Is it possible to communicate specialty coffee with a light touch? Coffeensider tries
All the niches that, having reached levels of popularity, have begun to reach the general public have passed through this, and none seem to learn from the mistakes of others.
Now, no offense to our specialty coffee enthusiasts (we are too, and have always devoted a lot of space to the topic), but the time has come for quality coffee, increasingly at the center of the debate, to make the communication leap that other products have failed to make, avoiding becoming a wasted opportunity.
Sure, the average quality of coffee at the bar is very low, we know, and Italians are never very accustomed to changing their habits, especially when they're considered "traditional" or inherited from mothers, grandmothers, and various relatives. But we must also try to explain quality coffee without the burnt cups, high acidity, and €15 single-origin selections. This is the idea behind Coffeensider, a communication project created to tell the story of coffee in a pop and popular way.
What is (and who is) Coffeensider?
It is an independent publishing project, born from an idea by Federico Lucas Pezzett a (known as Coffeeandlucas) and Gianluca Bianchi, but the profile does not revolve only around them, quite the opposite: the approach aims to be decidedly more choral and, as the founders say, with a slightly rock 'n' roll spirit.
Proof of this is that Coffeensider remained anonymous for the first month. No one knew who was behind it because the goal was to put the focus on content and expertise, not the faces of the founders. During this phase, several professionals and well-known online figures were involved, such as Francesco Zini, NickyBrian, JustSayWine, and SmashGiulio—people we certainly don't associate with the coffee world—and the idea is precisely that: that anyone working in the industry can contribute to this open space, transcending the micro-niche mentality and opening up to a wider audience.
It's not just a matter of attracting views by leveraging celebrities, but there's a clear drive to find a new tone of voice on the product, combining travel, interviews, contributions from professionals and fearlessly tackling topics considered untouchable in the specialty world, Nutella included.
Beyond its online presence, the project quickly made its way into the real world, curating the coffee shop at the Rome Vegan Festival, collaborating with the Sensorio roastery, and professionals such as Irene Giupponi, who came in third at the 2025 Barista Championships, and Martina Morittu, French Coffee in Good Spirits champion. The journey then continued south, to Gioiosa Jonica in Calabria. In collaboration with Bark and Forno Crosta, they organized a brunch where quality coffee took center stage, bringing varieties from international roasters to a region where this culture is still relatively uncommon.
Spreading quality coffee culture is a serious matter, and perhaps for this very reason it needs a little levity to truly spread among consumers: will Coffeensider succeed?