Below you will find all the recent RoR episodes along with notes and links. This series is a partnership between KTTS and Roast Magazine designed to bring you deeper and more practical insights into the world of roasting.
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RoR #15 : Shipping, Logistics, and LTL Freight w/ Evan Gilman of Royal Coffee
How our coffee gets to us after purchase can sometimes be a confusing thing. These days, with global supply chain issues abounding, the need to understand, track, and finesse all aspects of logistics is at an all time high. One of the main areas to be aware of is LTL freight as well and planning for any issues that may come up as your coffee moves from farm to forklift.
This episode of RoR from Roast Magazine is designed to help us wrap our heads around LTL freight and the other issues of shipping that impact our roasteries as we talk with Evan Gilman of Royal Coffee.
Evan Gilman is an avid generalist and coffee lover. His 20 years in the coffee industry have taken him from barista, to trainer, to Q Arabica Grader, Q Assistant Instructor, and SCA-Licensed AST. Evan spent time in Southeast Asia getting to know the specialty coffee supply chain, from Sumatra, Bali, Flores, and Sulawesi in Indonesia, to Northern Luzon in the Philippines. His passions range from Balinese gamelan to heavy metal, from photography to communications design, and from baking to brewing. As Creative Director at The Crown: Royal Coffee Lab & Tasting Room, he manages community events and outreach, and curates the Gallery at The Crown. He is also the chief editor of the blog at royalcoffee.com, and curator of the Gallery at The Crown.
In our conversation we cover:
- Ltl freight and your responsibility
- Managing logistics
- Tracking your coffee
- Developing relationships
- Hospitality ot vendors
- Contingency planning
- Managing your time to stay connected
- working with importers vs importing yourself
- Rate expectations
- Claims and planning for problems
RoR #14 : How to Roast New Processing Methods
As new processing methods become more popular and prominent, roasters must pivot and adjust how they approach them in order to get the best possible result. Processes like honey and pulped natural present unique challenges for even the most veteran roasters. The good news is that there is a growing family of best practices that will help you see success and consistency while embracing the new and emerging methods on the market. To help us sort through this topic we turn to none other than Mike Ebert of Firedancer Consultants.
As the founder of Firedancer Coffee Consultants, Mike is dedicated to helping clients create a personalized strategy to ensure long-term success. He works primarily with roasters, producers and retailers, drawing from his extensive experience in all facets of the specialty coffee supply chain to guide clients in reaching their potential. Ebert is an Authorized SCA Trainer; holding the professional level certificates in Green Coffee, Sensory Skills, Roasting and Brewing. He has had a hand in many positions up and down the supply chain and continues his volunteer work with the Specialty Coffee Associationâs Education Advisory Council as Co-Chair of the Education Content Committee.
In our conversation we cover:
- Then challenge Pulp natural and other processes present
- Mistakes we make when roasting new processes
- Knowing your roaster and being vigilant
- Frame work for earlier success
- Taking into account the unique sugar changes
- Rate of Rise
- How learning new methods can help with old ones
- Shifting our minds to innovate new metrics
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RoR #13 : The Norm-Roast Protocol w/ Dave Baxter
How do we test the energy efficiency, emissions, and impact of or roasting machines?. We all want to be responsible with our environmental impact but all we have to go on for data is supplied by marketing from the manufacturer. Â Wouldn’t it be nice to have a real measure of the performance of a roasting machine? Well that is exactly what today’s guest is out to provide.
Today on the Rate of Rise series from Roast Magazine we are going to be talking with Dave Baxter about The Norm Roast Protocol!
Dave Baxter has avidly roasted coffee for more than 15 years. He applies an analytical approach to master the enigmatic art of coffee roasting.  Dave joined the Artisan team in 2015 and is a founding member of the NORM-ROAST Consortium. Many of the analytical tools and other features in Artisan were created by him.  Dave is an inventive engineer with over 60 granted patents.
In our conversation we cover:
- How Norm Roast Protocol was conceived
- Verifying Marketing claims
- Key components of the protocol
- Establishing specification for the protocol from research
- Incentivization of manufactures to adopt a universal protocol
- How to begin using the protocol
- Balance of Innovations focus on emissions vs maintaining quality
- Mass adoption as key to create efficacy
- Small vs large roasters
- Optimizing existing equipment for efficiency
Links:
Subscribe to Roast Magazine! Use code “ROR” to get $5 off
RoR #12 : Inside Coffee Packaging w/ Ever Meister
Your coffee packaging holds more than just coffee. It holds an incredible amount of potential for communication of values, impact on the supply chain, and how coffee itself is percieved and succeeds in the global market. Packaging might not seem like the most compeling topic but the package itself may be on of the main tools that compels consumers and how we approach it matters greatly.
Today on the Rate of Rise series from Roast Magaine we will be exploring pacaging and beyond with the author of the Sept/Oct 2021 article “The Perfect Package”, Ever Meister.
Ever Meister has worked in the coffee industry for 20+ years in a wide range of capacities, but primarily she is a journalist, educator, and communicator whose work focuses on issues of access, equity, and ethics. She is the author of New York City Coffee: A Caffeinated History (The History Press, 2017) and the host of the coffee-marketing podcast In Good Taste on the Sprudge media network.
A conversation with Ever will always lead to the deep and existensial issues at the root of our industry and this one is delivers that in spades along side some extremely practical tips and advice to put into action as your develop your own coffee packaging.
We cover:
- Evolution of packaging
- What are the main considerations
- Decisions fatigue
- Customer experience
- Judging Quality control claims
- Investing in vendor relationship
- How do we decide what to prioritize
- Time budgeting
- Sustainability
- The give and take of waste
- Messaging on the bag
- Constraints and values
Links:
Ever Meister on Instagram: @justmeister
RoR #11 : Exploring Scent w/ Sandra Elisa Loofbourow
The smell of coffee is one of the great joys in this life. As professionals we take this important sensory aspect of coffee and build tools and protocols around it so we can fully and accurately assess a coffee’s quality and ultimately serve something consistently wonderful to our customers. In order to do this we need to bring balance, calibration, and objectivity to the personal tastes and experiences we all bring to the cupping table.Â
Today we on the Rate of Rise series from Roast Magazine we will be diving into this subject of scent and calibration with the author of the Jan/Feb 2022 Roast Magazine article “Exploring Scent”, Sandra Elisa Loofbourow!
Sandra is the Director of Coffee Content for The Crown, a certified Q Grader and Assistant Instructor, and a Q Processing Generalist. She brings with her a depth of experience as a roaster, green buyer, and barista. Sandra is co-host of the bilingual podcast Cafetera Intelectual and chair of the Good Food Awards Coffee Committee.
In this conversation we cover:
- Journey of honing her own sensory skills
- The role of scent
- Passion guiding sensory pursuits
- Emotions and scent
- Why this sense is underdeveloped
- Consensus and price discovery
- Bringing objectivity to personal experience
- How big does your circle of calibration need to be
- How we are always calibrating
- Le Nez Du Cafe
- Having clear goals
- First steps and resources to improve your sense of smell
RoR #10 : What Your Broker Wishes You Knew w/ Scott Merle of La Minita Coffee
Relationships are what the coffee industry is built on. The quality of those relationships determines the strength of the supply chain and the success of all involved. One of the most important relationships that is not talked about very often is that between green buyer and the broker.
Today we on the Rate of Rise series from Roast Magazine we will be diving into this subject with the author of the October 2020 Roast Magazine article “What your Broker Wishes you Knew”, Scott Merle!
Scott has worked in specialty coffee since 1988 and has experience in every aspect of the value chain from Barista to Roastmaster. He has extensive knowledge of green coffee sourcing, purchasing, roasting, and blend development, and is proficient in various types of coffee evaluation. Scott has participated in multiple international cupping panels, was a founding member of the Executive Council of the SCAAâs Roasterâs Guild, serves on the Editorial Board for Roast magazine, and has served on multiple committees and councils within the SCAA, including eight years on the SCAA Sustainability Council where he spent a three year term as chair. Scott has dedicated his career to furthering coffee quality throughout the value chain, and has emphasized and exemplified fair pricing practices to hard-working producers every step of the way.
In this conversation we cover:
- Communication
- Honesty and follow through
- Game planning and
- Capacity as parallel parking
- Setting parameter for your size
- Brokers and quality control decisions
- Reasonable differences in QC/Assessment
- Getting better at cupping
- How and why to Pay your bills
- Collaboration and problem solving
- Complexity at origin
- Impact of our decisions on farmers
- Defaulting to generosity and relationship
Links:
Subscribe to Roast Magazine!
RoR #9 Inside the Roaster’s Tool Kit w/ Kat Melheim of Black and White Coffee and The Coffee People Zine
Where do we even start when choosing tools for our roastery? There are an incredible number of options from basic and inexpensive -to complex and costly. In the most recent issue of Roast Magazine, today’s guest, Kat Melheim gives us an outline of tools and resources through the entire roasting process that can help clarify this dilemma.
Kat Melheim (she/her) is a roaster, barista, artist, and writer. She founded Coffee People Zine, a publication that celebrates the creativity of the coffee community, in 2018. Through her work in the coffee industry she has been fortunate enough to travel, meet exceptional people, and taste delicious coffees all over the world. Kat strives to connect with others, share what sheâs learning, and entertain with joy and enthusiasm.
On today’s RoR episode we will be diving into the subject of getting the right tools for you specific roasting operation,how Kat’s own career has been helped by having or lacking resources, and her advice to us on how we should approach developing ourselves as technicians and artists.
On this episode of RoR from Roast Magazine
- Her career path in roasting
- Resources and opportunities that helped her
- Prioritizing tools by impact
- Importance of roaster âQuality of Lifeâ
- Discerning what is essential for your context
- Levels of need
- Importance of time on the roaster
- Being a taster
- Taking care of your body
- Kats Recommended tools
- The importance of feedback and communication
- Advice for growing as an artist and technician
Lots of wonderful thoughts and insights here. Enjoy!
Links:
Instagram: @coffeepeoplezine
Instagram: @coffeekatherynÂ
Instagram: @roasterkat
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ROR #8 How Post-Harvest Processing Impacts Flavor w/ Siva Subramanian and Byron Holcomb of Olam Food Ingredients
How coffee is processed after harvest has an incredible impact on the final quality in the cup. Today we have the luxury of choosing form  a wide variety of processing techniques. Whether you are a roaster or a farmer, understanding what these methods contribute to the coffee as well as their impact on the environment, and the industry is critical.
On this episode of RoR from Roast Magazine, we will be discussing post-harvest processing methods from a scientific, philosophical, and practical perspective with guests, Siva Subramanian and Byron Holcomb of Olam Food Ingredients.
Siva Subramanian is Vice President & Head of coffee Innovation, Olam Food Ingredients (OFI).  He has 27 years of extensive experience in the food industry working in multiple countries including India, Singapore, and the United States. Prior to joining OFI, Siva worked with Hindustan Unilever at the Global R&D center in Bangalore, India Siva holds degrees in Chemistry, Chemical Technology & Food Technology from the University of Mumbai, India. Currently, Siva is leading a team engaged in creating new processing techniques to enhance the aroma, flavor, and taste of coffee & creating novel food ingredients.
Byron Holcomb is the Specialty Coffee Manager, Olam Food Ingredients (OFI. Byron likes to say he is a strong generalist in coffee but not an expert at any one part of coffee. In 2009 he competed as a barista with coffee from his own farm in the Dominican Republic.  He was a coffee buyer for Dallis Bros Coffee in NYC for a few years before moving to Brazil to manage a couple farms in Sul de Minas. There he tried to bring better post-harvest management to the operation. At least one of the farms made it into CoE the 5 years he was there. Recently he received the QP3 certification. For the last few years he is based in Guatemala City supporting the Specialty business in Olam/ofi.
We cover:
- How processing has evolved
- What happens in the washed, natural, and honey process
- The illusion of sweetness
- Role of stress, microorganisms, acids, metabolites, and sugars
- Mechanical harvesting impact on flavor
- Why honey process is not ideal
- How much does processing contribute to the beanâs true terroir?
- What methods are most scalable and sustainable?
- How roasters can make mindful selections to support farmers and serve customers well
- Experimental processing, quality, and marketing
- Pendulum of experimentation
Links:
Subscribe to Roast Magazine!
RoR #7 Illustrative Sample Roasting w/ Mike Ebert of Fire Dancer Coffee Consultants
Sample roasting is a critical part of any roasting operation. But sample roasting is not simply used for finding defects or even just for making purchasing decisions. It is also very important to use as a tool to illustrate what a coffee can do and where it fits in your line up according to yourâs and your customers tastes. Today we are going to be exploring what our guest, Mike Ebert calls, âIllustrative Roastingâ, and giving you tools, insights, mindsets, and best practices to use your sample roaster to its fullest capacity in helping your coffee reach its highest potential.
As the founder of Firedancer Coffee Consultants, Mike is dedicated to helping clients create a personalized strategy to ensure long-term success. He works primarily with roasters, producers and retailers, drawing from his extensive experience in all facets of the specialty coffee supply chain to guide clients in reaching their potential. Ebert is an Authorized SCA Trainer; holding the professional level certificates in Green Coffee, Sensory Skills, Roasting and Brewing. He has had a hand in many positions up and down the supply chain and continues his volunteer work with the Specialty Coffee Associationâs Education Advisory Council as Co-Chair of the Education Content Committee.
In our conversation we cover:
- Sample roasting for defect vs Illustrative
- Roasting with Objectivity and planning use of coffee
- Priorities of sample roasting frequency
- Sample roast and cupping for buying vs development
- Taking into consideration the end user
- Translating from sample roasting to production roasting
- Selecting the right sample roaster
- Assumptions that get you in trouble
- SOPs and System for any and all roasters
Links:
Subscribe to Roast Magazine!
RoR #6 Buying Less and Doing more w/ Ever Meister
We have an incredible range of options available to us when it comes to the green coffees we purchase. Right now our habit as an industry is to spot purchase small amounts of coffee from a wide variety of producers in hopes of getting the pest of the best. The trouble with this is that, while we might believe our method is helping promote great coffee, it is actually undermining the success of the producer and the process.
On this 6th edition of RoR we will be exploring how buying from fewer producers but with a commitment to buy more from the ones we partner with, does more for them AND for the sustainability and thriving of specialty coffee.
To do that we are talking with the author of the Roast Magazine article, “Buy Less, Do More”, Ever Meister!
Ever Meister has worked in the coffee industry for 20+ years in a wide range of capacities, but primarily she is a journalist, educator, and communicator whose work focuses on issues of access, equity, and ethics. She is the author of New York City Coffee: A Caffeinated History (The History Press, 2017) and the host of the coffee-marketing podcast In Good Taste on the Sprudge media network.
In our conversation today we are going to explore the shifts in mindsets and actions needed to create lasting, long term, quality partnerships with producers that will truly do more good for all involved.
We will cover:
- Why we buy so little from so many?
- Transactional vs relationship based buying
- Owning our behavior
- Commitment, Compromise, Communication
- Conflict resolution
- Risk distribution and mitigation
- Making incremental shifts
- Choosing partners through values
- Setting standards and expectations
- Utilizing a wider range of coffee form fewer producers
- Remaining competitive
Links:
Ever’s email: Meister@justmeister.com
Subscribe to Roast Audio Articles!
https://www.roastmagazine.com/audioarticles/
RoR #5 Time + Color in Roasting w/ Morten Munchow
Time and color in the roasting process are inextricably linked. We are fairly used to using time as a tool but what about color? Turns out that the color of your coffee is actually one of the most important but under-utilized, and poorly tracked metrics for determining flavor in the final roasted coffee. On this 5th edition of the Rate of Rise series we are going to be talking with Morten Munchow, the co-author of the Roast Magazine article: Flavor Development-The Relationship Between Time and Color in Coffee RoastingMorten Munchow To help us dive into thisÂ
Morten Munchow is the Founder of Coffee Mind a coffee roasting academy, research, and consultancy company based in Denmark. Morten is a scholar of biology who through over ten years of intense practical and scientific research and application gained a unique insights that have pushed the specialty coffee industry forward worldwide. He is a sought after speaker and presenter having published several papers in scientific journals.
In our conversation today we will be discoing the relationship between time and color and how we as an industry need to start regarding color and its subsequent tracking as a primary tool in creating consistency, quality, and serving a product that delights our customers
We will cover:
- Obsessing about minutia
- Reaching wrong conclusions
- Sensory impact of color
- Relationship between Tim and color
- Tracking color in your production
- Determining a starting color and your roasters range
- Developing intelligent intuition
- Investing in equipment
Links:
Subscribe to Roast Audio Articles!
https://www.roastmagazine.com/audioarticles/
RoR #4: Practical Thermodynamics w/ Candice Madison of Royal Coffee / The Crown Oak
Thermal dynamics is what makes coffee roasting possible. Having an understanding and control of it is what makes great roasting possible. But what aspects of thermal dynamics should we be familiar with and what methods of controlling it are best? In this month’s installment of the Rate of Rise series to you by Roast magazine we will be addressing these questions and much more with none other than Candice Madison.
Candice Madison has worked in specialty coffee for over a decade, as an accomplished barista, roaster, and trainer. She is a Q Arabica Instructor for the Coffee Quality Institute, an Authorized Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) Trainer, teaching on SCA certified campuses, as well as at the annual SCA Event, World of Coffee and Coffee Roasters Guild Retreat. A past World Coffee Events Head Judge, Candice is currently the Director of Roasting at The Crown: Royal Coffee Lab and Tasting Room. She oversees production roasting for the Tasting Room, as well as contributing to the Crown Jewel program, and hosting original and SCA roasting education. She is also a published writer on a range of topics concerning specialty coffee. Additionally, Candice was a member of several SCA committees, including the Equity Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, Candice is the Vice President of the Coffee Coalition for Racial Equity (CCRE).
In our conversation today we are will diving deep into the practical knowledge, application, and methods for harnessing the power of thermal dynamics in the roasting process.
We will cover:
- Difference between heat and thermal energy
- Systems that impact roasting
- What probes actually measure
- How to control and track thermal energy
- Understanding your machine
- Main mistakes made in the roasting process
- What to measure to monitor thermal energy
- Between batch protocol and how much data is too much
- Learning and teaching roasting
- Does your roaster make your coffee taste particular ways?
- Cupping against data and managing reactions in the roaster
- Practical next steps to control thermal energy in your roaster
Links:
Subscribe to Roast Audio Articles!
https://www.roastmagazine.com/audioarticles/
RoR #3: Making Contingency Planning a Reality w/ Andi Trindle Mersch of Philz Coffee
If this least year has shown us anything, it is that life is unpredictable and can sometimes throw a wrench into our plans, causing us to go into emergency mode. What do we do when this happens? What is our plan for when the roastery goes down? If you are like most busy owners, you probably don’t have much of a plan in place for when these things happen. Having a robust and well rehearsed contingency plan can literally save your business and those who depend on it.
But where do you start and what should you plan for?
To help us figure this all out we are talking with Andi Trindle Mersch of Philz Coffee!Â
Andi Trindle Mersch is Director of Coffee, Tea, and Sustainability with Philz Coffee. In these roles, she oversees coffee and tea sourcing and quality and leads company wide sustainability efforts. Andi has held a variety of responsibilities throughout more than 26 years in specialty coffee. She has published numerous trade journal articles and lectured nationally and internationally on many topics in the coffee sector and more recently in sustainability. She has held a number of leadership and board roles within the broader specialty coffee industry and is currently serving on the Food 4 Farmers Board of Directors and the newly formed Coffee Coalition for Racial Equity.
Today Andi will expand on her 2 part Roast Magazine article on Coffee Plant continuity Planning and give us practical and insightful advice to take the first and best steps in making contingency planning a reality for your roastery.
We cover:
- Why it is critical to have a plan
- 1st steps in getting started
- Parts of your bunisess to prioritize
- Including all players in the planning
- Investment of time and money
- Choosing contingency partners
- Serving well in an emergency
- Planning in phases
- The benefit of networking and mutuality
- The ROI
I hope you enjoy!
This episode is brought to you by Roast Magazine! Visit them and subscribe over at:
https://www.roastmagazine.com/audioarticles/
Links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andi-trindle-mersch/
RoR #2: Exploring Quality Control w/ Spencer Turer of Coffee Enterprises
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 going to dive into the topic of understanding quality, quality control, and taking the first steps in making it a real part of your operation so you can comfortably navigate the multi faceted issue.
To do that we are talking with one of our industries brightest minds (and palettes), Spencer Turer!
Spencer is the Vice President of Coffee Enterprises, the first independent laboratory in the United States dedicated to quality analysis of coffee and a global leader in coffee quality testing and consulting throughout the farm-to-cup supply chain.
Spenser has been a professional coffee taster, analyst, and quality control expert since 1992 having previously held positions as General Manager, Sales Operations (Coffee Division), Mitsui Foods, Coffee Specialist, Kerry Food & Beverage, Waukesha, WI, and Supply Chain Manager / Coffee Technologist – Product Development, Dunkinâ Donuts
Additionally he is a member of American Society for Testing & Materials Evaluations: Food & Beverage Committee. Green Coffee Association Specialty Coffee Arbitration Panel and an ambassador with International Womenâs Coffee Alliance.
As a long time Q Grader, co-founder of the Roasters Guild and widely published author, Spencer’s incredible breadth of experience and expertise is going to help us tackle this question of quality as we discuss the how to approach the concept and the main issues we need to consider in our operations both large and small.
I hope you enjoy!
We cover:
- Defining quality
- Intrinsic vs extrinsic quality
- Factoring in the consumers preference
- Consistency
- First steps in QC
- Factors that contribute to quality
- Being able to identify issues and replicate success
- Danger of âSelling your problemsâ
- Balance of systems of control â
- How we set our own definitions
- Addressing the complexity of the supply chain
- Choosing the right things to measure
This episode is brought to you by Roast Magazine! Visit them and subscribe over at:
Links:
Specialty Coffee Professionals LinkedIn Group
Spencer’s Audio Article: “Defining and Measuring Quality in Coffee From Production to Preparation”
RoR #1: A Conversation w/ Anne Cooper of Equilibrium Master Roasters
Welcome to the new series produced in partnership with Roast Magazine, “Rate of Rise: Elevated conversations on Roasting”!
Every first Friday we will be interviewing roasting experts from around the world to discover wisdom and insights that will help you thrive  in your roasting business. In this inaugural episode we are going to be talking with the amazing Anne Cooper or Equilibrium Master Roasters!
With over 25 yrs working in the Coffee Industry, Anne is an Australian Roaster who has gained extensive experience in many areas of the coffee industry as Barista, CafĂ© Owner/Manager, National Barista Trainer & Assessor, Head Roaster/Roasting Production Manager at both a National & International level. A certified Q Grader, Anne regularly attends, volunteers, competes in & judges coffee competitions in Australia, USA & Brazil. With her consulting company, Equilibrium Master Roasters, Anne continues to develop her extensive roasting skills & knowledge with exposure to a wide range of roasting companies & machines and various roasting techniques / industry relevant processes & protocols – she is really passionate about passing on skills & knowledge to the next generation of flame keepers.
In our conversation we focus on setting yourself up for success through data, equipment knowledge, establishing solid protocols, and balancing the use of software and tools with a deep sensory understanding of the roasting process.
There is a ton of fabulous information here to help you kick of 2021 the right way!
We cover:
- What’s changed in roasting perspectives over the last decade
- Barrier to entry in the roasting profession
- The balance of software and sensory as tools to achieve flavor
- Data collection and decisiveness
- The importance of palate preference
- Are you roasting the coffee or the software?
- Finding your palate preference
- Getting to know your specific machine
- Common misconceptions of new and experienced roasters
- Why sharing roast curves is not really helpful
- Identifying human error before equipment error
Links:
Related Episodes:
152 : Essential Advice for Starting a Roastery w/ Jen Apodaca
078 : Exploring Green Buying and Sensory Analysis w/ Amanda Juris
082 : Knowledge and Flavor w/ Cosimo Libardo
This episode is brought to you by Roast Magazine! Visit them and subscribe over at:
When Chris photobombed Annes favorite roasting pic 10 years ago:
