Lalo's substack page Ikaria Coffee (Lalo's farm + roasted coffee) Biofilia (agronomic consultancy) Support the show on Patreon to join our live Discord hangouts, and get access to research papers, transcripts and videos. And if you don't want to commit, show your support here with a one time contribution: PayPal Sign up for the newsletter to hear about the next episode, FTC dates, and coffee releases. Support the show...
Apr 06, 2026•1 hr 40 min•Season 7Ep. 79
If you would like to watch our YouTube video on "What is specialty coffee" You can watch that here. If you are a roaster and are interested in participating in the Fermentation Project with James Hoffmann, click here -> For Roasters: Buy Fermentation Kit Listers Movie (bird watching) it's beautiful, I highly recommend this. Email info.luxiacoffee@gmail if you would like to discuss Pluribus or Listers Movie in our Discord server. Support the show on Patreon to join our live Discord hangouts, a...
Mar 18, 2026•45 min•Season 7Ep. 78
Roasterkat IG Reel about rain. YouTube version of the Q&A portion James Hoffmann Healthy Coffee Video The 2025/2026 Harvest has not gone according to plan. Nick and I have found ourselves with some down time and therefore have put together this casual, end of year update on how the season is going so far. Spoiler alert: not well. I've combined a harvest update with listener questions about fermentation. Questions featured in this episode are: Are all coffees that are not anaerobic, aerobic? ...
Dec 24, 2025•31 min•Season 6Ep. 77
Sprudge Best Of Panama Article Remanence and survival of commercial yeast in different ecological niches of the vineyard Responses, Inquiries, & questions about coffee sales or future Fermentation Training Camps: info.luxiacoffee@gmail.com Support the show on Patreon to join our live Discord hangouts, and get access to research papers, transcripts and videos. And if you don't want to commit, show your support here with a one time contribution: PayPal Sign up for the newsletter for behind the...
Nov 16, 2025•1 hr 16 min•Season 6Ep. 76
Water massively impacts your coffee's flavours. But most of us struggle to fix our water because water science is confusing... Join me and James as we go step-by-step through: Why these concepts matter for coffee flavour and equipment How to test your water at home How to fix it, depending on what you're working with Check James' website for all of the visuals mentioned in the episode. Resources: #44: Are Wine Making Techniques the Future of Coffee? Responses, Inquiries, & questions about co...
Aug 14, 2025•1 hr 14 min•Season 6Ep. 75
Resources: Responses, Inquiries, & questions about coffee sales or future Fermentation Training Camps: info.luxiacoffee@gmail.com Get a ticket to FTC-10 December 2025 Luke's Website: Pomelo Coffee Consulting Luke's Book: Pre-Order Pomelo book Support the show on Patreon to join our live Discord hangouts, and get access to research papers, transcripts and videos. Office Hours with Luke: 9am (GMT-6) Friday July 18th 2025 Sign up for the newsletter for behind the scenes pictures. And if you don...
Jul 14, 2025•1 hr 11 min•Season 6Ep. 74
This episode developed thanks to Nick, who thought it would be a good time to revisit a bit of my history in coffee to reconnect with long-time listeners, and to share a bit more about myself with new listeners. We started this podcast about 6 years ago, and if you've been through all 72 episodes, you probably have a good idea about my coffee philosophies. But I also know that not everyone enjoys, or maybe even has the time to go back and start at the very beginning of a podcast. So we thought i...
Jun 18, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Season 6Ep. 73
Today's episode offers a behind the scenes view of how I approach a coffee producer's first time using yeast for their coffee fermentations. We run through all of the potential variables to pay attention to when designing your first trials with commercial microbes. From cost of production to work-flow and data collection. This conversation was recorded during a recent Office Hours session through our private Discord community. If you would like to be a part of this community, join Patreon and co...
May 26, 2025•43 min•Season 6Ep. 72
#54: Visiting Producers, Advanced Tourism & The Coffee Hunter with Tom of Sweet Maria’s #57: Will Frith Solves Terroir & Other Lessons From Vietnam Resources: Inquiries about coffee sales or future Fermentation Training Camps: info.luxiacoffee@gmail.com Support the show on Patreon to join our live Discord hangouts, and get access to research papers, transcripts and videos. And if you don't want to commit, show your support here with a one time contribution: PayPal Sign up for the newslet...
May 01, 2025•1 hr•Season 6Ep. 71
Some of the questions in this episode: What typically happens to the water, along with cascara and whatever else is part of a fermentation, after the fermentation has been completed? Cascara is sometimes processed into a secondary product, cascara tea. Are there other secondary products that are made? As a roaster, what should we put on our bags to better point towards the farm? What's the consensus on adding flavor descriptors to bags? Do or don't? How can I store coffee cherry for 2–3 days wit...
Apr 15, 2025•44 min•Season 6Ep. 70
This episode is a final harvest update and the behind the scenes of performing whole cherry fermentation with various microbes in an attempt to create a Dry Process/Natural coffee that I want to drink. Resources: Inquiries about coffee sales or future Fermentation Training Camps: info.luxiacoffee@gmail.com Support the show on Patreon to join our live Discord hangouts, and get access to research papers, transcripts and videos. And if you don't want to commit, show your support here with a one tim...
Mar 30, 2025•48 min•Season 5Ep. 69
I have wanted to make this episode for a long time, but I wasn't sure how to make it work. Finally some research for Dr. Flavio Borem helped crack the topic for me and the result is today's new episode. Things we discuss on this episode: Washed processed that tastes like a natural Process-forward coffees, funky coffee Neutral processing The need for speed, & gentle drying Drying is not just removing water Biggest producer mistakes, not upgrading the drying Fallacy of terroir Support the show...
Dec 03, 2024•37 min•Season 5Ep. 68
In this episode we talk about: How Ana decided to join the family business after pursuing a career in art. The advantages and drawback of growing coffee in a "Full Sun" system. The future of coffee picking and the role of Mechanical Harvesters. Brazil's 6 different biomes. How technology helped Brazil jump from 6 coffee bags/hectare in 1960 to 29 bags/hectare in 2023 How climate change has affected the crop How Precision Agriculture is helping the farm use resources efficiently Tattoos! Resource...
Sep 04, 2024•1 hr•Season 5Ep. 67
I was going to create a new episode about Infused vs Inoculated Coffees, but much of what we established back in Episode #39 is still relevant. So I am pulling a Taylor Swift and going to re-release a new version of episode 39, keeping what still works and adding some new perspectives from the last 3 years. In this episode I talk about: The sugar and acid additions that French and California winemakers use How adding mango to a fermentation tank is completely different from adding passion fruit ...
Aug 23, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 5Ep. 66
On today's episode I will be updating you on the coffee we made this harvest season and speaking of the importance of blends. If you’ve listened to even 1 other episode of this podcast, you’ll know that I'm usually trying to discourage the coffee industry from blindly adopting wine culture. Usually I share my thoughts that adopting a wine model benefits consumers more than producers and further accentuates inequality between the coffee buyers and coffee producers. Usually I believe the wine mode...
Jul 24, 2024•38 min•Season 5Ep. 65
This episode also comes on the heels of our recent trip to London. Our very first stop was the Nagare coffee shop in Shoreditch in North London. Nick and I do what we usually do when we step into a coffee shop and order the pour overs. They had 2 different coffees on the menu for a pour over so we got one of each and sat back at our cute little table in a cozy cafe, and it was only when we looked down at our empty Kinto ceramic cups that we finally realized we had paid 18£ ($23 dollars!) for 2 s...
Jul 04, 2024•35 min•Season 5Ep. 64
Inquiries about coffee samples or future Fermentation Training Camps: info.luxiacoffee@gmail.com Support the show on Patreon to join our live Discord hangouts, and get access to research papers, transcripts and videos. And if you don't want to commit, show your support here with a one time contribution: PayPal Sign up for the newsletter for behind the scenes pictures. Cover Art by: Nick Hafner Into song: Elijah Bisbee Support the show...
May 20, 2024•37 min•Season 5Ep. 63
Today I bring you a third installment with Pranoy from Kerehaklu. In this new episode we talk about: The pros and cons of commercial strains vs wild microbes The over-complication of fermentations The drawback of high altitude farming The drawback of honey process An alternative to adding fruit to your tank Terroir vs Ecological niche Pranoy's approach to cultivating his local microbes And much more... RESOURCES #56: Finding Work/Life Balance as a Coffee Producer w/ Pranoy Thipaiah from Kerehakl...
Apr 30, 2024•1 hr 36 min•Season 5Ep. 62
RESOURCES Inquiries about coffee samples or future Fermentation Training Camps: info.luxiacoffee@gmail.com Boss Barista Substack Boss Barista Podcast Support the show on Patreon to join our live Discord hangouts, and get access to research papers, transcripts and videos. And if you don't want to commit, show your support here with a one time contribution: PayPal Sign up for the newsletter for behind the scenes pictures. Cover Art by: Nick Hafner Into song: Elijah Bisbee Support the show...
Apr 22, 2024•52 min•Season 5Ep. 61
In this listener Q&A episode we talk about: How to use Thermoshock Does drying pull sugar out of the seed? What labels are important on a coffee bag? How do I prepare my coffee? How to know if you've hit "The One" on a fermentation trial How do citrus flavors get into coffee? How did a coffee from Panama fool a listener into thinking it came from Ethiopia? RESOURCES Inquiries about coffee samples or future Fermentation Training Camps: info.luxiacoffee@gmail.com https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158...
Dec 15, 2023•49 min•Season 4Ep. 60
In this new episode I talk about: A review of how dry process and wet process are different how microbes get into our fermentations What I look for in a coffee label, 4 key elements how I’ve changed my mind about descriptive processing labels studies showing contradictory results when they look at altitude in different countries. The Altitude of Coffee Cultivation Causes Shifts in the Microbial Community Assembly and Biochemical Compounds in Natural Induced Anaerobic Fermentations RESOURCES Inqu...
Nov 21, 2023•41 min•Season 4Ep. 59
In this new episode with Natali we talk about: Growing up in a coffee producing country, but finding coffee later in life Falling into the specialty coffee rabbit hole The challenges of running a small business while keeping full time jobs Direct trade, fair trade and single origin How Natali chooses what information to put on her roasted coffee bags Why Decaf is important for night owls & coffee lovers Educating new markets RESOURCES Inquiries about coffee samples or future Fermentation Tra...
Oct 05, 2023•49 min•Season 4Ep. 58
You cannot utter a sentence about Vietnam specialty coffee without including the name Will Frith. In this new episode we talk about: Will’s journey from a coffee purist to being more reasonable Meeting people where they are The importance of a middle class to support a new coffee category Will’s rule of thumb for cheap coffee What he drinks in the morning Being careful to not bring a western mindset to Vietnam French occuption and the resulting mash-up culture RESOURCES Inquiries about coffee sa...
Sep 12, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 4Ep. 57
Today I bring you a long overdue second conversation with Pranoy from Kerehaklu in India. His first appearance on the podcast was EP#34 in May 2021 I have been wanting to catch up with Pranoy for more than 2 years, and after spending a week together processing coffee and learning we were able to sit down in Jakarta after the intense week of FTC and talk. In this new episode we talk about: How he has found new markets to export his coffee Advice for producers attending coffee Expos like SCA and M...
Aug 29, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Season 4Ep. 56
Today I bring you a conversation with an extraordinary producer: Rani from Java Halu in Indonesia. I do not use this word lightly. Rani is a truly exceptional person and my new coffee crush. I met her because she was the only woman who attended FTC Indonesia in June. Each previous FTC has been minimum 50% female, this is very important to me because so many coffee spaces are still very male dominated. During our plan for FTC Indonesia, I handed over many of the logistics to the Bandung Coffee Ex...
Aug 15, 2023•51 min•Season 4Ep. 55
The conversation with Tom Owen is wide ranging, but one main theme we talk about is coffee travel and tourism. How the host and guest dynamics play out including the unintentional burden we may be placing on coffee producers when we visit them. Its an interesting time to be reflecting on the role of travel in coffee, since I just had a major trip to teach coffee fermentation. You’ll hear Tom bring this up when he asks me about FTC being a form of advanced tourism. Sweet Maria’s is an incredible ...
Jul 31, 2023•1 hr 39 min•Season 4Ep. 54
In this conversation I got to ask him how he feels differently about the coffee industry since our last conversation. I highly recommend you listen to Ep #27 first, or as a refresher because we refer to that conversation frequently in this episode In this episode I follow up with him on his thoughts on: coffee certifications and competitions his relationship with social media and sharing on reddit re-investing in the farm labor availability, what a coffee picker makes in a day in his region, ope...
May 23, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 4Ep. 53
In this episode we talk about: Carbonic Maceration in winemaking Carbonic Maceration in coffee and best guidelines to follow How to process Robusta differently than Arabica Benefits of fermentation in coffee fruit vs green seed modification Support the show on Patreon to join our live Discord hangouts. And if you don't want to commit, show your support here with a one time contribution: PayPal Sign up for the newsletter for behind the scenes pictures. Resources Modifying Robusta coffee aroma by ...
Jan 30, 2023•1 hr 25 min•Season 4Ep. 52
Vava Instagram Website Coffee Milk Blood Book Paula Instagram Website Lowell Instagram Website Frankie Instagram Christopher Feran Blog Resources: Sign up for the newsletter for behind the scenes pictures. Support the show on Patreon to join our live Discord hangouts. And if you don't want to commit, you can show your support here with a one time contribution: PayPal Support the show...
Dec 09, 2022•55 min•Season 4Ep. 51
Some of the questions I cover on today's episode involve: -how do fruit added fermentations differ from microbe inoculation? -my stance on the usefulness/benefits of probiotics -can we taste yeast in the cup? -what is the future of fermentation for the specialty coffee industry? -we typically ferment cherries or wet parchment but what about fermenting green coffee? -what is honey osmotic dehydration -how can consumers navigate coffee labels when "fermented" coffee produces a wide range of flavor...
Nov 25, 2022•52 min•Season 4Ep. 50
