SHIFT BREAK! The New Classic Cafe: An Era of Understated Excellence

Chris DeferioPodcast

Coffee shops come in all shapes, styles, sizes, and focus on many different aspects of social experience and craft. If we look back we can see that certain themes emerge. Whether it is the 90’s coffee shop with bold colors, self serve airpots, lots of sugar, and no wifi, the early 2000’s sparse coffee temples with no sugar, or the …

568: The Keys to Espresso Machine Care w/ Jon Ferguson, Author of the new book “Coffee Under Pressure”

Chris DeferioPodcast

There are many ways to mess up a perfectly good espresso machine. By contrast, virtually all of them are preventable if you follow only a few specific strategies to care for what is likely to most expensive piece of equipment in your store. Now another question, where can you find these best practices and techniques along with detailed “whys” behind …

SHIFT BREAK! How Well Do You Know Your Business?

Chris DeferioPodcast

The only way to really know how your business is doing, is to know how your staff are doing. Do you know, to the person, how each staff member is doing with service, hospitality, and skill in crafting coffee? This seems like it should be a no brainer but an incredible number of owners simply assume rather than verify and …

567: James Hoffmann on Cafes, Hospitality, and the Influence of Home Coffee

Chris DeferioPodcast

Almost every conversation you see online about coffee focuses on home coffee vs cafe. It is a very interesting and relevant topic in this time of explosive growth where tools, information, and good coffee itself abounds. Another aspect of this conversation though is less discussed and maybe even more relevant, in what ways are cafes themselves positioned to learn from …

SHIFT BREAK! When To Break The Rules

Chris DeferioPodcast

The great Danny Meyer said, “Policies are nothing more than guidelines to be broken for the benefit of our guests”. I come back to this idea often when trying to balance the tension between the need for structure and boundaries, and the freedom to be flexible in them and sometimes in spite of them. Today on Shift Break we will …

566: The Problem With Systems

Chris DeferioPodcast

Systems are a necessary part of running a great coffee shop, but they do not make the shop great. As much as I talk about systems and structures on this show, the truth is, there are some problems with even the best systems when they are not part of a larger focus. Something that brings it all together. On this …

SHIFT BREAK! Don’t Overwhelm Your Managers

Chris DeferioPodcast

Sharing is caring!…but when you overshare with your managers it can easily be the opposite. You have a lot on your mind and often not a lot of people to share it with. The closest person is most often the manager or GM and they “get” to hear all about your plans, hopes, crazy ideas etc. Feels good for you, …

565: Making Specialty Coffee Shops Special -or- (how to avoid closing 400 stores)

Chris DeferioPodcast

Who you are cannot be what someone else is or is not. What makes you unique and valuable is not born from comparative analysis and cold execution n what you think a “wimning” formula is. Making and keep specialty coffee special is a simple exercise in growing in knowledge, wisdom, and consistent conversation with yourself, your team, your community, and …

SPECIAL! Interviews from Coffee Fest LA 2025! w/ LaNisa Williams, Kat Padlan, Darell Baskin, and Seidy Selivanow

Chris DeferioPodcast

I am excited to share with you another set of conversations from Coffee Fest! This time form Los Angeles 2025!   We start with a discussion focusing on the growth of trining and education in coffee and baristas skills in underserved communities w/ LaNisa Williams of Barista Life LA   LaNisa has been in the coffee industry for a total …