We're in Chicago this week, visiting Soloway Coffee. It's a thriving, popular coffee shop that is bringing a unique experience to it's guests. This experience, their offering, and more make this a special place that has created a buzz in the area. Sergei walks us through what their doing well that is helping them win.

Our coffee roasting business got tax audited and we're right in the middle of the process. Being our first time, this is a big learning experience and has brought up a few things that we realized we need to pay closer attention to. We cover what we've learned and some things you can do right now to make things easier in the future. Pick up Coffee Here: https://bit.ly/36gPLRU

There are many perks of having a built out home coffee bar setup outside of the convenience of not needing to go to a coffee shop and spend money. In this episode we talk through some of the essentials of building out a home coffee bar setup, what we would recommend focusing on, and some tips for those just getting into brewing at home.

We're answering and troubleshooting the most common coffee brewing issues we hear about and also personally run into. We talk about coffee resting, clogging in pour over brews, the impact of grinders on your cup, and more. In this coffee podcast episode, you'll find practical tips on how to adjust your brew to get the results you're chasing.

Having good gear is essential, but oftentimes that takes the main stage and we don't know how to use our gear to get the most out of our coffee. In this episode, we cover some helpful tips you can implement to make your coffee taste better, improve your recipes, and potentially help troubleshoot some brewing issues.

Coffee bean selection has never been so diverse. Diverse in roast color, varietals, origins, and flavor profiles. People's preferences have also never been so scattered across the board. We talk about some of our recent interactions with people, the rising trend towards ultra-light roasts, and why gear actually does matter and impact what coffees people gravitate to. Shop Our Coffee: https://bit.ly/36gPLRU Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mirrorcoffeeroasters/ Mirror Coffee...

We had a spontaneous guest join us, Alex Sciarrotta owner of Narrative coffee, as we talked about underrated and overrated parts of coffee. We touched up on coffee varietals, coffee competitions such as Cup of Excellence, and even got into Sergei's iconic outfits behind bar. We had a lot of fun recording this episode and diving into these topics together.

Coffee roasting companies that don't have a storefront, like us, oftentimes don't get the local, face to face interaction that can be very helpful for business growth. Even though launching a storefront for your coffee roastery might not be in the plans, there are other ways to have those interactions with guests that can be very financially beneficial and help you expand your reach.

Oftentimes, coffee business owners are stuck with always needing more time, overworking, and feeling like you're not getting much back. Time is one of your most valuable resources so we have to learn to manage it well and make sure it's getting the most done while helping you achieve your goals. This episode covers how we're maximizing efficiency in our coffee roastery and how we approach using it to grow.

Mark just got back from competing in the U.S. Aeropress Championship in Arkansas at Onyx Coffee Lab and got 3rd place. This episode breaks down his recipe, preparation, and the mistake that cost him first place.

Texes A&M launches the first acedemic coffee certificate. This is a huge overall step for the growth of the specialty coffee industry, however, what role will it play in the coffee industry? Will we see the industry favor those who do have the certificate? We break these questions down and more in this episode of the Coffee Roaster Warm Up Sessions podcast.

Coffee competition isn't perfect. We competed in our first aeropress competition and loved it! It was a great experience overall, but there were a few things that were challenging. As much as we wish competition was a flawless system of evaluation of who's the most skilled, it oftentimes isn't that. This is a debrief of our experience competing in the Canadian regional aeropress competition.

Most of us, if not all, have experienced burnout whether that's within the coffee industry or not. We know what those exhausted, long days feel like when you've lost your passion and drive to do the work let alone do anything. It sucks. With this episode we wanted to break down what burnout is, what might be causing it, and how we can do to avoid falling into burnout.

At face value, coffee shops are there to serve you a drink, pastries, and occasionally offer a full food menu. From what we've noticed, that is really only the beginning and oftentimes just a sliver of why people even show up to coffee shops. Here's how coffee shops impact communities, cities, and the vital role they play in society.

We want to help set you up for your next interview at your favorite coffee shop. Although it could feel like experience behind bar is prioritized, but we think there are other ways you can increase the chances of getting hired at a cafe. We talk about being a regular, building meaningful friendships, and a few ways to prep for your interview. There are a handful of practical steps you can take that can increase the chances of you getting hired at the coffee shop you’ve been eyeing.

We've all been there where we go to a cafe only to receive a beverage we did not like or wasn't brewed right. Although few things can be done at this point, is giving feedback the right thing to do? Would anything change if you did give feedback? As a barista, it may be uncomfortable to receive feedback, however, it's far from the end of the world. In this episode, we talk through both giving feedback and how we should approach getting negative feedback.

Over the last few years we've seen the home coffee shop trend on social media explode. Home baristas are hosting coffee shop experiences in their home for their community. These experiences are very impactful for local communities as well as the broader coffee industry. In this episode, we unpack why they're so important. Shop Our Coffee: https://bit.ly/36gPLRU Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mirrorcoffeeroasters/

The most important part of running a coffee shop business are the people you serve and the people you work with. You can get away with having bad coffee, but you can't get away with serving people poorly or not having a good team around you. In this episode, we talk all about investing specifically into your team behind the coffee bar which has the potential to change the whole trajectory of your team.

The last episode in our Level Up series is focused on leveling up your palate. Because taste is at the core of coffee, developing your palate is probably the most important thing you could do as a coffee enthusiast or professional. It can drastically change how you experience coffee and might even be the thing that you're missing from enjoying coffee even more than you do now. In this episode, we provide practical tips on how you can grow as a coffee taster and expand your palate.

We're continuing our series on Leveling Up in coffee and this episode is for management and cafe owners specifically. We cover have 1 on 1s with your team, why it's important to spend time behind bar, and how to surround yourself with the right people to supercharge your growth. Being a manager or owner of a coffee business is challenging, but if your looking for ways to get better, this podcast might give you some practical tips you can implement this week.

This episode is all about leveling up as a coffee roaster, and it's packed with very practical steps you can take. We go from broad roast curves to in depth, nerdy green coffee storage solutions. Whether you're just getting started or you've been roasting for years, we think this is packed with valuable information we wish we had years ago.

We continue our podcast series on how to level up in coffee. In this episode, we're diving into what that looks like for baristas. We cover things like going above and beyond in your job, paying close attention to what happens behind the bar, why might need to leave your current job, and so much more. This episode gets very practical for baristas and sets you up to grow in your craft. Shop Our Coffee: https://bit.ly/36gPLRU Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mirrorcoffeeroasters/

We're starting a podcast series on how to level up in coffee. This series is all about what we can do as those working in the coffee industry to get better at our craft. We're hoping this series is filled with practical steps that you can start making immediately in your coffee journey. This episode is an introduction and general overview of how we're approaching leveling up and covering the basics. In the following episodes, we'll go very specific into unique rolls and positions in the...

A little less than 50% of businesses fail in their first five years. As we approach 5 years as a business, we're reevaluating where we're at, whether or not we want to keep doing this, and what it will take to keep going for the next five years. In this episode, we give a few pointers for reevaluating your coffee businesses and how to decide when to quit.