its marketing materials and recall the product in question. Trader Joe’s did not respond to NBC News or USA Today’s requests for comment.
Read the full story on the latest coffee lawsuit here.
More News
‘Brazil’s New Coffee Crop Seen 11.5% Larger, Says Survey’ – via Reuters
‘Get Competition Ready For The New US Barista Championship’ – via Sprudge
‘Starbucks Turnaround Plan Is Paying Off, CEO Says’ – via Restaurant Dive
‘B Corp Coffee Leaders Create Global Coalition’ – via Global Coffee Report
The Week in Coffee Unionizing
Like in the U.S., Canada’s coffee unionization movement is largely being driven by Starbucks baristas. But that doesn’t mean specialty coffee companies are being left out.
A lot of the activity has happened in Vancouver. Over the past few years, workers at 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters, Grounds For Coffee, and Matchstick Coffee have all unionized. (In February, Matchstick announced it would close all its locations.)
But now workers at Rosso Coffee Roasters in Calgary are unionizing, joining UFCW Local 401. Baristas at five Rosso locations, along with assistant managers and roastery workers, representing around 30 people, voted to form the first specialty coffee union in the province of Alberta, according to Local 401.
Workers filed for unionization with Local 401 in Feb. 2026. In the lead-up to the vote, the union accused Rosso of holding one-on-one meetings with workers and reducing the hours of a pro-union worker. Rosso accused the union of publishing social media posts that violated Alberta’s labor relations code.
“Workers in coffee shops are showing real courage right now,” UFCW Local 401 president Thomas Hesse said in a press release. “For years, this sector has been seen as difficult to organize, but Rosso workers are proving that when people come together, they can raise standards and have a real voice at work. This is an important first for Alberta, and it won’t be the last.”
Beyond the Headlines
‘How Yemeni Coffee Shops in North America Are Rebranding a War-Torn Nation’ by Shaistha Khan
‘As Iranians Face War, There’s Still Solace in a Cafe’ by Farnaz Fassihi
