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...
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 Ta...
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...
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...
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 Ker...
Apr 30, 2024•2 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...
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.mdp...
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•2 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 arom...
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...
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 ...
Nov 25, 2022•52 min•Season 4Ep. 50
In this episode we talk about: Coffee production in Kenya The similarities between latin and african coffee production How we consumers perceive coffee producers vs how coffee producers would like to be seen The success paradox, when too much financial success can turn off some buyers Resources: 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 ...
Nov 10, 2022•45 min•Season 3Ep. 49
Today’s episode is a little different. I am sharing a conversation that I had with Katrien of OR Coffee, A specialty coffee roastery & training center in Belgium. This episode is a little different because I’m not interviewing her, She actually interviewed me for her new podcast, Puur Koffie . Fermentation Training Camp: January 2023 OR Coffee Website OR Coffee Instagram Puur Koffie Podcast Cafesmo...
Oct 17, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 3Ep. 48
In this episode we talk about: Plastic Grocery bags vs Paper Rwanda's Plastic Bag ban Coffee Processing Glossary Power dynamics in coffee buying 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 Life Cycle of Bags 128 Page Report NYT Article - New Jersey Bag Ban NYT - Brad Plumer "Paper or Plastic" NYT- ...
Sep 28, 2022•32 min•Season 3Ep. 47
In this episode we talk about: The months of making EP 44 Gas Station Cuisine $17 cup of Yemeni coffee A winemaker's role and a coffee maker's role Formula 1 Racing, go karts and Tennis What does it mean to love coffee? 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: Cover Art by: Nick Hafner Intro song: E...
Jul 17, 2022•45 min•Season 3Ep. 46
In this episode we talk about: Coffee consulting in Brazil What is a quaker Matching coffee processing with roasting How Eystein roasts high and low density seeds Extraction and Brewing techniques to maximize acidity How Eystein would prepare a coffee to show off orange, chocolaty notes Preparing our bodies and palate to be more sensitive to flavors 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 contribu...
Jun 23, 2022•1 hr•Season 3Ep. 45
Next time you set about making your morning coffee, take a moment to peruse the info on your bag of beans. What do you notice? The variety of beans? Flavor notes? Technical details on where the coffee was grown? They're not so different from the sort of blurb you might find on the back of a wine bottle in many ways. And that’s intentional. Specialty coffee has taken a lot from the world of wine. But could the increasing overlaps be a problem for coffee farmers — or even dangerous? In this e...
Jun 03, 2022•1 hr 6 min
In this episode we talk about: The class system in Colombia Specialty coffee shops in coffee producing countries Extended fermentations, 500 hours Germination of dry processed coffees, what is going on? Overview of the role of amino acids How do we measure stress in coffee cherries? Stressed grapes vs stressed coffee cherries 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...
Apr 14, 2022•48 min•Season 3Ep. 43
In this episode we talk about: The long geographical chain of custody for a cup of coffee Why do wet process and dry process coffees taste differently Coffee seeds: orthodox vs. recalcitrant seed The yeast metabolism case for quality vs the plant metabolism case for quality Cacao seed germination vs coffee seed germination 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 th...
Mar 28, 2022•42 min•Season 3Ep. 42
In this episode we talk about: Crossing borders on foot My recent trip to Guatemala and Honduras w/ 2 new producer clients Brewing coffee as a love poem How instant coffee has a similar problem to instant cake mixes When is effort a virtue and when is it a drawback? 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: Uk...
Mar 08, 2022•36 min•Season 3Ep. 41
Welcome to the first episode of the new year and season 3. In this episode we talk about: If sugar follows the direct of water flow, does sugar evaporate out as coffee dries? The difference between sugar in mucilage and inside the seed. Can sugar be a preservative? The benefits and drawbacks of adding cascara to the fermentation How to inoculate for free How to control the fermentation in a hot environment vs a cold one. Support the show on Patreon to join our live Discord hangouts. And if you d...
Jan 06, 2022•41 min•Season 3Ep. 40
As many of you know, we've started doing live hang out after the episodes on Discord a week after the podcast comes out. I find this valuable because I get to hear from listeners and we create our own podcast after the podcast together. In the most recent gathering I had Felipe, Jose and Lucas from Ep 38 on the discussion so listeners of the podcast could ask them questions directly. A few things stuck out to me from that conversation that I want to share here because what started as a fun ...
Sep 15, 2021•58 min•Season 2Ep. 39
