Today I am joined by Jamie Isetts, Sourcing Consultant.  In this episode we cover: What a green buyer doesHow Jamie became a green buyerHow to organize a coffee contractCommunication red flags between producers and green buyersStrategies for long lasting relationshipsGet in touch with Jamie Isetts Support the show on Patreon 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:...

In this episode I will cover: the yeast inoculation history of wine to better understand why the natural wine and sour beer movements are rejecting inoculation.the difference between rot, wild fermentations and controlled fermentations.the role of salt in a coffee fermentation.are lactoferments better for low or high elevation farms?to pulp or not to pulp coffee cherries?how lactoferments differ from "anaerobic" fermentations and carbonic maceration.Lastly, I will give you my advice for a...

Do you drink kombucha? Coming from California, kombucha is about as normal as orange juice. But I imagine it might not be as popular in other parts of the world. Kombucha is probably more popular in North America and Europe (coffee importing countries) and probably very rare in coffee producing countries. I can imagine a near future where buyers are drawn to or supportive of kombucha process without understanding what they may be asking producers to do. Or similarly, producers wanting to be...

Today's episode is another in a series hearing from coffee producers from all parts of the world.  I think one of the common traps we can get into is thinking and talking about "The" coffee farmer. Or "The Average Coffee Farmer." As if coffee farmers are a monolith. The average doesn’t exist. The people who grow and produce coffee are a very diverse group who do it for different reasons in very different conditions. It’s our nature, that when we learn something new, to compare it to what we...

Today’s questions all come from Dr. Mack in Bangkok, Thailand. Even though he is asking the question on behalf of coffee producers in Thailand, I wanted to answer them on the podcast because they are relevant to all of the newer coffee producing...

 Our sugar journey is almost complete as we round out the third installment in the Brix series. I hope the previous podcast episodes helped open your mind to some of the challenges we face in talking about sugar in the coffee industry.Today's episode...

I hope the previous podcast episode helped open your mind to some of the challenges we face in talking about sugar in the coffee industry. In today's episode we are adding another element, another piece of the puzzle—the refractometer and the other...

Where does sweetness come from? Can something taste sweet that has no sugar? How can we measure sugar in coffee?This will be a more technical episode where we will talk about the sugar compounds like carbohydrates, sucrose, glucose and fructose and...

Today you get to be a fly on the wall of a consulting session between myself and a coffee producer in Uganda. The Coffee Gardens is a newer project of coffee producers who have partnered with select coffee farmers in Eastern Uganda. They currently work...

If you started the season with me in October you’ll remember that I started exploring the topic of what we lose when we take a plant from its native environment. Episode #25: A California Coffee Farm & Native vs. Local Yeasts looked at the...

 We usually hear about coffee from roasters or even people like me, who work with coffee producers but we are not producers ourselves. One of my podcast goals is to bring you directly to the source. Whether it's scientific research or hearing directly...

What is left behind when coffee moves to new locations. What is the trade off for innovation?  This episode looks at what else we potentially leave behind when we introduce new plant material to non-native locations.The inspiration for this episode was...

This week I want to talk to you about where native coffee yeast come from.  If you are concerned about coffee flavor manipulation by yeast, I hope by the end of the episode you have a broader understanding of where "native" yeast originally came from.To...

Aurora is back for another tea chat.Unfortunately I think coffee and tea are often lumped together in similar categories but they have very different histories and I think it’s worth trying to de-couple these beverages.Join us as we discuss how:-tea is...

What happens when the best in the world can't tell if a wine comes from the Willamette Valley in Oregon or Burgundy, France? What happens when the experts can't tell if the bubbles are from Champagne or California.Does a place really have a taste? Can...

Welcome to the next installment of terroir in coffee.This one little word contains a whole world of history and has an important role in the economic viability of certain agricultural products.After the last episode I heard from some of you who wished I...

I'm so excited for you to join me in this discussion about terroir. Terroir comes from latin, for terra - soil. Also translated as land, or “taste of the land”.Terroir is predominantly a wine concept, so why are we even talking about it in reference to...

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you introduced foreign yeast and bacteria into a coffee farm? Or maybe you're curious if we can speed up a long fermentation by warming it up. How does post harvest processing affect the density of the seed?In...

For those who know, it may not come as a surprise when I share how much I love tea. But professionally, today is the day I come out of the tea closet. I drink logarithmic levels of tea compared to coffee, and the more I confess that, the more other...

In today's Making Coffee Podcast episode, we're taking a deep dive into anaerobic fermentation and how language reflects values.Specialty coffee is a young industry. In the consumer space we have only recently started to differentiate between processing...

Today's Making Coffee Podcast episode is a continuation of the theme of coffee pickers and their role in quality.In the previous episode I shared my surprisingly difficult experience trying to source red ripe coffee cherry. It was surprisingly difficult...

Today's episode is part 1 of a 2 part series talking about the people who pick our coffee.In episode 15 we went deeply into how a molecule of sucrose in the coffee cherry pulp becomes a flavor compound like banana or peach and gets into the coffee...

Today we discuss flavor compounds and how fermentation can affect flavor in coffee.

Join me in listening to this conversation with George Howell, where we cover topics such as Cup of Excellence, coffee pricing, processing styles, craftsmanship, additives in processing, kamikaze farmers, and much more.

In this conversation I ask Sofia to share her Q Grader experience and talk about her background in coffee.