Transparency. We see it increasingly being used as a tool to signify responsible commerce and trade among coffee roasting companies. But what is it exactly? Are we approaching it in a meaningful way? How do we define and practice transparency in a way that will actually make the difference we want to see it make? These are questions that will …
What is it we mean when we refer to “Quality?” If we take that a step further we might ask, how can we control quality? These questions are top of mind for most coffee roasters who, amidst a sea of complexity and moving parts, are desperately interested in providing a consistently excellent end product to their customers. Today we are …
I get it. You love coffee! You listen to this show after all and you cup, brew, read about, and live coffee. Your customers however, do not. Mostly they just drink it and if we are honest, that sometimes bothers us. How we talk to customers about…
On today’s episode we get to have a conversation with Abner Roldan who, along with his wife Karla Quiñones founded one of Puerto Ricos best coffee shops, Cafe Comunion. Abner is also Puerto Rico’s latte art champion 2014 & ’15, a member of the Barista Magazine Editorial Board AND the recent Sprudgie Award winner of Best Coffee Podcast! (La …
Well now! Today we are going to get an inside look into one of the biggest and most successful coffee brands in the nation! We are talking with the Co-Founder of Biggby Coffee, Mike McFall! Biggby Coffee was founded in 1995 in Lansing, Michigan a fast-growing $100-million-dollar coffee franchise with 250+ locations across the Midwest and quickly expanding into …
All of us want to wake up, look around, and be happy with where we are and what we’re doing. How we accomplish that is often thought to be in the “big breaks” and in exclusive opportunities. But in most cases, who we become and what we are able to do…
How does your shop address and interact with the homeless community? If you are like most people, the answer is not very defined and born more from fear and misunderstanding than empathy and informed policy. As we provide spaces to serve the community, it is important that we focus in on how we interact with every person within it, including …
In the relationship between wholesale coffee roaster and client, there are things that do not get talked about as much as they should. Largely this is based the desire to maintain the relationship and any harder or awkward conversations present…
When we set up a manager in the cafe we are not just delegating authority and freeing up some of our time, we are setting up the business for failure or success. All of it boils down to how we manage and lead them in their responsibilities and roles. Today we are going to explore the basics of managing your …
We love to talk about coffee! So much so, we often fail to give people the information they need to be successful on the bar. If you have ever gone off on a tangent about extraction science and esoteric processing methods with a new hire (I think we…
