Everyone’s favorite coffee culture commentator and meme lord, Alan Jarrar is in the house! If you are like me and follow the account “50%Arabica” on Instagram, you know full well that there is more to the funny content than what you see on the surface. There is a world of professional coffee experience and philosophy that fuels not just the great memes at 50%Arabica but now the great coffee being roasted by Alan and his partner Kalliope at Jokes Aside Coffee.
Alan has been in coffee for the last ten years honing his craft as a coffee professional at various coffee bars and roasters in the Czech Republic where he has lead the bar, trained, managed, and roasted at a high level.
He is a past competitor and is currently running Jokes Aside Coffee Roasters with his Partner, Kalliope who also owns Faine Coffee in Brno.
After a successful first year, Alan and Kalli are in the midst of planning to open a new espresso bar in their home of Brno along with a production facility.
In our conversation today we will get to hear how Alan found coffee, developed as a barista, then roaster, competitor, and eventually business owner and an influential voice in the industry. Many different subjects and ideas are covered here as we get under the surface of what it means to have a thriving career in coffee and to have a sense of humor along the way.
We cover:
- History of coffee in Brno
- Alan’s entry in to coffee
- Early impressions of coffee
- Becoming a professional
- Learning to roast
- Experience in competition vs real cafe work
- Change of perception of the industry
- Starting 50%arabica
- Memes exposing the truth
- Humor as a tool for openness and self care
- Customer sophistication
- Memes overcome our barriers to feedback
- Starting Jokes Aside Coffee
- Lessons in being a business owner
- Plans for the future
- Advice for a great coffee career
Links:
@JokesAsideCoffee on Instagram
Related episodes:
071: Taking a European Coffee Trip w/ Ales Pospisil
119 : Barista Training Masterclass w/ 2009 WBC Champion, Gwilym Davies
Founder Friday! w/ Adam Obrátil of Industra Coffee, Brno, Czech Republic
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