Abstract
This paper explores how experiences of taste, social life, and personhood converge for drinkers of specialty coffee and craft beer in Colombia. Against a national backdrop of rising incomes and an expanded middle class, yet also persistent poverty and inequality, both specialty coffee and craft beer have been enjoying an unprecedented rise in popularity. Although Colombia is recognized globally for its coffee production, finer quality coffees have traditionally been exported, leaving only inferior beans for domestic consumption. However, in recent years, specialty coffee companies have sprung up throughout Bogotá, each serving carefully roasted single-origin coffees from different regions of Colombia, and some offering guided tastings through which customers can learn to appreciate nuances of acidity and aroma. Colombia’s beer industry, meanwhile, has long been dominated by a handful of brands that all mass-produce very similar light lagers. But the last decade has seen a rapid proliferation of independent craft breweries around Bogotá and other Colombian cities, offering a variety of previously unknown beer styles at significantly higher prices than most Colombians are accustomed to pay. Drawing on ethnographic encounters with specialty coffee consumers and professionals, and with craft beer brewers and drinkers, this paper examines the implications of the transition many Colombians have made from mass-produced, cheap versions of everyday beverages to those designated as uniquely Colombian “specialty” and “craft.” I suggest that this shift reflects aspirations surrounding middle-class belonging, and offers a useful lens for considering what it means to pursue a better life amid precarious prosperity.
Presenters
Susanna FiorattaAssociate Professor, Anthropology, Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Specialty coffee, Craft beer, Colombia, Taste, Class, Aspiration, Senses, Personhood
