starbarista

Brian Jones•astarbarista.blogspot.com

Arts

Food

This is a series that documents various aspects of cafe culture.

Last refreshed: July 25th, 2025 at 3:18 AM ⓘ

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Episodes

Chris Miller: The guy who cooks the coffee

In this episode first we hear from La Colombe Torrefaction co-founder Todd Carmichael as he explains why he views coffee as a culinary experience and that he considers his lead roaster, Chris Miller, to be the head chef or 'the guy who cooks the coffee'. Then Chris shows me around their Philadelphia plant where millions of pounds of beans are roasted every year. We also hear co-founder Jean-Philippe Iberti as he tells me about their 15 kilo Vittoria roaster which they first started using back in...

Nov 25, 2009

Crescent Moon: Bringing Great Coffee to Rural South Jersey

It has been over a year since I spent an afternoon with Sharon and Ron Vacarello and a few of their baristi at Crescent Moon Coffee and Tea , when I recorded this episode of the starbarista podcast. They do a fantastic job runnning an independent coffee shop and roastery in rural South Jersey in the USA. Have a listen as they tell us how they decided to roast beans themselves in order to ensure the highest quality, that local farmers stop in for espressos, and how they have taught young people t...

Oct 27, 2009

Gwilym Davies 2009 UK Barista Champion

Congratulations to Gwilym Davies who has just been crowned the 2009 UK Barista Champion. I've just thrown this post up for people who want to know more about this great barista. ( click here for full post with embedded media.) Gwilym works outdoor coffee carts at two busy London markets. He uses coffee from East London's Square Mile Roasters. Gwilym's winning espresso was a 50/50 blend made up of Finca San Jose Pulped Natural Red Catuaí from Erwin Mierisch and family in Nicaragua, and an El Moli...

Mar 04, 2009

Makin' biscotti with Gilda

starbarista catches up with Gilda Doganiero of Gilda's Biscotti . She has been dedicated to the art of baking traditional biscotti for the last 13 years since leaving her job as a pastry chef at Philadelphia's Four Seasons Hotel. In this podcast Gilda tells us about the origins of this noble Italian cookie as well as the story of how she started her company. (In the photo to the left Gilda is holding a tray of her lemon fig biscotti.) I would love to hear what you think of this podcast - so plea...

Dec 11, 2008

The World of the Paris Cafe

In this episode we go beyond coffee to explore a bit of the history of the venue in which this drink is served: the cafe. Starbarista recently caught up with author Scott Haine, an expert on Parisian cafe society. We spoke about the prominent role cafes and their owners played in the lives of 19th century workers, and how coffee was often more about alcohol than caffeine. We also touched on the cafe's place in Nazi-occupied Paris during the Second World War. This podcast is a bit longer than the...

Nov 15, 2008

Jenni Bryant from Gimme! Coffee

Starbarista recently caught up with Gimme! Coffee 's Jenni Bryant at their recently-opened espresso bar in NYC's NoLiTa neighbourhood. Gimme! started up in 2000 with a single espresso bar in Ithaca, upstate New York. They now have four shops in the Ithaca area as well as a roastery. In 2003 Gimme! made their first foray into NYC when they opened a location in Brooklyn's trendy Williamsburg neighbourhood. In this podcast, Jenni talks about coffee and how it brings people together. Click here to d...

Sep 15, 2008

Barista Profile: Doug Wolfe of La Colombe

Starbarista recently caught up with Doug Wolfe, a prominent barista who works at the La Colombe cafe in New York City's Tribeca, a place where you might see a Hollywood star rubbing shoulders with Senagalese street vendors. This podcast also features the voice of Todd Carmichael, who founded La Colombe along with his business partner Jean-Philippe Iberti in 1993 in Philadelphia. Click here to download this podcast....

Sep 13, 2008

Gwilym: It's All About The Coffee.

Welcome to the first episode of the starbarista podcasts. This time around we hear from Gwilym, a veteran barista with loads of experience under his belt. Having first worked in the burgeoning coffee scene in New Zealand ten years ago, he can now be found pulling espressos using Square Mile coffee at two popular London markets. starbarista recently caught up with him on Whitecross Market where his cart is open for business Monday to Friday. He is also at the Columbia Road Flower Market every Sun...

Apr 14, 2008

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