Crafting well-being: speciality coffee as leisure

This study explores how individuals engage with speciality coffee as a leisure practice and the effects of these practices on individual and collective well-being. Drawing primarily on Craft Consumption and secondarily on Flow Theory, it examines how meaning is constructed through everyday craft engagement. Semi-structured interviews with 15 self-identified enthusiasts in Upstate South Carolina provide insight into how participants describe their involvement with speciality coffee and reflect on its value for well-being, situating it within local contexts. Findings show that speciality coffee leisure spans personal rituals, community participation, and work-related practices. Here, well‑being emerged through elements of creative expression, skill development, and belonging made possible by their sustained involvement in the craft. Moreover, well-being was experienced as an ongoing process negotiated through personal commitment and social connection across private and public contexts alike. The study contributes to leisure scholarship by positioning speciality coffee as an emerging form of craft-based leisure and demonstrating how craft consumption practices shape experiences of meaning and well-being.