Today’s episode seeks to explore our industry's emphasis on educating customers, and the value of education for employees: While it has potential to be alienating, education will always add to an individual's experience of a product in specialty coffee. Lecturers Amy Moore and Jennifer Haare explore the roots of education in specialty coffee, what we are trying to teach people, why, and how this relates to mindful consumerism. Related Links - Read the full transcript on SCA News: - Listen to oth...
Apr 01, 2019•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 66
As a barista or production roaster, it’s hard to make a living in the specialty coffee industry. Some of our industry’s brightest, most passionate, and creative individuals ultimately leave coffee for other higher paying industries even though their true passion lies in coffee. This is a shame as these people are the representatives of our industry - they are the direct connection to the consumer and are the keeper of our quality standards. In order to progress our industry and grow a truly sust...
Mar 25, 2019•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 65
One of the "special" things about specialty coffee is the connections that coffee people make with one another—beyond simply making deals, beyond simply hiring and firing, we are an industry of people who are drawn to share, learn, and grow with one another. Mentorship is one of the most powerful professional tools in that regard, and something that sets the specialty apart from the commercial: It also, however, comes with great responsibility, and sometimes even risks. Today's episode - recorde...
Mar 18, 2019•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 64
Each of us, at some point in our coffee education, have been exposed to the coffee brewing control chart: this classic chart was developed in the 1950’s by Ernest Lockhart and colleagues through research at the Coffee Brewing Institute. It displays the relationship between percent extraction and total dissolved solids at a given brewing ratio. Additionally, various acceptability zones were overlaid, describing the expected cup sensory experience with an ideal zone indicated in the middle. Althou...
Mar 11, 2019•46 min•Ep. 63
It's time to dive deeper into the kinds of questions many roasters have mulled over, but not discussed enough: Should a roast be designed according to flavor profiles, should you roast with a specific brew method in mind? To what extent should a roast be designed for a specific dose, grind, and brew ratio? Should you roast differently for milk-based espresso? A panel of industry leaders in espresso (Ben Put of Monogram Coffee; Geoff Woodley of Ikawa; Jen Apodaca of Royal Coffee; and Tony Querio ...
Mar 11, 2019•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 62
Today’s episode was recorded live at CoLab: Bucharest in 2018. Co:Lab is as Barista Guild event dedicated to connecting a local barista community with the international barista scene that includes lectures, workshops, and activities. Tim Wendelboe joins us as he explores the challenges of being a biological coffee farmer. Today’s talk is actually a follow up to his CoLab: Paris talk in 2015, where he first introduced Finca El Suelo and the work they were just beginning, using soil biology to gro...
Mar 04, 2019•41 min•Ep. 61
Owning and operating a coffee business is a sexy idea, but many operators are too bogged down working "in" their business instead of working "on" their business. In this lecture, recorded at the 2018 Specialty Coffee Expo in Seattle, Andrew Gough tells us his business story using real data and shares a simple tool for monitoring your business markers. Andrew Gough founded Wichita-based Reverie Roasters in 2013 after spending nearly a decade in the financial services industry. Two years after ope...
Feb 18, 2019•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 60
Today, we’re very happy to present the third and final episode of “The State and Future of the Business of Coffee,” a session recorded at Re:co Symposium this past April. This session gathered business leaders in Specialty Coffee to discuss the ways that the specialty coffee trade has changed in the past decade, the challenges businesses face today, and how we might prepare for the future. If you haven’t listened to episodes #36 and #37, we strongly recommend going back to listen to it before yo...
Feb 11, 2019•56 min•Ep. 59
Today, we’re very happy to present the second episode of “The State and Future of the Business of Coffee,” a session recorded at Re:co Symposium this past April. This session gathered business leaders in Specialty Coffee to discuss the ways that the specialty coffee trade has changed in the past decade, the challenges businesses face today, and how we might prepare for the future. If you haven’t listened to episode #36, we strongly recommend going back to listen to it before you continue with th...
Feb 07, 2019•32 min•Ep. 58
Today, we're excited to release the first episode from “The State and Future of the Business of Coffee”, a session at Re:co Symposium last April. This session gathered business leaders in Specialty Coffee to discuss the ways that the specialty coffee trade has changed in the past decade, the challenges businesses face today, and how we might prepare for the future. Led by Nicholas Cho, a panel of Tracy Ging, Josh Owen, Teresa von Fuchs, and Dan McCloskey took the stage to debate and discuss an i...
Feb 04, 2019•43 min•Ep. 57
Today, we’re very happy to present the third and final episode of “Evolution of Innovation: How New Ideas Will Shape Specialty Coffee,” a session recorded at Re:co Symposium in April 2018. This session offered a glimpse of new ideas in coffee from some leading thinkers in specialty coffee and a discussion of how they are likely to shape the future of our industry. If you haven’t listened to episodes #33 and #34, we strongly recommend going back to listen before you continue with this episode. On...
Jan 31, 2019•25 min•Ep. 56
This is the second episode of “Evolution of Innovation: How New Ideas Will Shape Specialty Coffee,” a session recorded at Re:co Symposium this past April. This session offered a glimpse of new ideas in coffee from some leading thinkers in specialty coffee and a discussion of how they are likely to shape the future of our industry. If you haven’t listened to episode #33, we strongly recommend going back to listen to it before you continue with this episode. On this episode of the Re:co Podcast, w...
Jan 24, 2019•23 min•Ep. 55
This is the first episode from “The Evolution of Innovation: How New Ideas will Shape Specialty Coffee’s Future”, a session at Re:co Symposium this year. This session offered a glimpse of new ideas in coffee from some leading thinkers in specialty coffee and a discussion of how they are likely to shape the future of our industry. This episode features a discussion with Ever Meister, Managing Editor at Cafe Imports; Arno Holschuh, Chief Operating Officer of Bellwether Coffee Company; Umeko Motoyo...
Jan 21, 2019•51 min•Ep. 54
Today, we’re very happy to present the third and final episode of “Harnessing the Power of Science,” a session recorded at Re:co Symposium this past April. The main focus of this session was to learn about new developments in coffee science and explore how Specialty Coffee can engage with the scientific enterprise for the benefit of all of us. If you haven’t listened to episodes #30 and #31, we strongly recommend going back to listen to them before you continue with this episode. On this episode...
Jan 17, 2019•45 min•Ep. 53
This is second episode of “Harnessing the Power of Science,” a session recorded at Re:co Symposium this past April. The main focus of this session was to learn about new developments in coffee science and explore how Specialty Coffee can engage with the scientific enterprise for the benefit of all of us. If you haven’t listened to episode #30, we strongly recommend going back to listen to it before you continue with this episode. On this episode of the Re:co Podcast, we are pleased to welcome Pr...
Jan 14, 2019•23 min•Ep. 52
Dr. Britta Folmer, Scientific Affairs Manager within the Regulatory and Scientific Affairs department of Nestle Nespresso SA, explains how science can improve coffee's value chain, with a particular focus on coffee consumption as a part of a healthy lifestyle. This is the first episode from “Harnessing the Power of Science”, a session at Re:co Symposium 2018. The main focus of this session was to learn about new developments in coffee science and explore how Specialty Coffee can engage with the ...
Jan 10, 2019•20 min•Ep. 51
Today, we’re very happy to present the third and final episode of the Changing Tides session, recorded at Re:co Symposium this past April. The main focus of this session was to have those often difficult conversations around diversity and inclusivity in our coffee communities. If you haven’t listened to episodes #27 and #28, we strongly recommend going back to listen to those before you continue with this episode. This talk from Re:co Seattle is supported by Toddy. For over 50 years, Toddy brand...
Jan 07, 2019•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 50
Today, we’re very happy to present episode two of the Changing Tides session, recorded at Re:co Symposium this past April. The main focus of this session was to have those often difficult conversations around diversity and inclusivity in our coffee communities. If you haven’t listened to episode #27, we strongly recommend going back to listen to it before you continue with this episode. On this episode of the Re:co Podcast, we are pleased to welcome Michelle Johnson, Writer and Social Media Infl...
Jan 07, 2019•53 min•Ep. 49
On this episode of the Re:co Podcast, Peter Guiliano speaks with Colleen Anunu, Director of Coffee Supply Chain at Fair Trade USA and member of the SCA Board of Directors. After leaving the sensory world for a master's degree in International Development at Cornell University, Colleen now works to advance equitable trade initiatives as Director of Coffee Supply Chain at Fair Trade USA, where she leads strategic research focused on impact and production economics, grant-funded partnerships and op...
Jan 07, 2019•56 min•Ep. 48
On this episode of the Re:co Podcast, Kim Elena Ionescu speaks to Andre de Freitas, Executive Director of the Sustainable Agriculture Network. Andre has over 20 years of experience working with sustainability initiatives, with a focus on responsible sourcing and certification in agriculture and forestry. He led the development of the first sustainability policy and implementation systems for Rabobank in Brazil, served as the executive director of the Brazilian NGO IMAFLORA, and as the Director G...
Oct 22, 2018•37 min•Ep. 47
On June 3rd, an unexpected eruption of the Fuego volcano in Guatemala killed more than a hundred people and caused many more to evacuate. Guatemala is home to tens of thousands of smallholder coffee farms, many of which have been directly affected. A few weeks ago, Kim Elena Ionescu, SCA’s Chief Research Officer, spoke to Alejandro Molina, Sustainability and Market Access Coordinator at ANACAFE, Guatemala’s national coffee association. They spoke on the phone about the eruptions and of what will...
Oct 15, 2018•23 min•Ep. 46
On this episode of the Re:co Podcast, Kim Elena Ionescu speaks with Vava Angweni, Founder & Chief Coffaholic at Vava Coffee Ltd, and Co-Founder & Director of Gente Del Futuro. Vava sources coffee from farmers in Kenya and around East Africa, and most recently has worked with Fairtrade Africa to develop and launch two brands Zawadi Coffee (the first Fairtrade Certified women owned coffee in Kenya) and Kipkelion union coffee. At Re:co Symposium in April, Vava used the story of that project...
Sep 04, 2018•43 min•Ep. 45
Kim Elena Ionescu moderates a panel with Merling Preza, Alejandro Cadena, Lee Wallace, and Molly Laverty at Re:co Symposium in Seattle in April 2018. In this week's episode of the podcast, Peter Giuliano speaks with Kim Elena about the introductory sustainability panel, which covered a wide range of topics including the reduction in the profitability of coffee farms, the changes in prices coffee buyers offer to coffee farmers, and the need for industry investment in research. Over the next three...
Aug 23, 2018•49 min•Ep. 44
This week's episode of the Re:co Podcast features Illycaffè Chairman Andrea Illy speaking at Re:co Seattle in April 2018. Over his long career, Andrea has established an identity as a leader, thinker, and creative mind in coffee. We asked Andrea to contribute a talk on the complex economics of coffee and the future of coffee to this year’s Re:co, and he generously agreed to participate. Peter Giuliano caught up with Andrea after the event for a conversation recorded exclusively for the podcast. ...
Jul 10, 2018•47 min•Ep. 43
Welcome to the Re:co podcast, a new series where we’ll be sharing talks and discussions from Re:co Symposium, SCA’s premier event dedicated to amplifying the voices of those who are driving specialty coffee forward. We’ll also be having special interviews with the speakers themselves, learning more about their perspectives and innovations. This episode from Re:co Seattle in April 2018 features SCA Executive Director Ric Rhinehart. We have a little tradition at Re:co, when Ric gives an annual tal...
Jun 11, 2018•32 min•Ep. 42
Welcome to the very first Re:co podcast, a new series where we’ll be sharing talks and discussions from Re:co Symposium, SCA’s premier event dedicated to amplifying the voices of those who are driving specialty coffee forward. We’ll also be having special interviews with the speakers themselves, learning more about their perspectives and innovations. In this first episode of the Re:co Podcast, David Griswold moderates a panel with Lindsey Bolger, Phyllis Johnson, Teddy Esteve, Christine Condo Um...
Jun 04, 2018•45 min•Ep. 41
This week on the SCA Podcast, we feature a talk by Samo Smrke, Research Scientist at the Coffee Excellence Center of the Zurich University of Applied Sciences. Samo covers research he conducted in collaboration with the SCA on the effects of carbon dioxide degassing on coffee freshness and espresso extraction. Research by Samo and his colleagues at the Coffee Excellence Center can be found in the SCA’s newly published Coffee Freshness Handbook, a publication that contributes to the body of scien...
May 16, 2018•54 min•Ep. 40
This week on the SCA Podcast, Felipe Croce of Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza, a coffee farm in the state of São Paulo in Brazil, talks about coffee fermentation and asks, “Should coffee be treated like wine?” Watch the video recording of this talk on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/udQNeGtdW_Y. This week’s episode was recorded at the Roaster Guild of Europe’s Roaster Camp, which took place in October of last year in the city of Poznan in Poland. Since then, the Roaster Guild of Europe and the Roaste...
May 07, 2018•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 39
This week on the SCA Podcast, we're celebrating the 10th anniversary of Re:co Symposium, SCA's annual event dedicated to high-level discussions in specialty coffee. Peter Giuliano, SCA's Chief Research Officer and Director of Re:co, joins us to talk about the role of the event in the industry and to present two talks by Dr. Aaron Davis, a botanist and Senior Research Leader of Plant Resources at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. In the first talk we’ll listen to from 2013, recorded at Re:co Symp...
Apr 17, 2018•49 min•Ep. 38
This episode of the SCA Podcast features Ralf Rueller, speaking at CoLab: Belfast in November 2017 about the essential factors to consider when planning a new cafe. Since 2010, Ralf and his team at The Barn Coffee Roasters have been doing pioneering work in Berlin’s specialty coffee scene, exploring how to build an audience, lower barriers, and make specialty coffee work in the city. Join the Barista Guild of Europe at CoLab: Bucharest this 29-31 May, 2018! Learn more and register here: www.bari...
Apr 09, 2018•37 min•Ep. 37
