We're obsessed with coffee. Recently we realized it's now taking over our travel itineraries and has become a huge part of how we plan for trips. How has coffee changed that over the years? What do we predict might be coming in the future for coffee and travel? We talk about all of that in episode 107 of the Coffee Roaster Warm Up Sessions Podcast.

Ansley Randall is a graphic designer and mural artist based out of Florida. She's played a huge part here at Mirror Coffee Roasters by designing our new coffee bags which were released earlier this year. In this episode, we talk about her journey from barista to graphic designer and a few helpful tips on how coffee businesses can work with graphic designers to grow.

Comandante is known for their superior hand coffee grinders that have been seen being used on the competition stage including this year at the 2023 Brewers Cup Championships at SCA. Comandante has led their own brewing competitions for years now and this year they came to Vancouver, BC. We knew we wanted to participate, but we had no idea we'd be winning the 2023 Canadian Comandante Championship.

In this episode, we break down how the competition is run, our approach to brewing, and what this means for us as a roasting company.

Coffee competitions are a big part of specialty coffee. It gives those working in coffee an opportunity to showcase their passion for the craft. In this episode, we sit down with Keziah who competed this year as a US barista competitor. She talks about why she competed, her advice to others considering it, and some of her biggest takeaways from being a competitor.

Kyle Rowsell started as a YouTuber and content creator which has led him to launching his coffee roasting company called September Coffee. Kyle Rowsell opens up about starting a kickstarter, running the coffee business with his wife Natasha, and some of the challenges they have faced over the last few months. This conversation is vulnerable, encouraging, and gives you an inside look at the details that are often not seen from the outside.

Tanner Colson started by creating coffee content on TikTok a few years back without much expectation of going viral. Little did he know that this was just the beginning to viral TikToks, a following of over 1 million, and doing what he loves for work. We discuss what it's like to go viral and how to use your following to add value and positivity to the world.

Sourcing and roasting coffee are two very important aspects of a roasting company. Once you've sourced a really delicious coffee, how do you transfer that into a production roast? In this episode, we share our process from cupping sample roasts to carrying it over into a production roast we're satisfied with.

Our coffee podcast just hit 100 episodes. What initially felt like a side project of our roasting company now has become one of our favorite parts of our whole operation. On episode 100, we reflect back on our favorite moments on the podcast, how impactful this community of listeners has become, and dreaming big about the future of the podcast.

What sets a coffee roasting company apart from others? As home baristas, we've noticed that everyone claims to roast the best specialty coffee. Given how subjective coffee flavor is, is that enough to be different and stand out? In this podcast episode, we break down a few ways we think coffee roasters can stand out and provide more value to coffee drinkers and home baristas.

This week, we blindly cupped over 60 coffees and 14 coffee roasters all at once. There were many delicious coffees on the table which was very fun to taste and experience the many flavor profiles they had to offer. Apart from enjoying all these coffees, this was a big learning experience. Every roaster and every coffee had a piece of data and information that we could learn from. In this coffee podcast episode, we go over the main takeaways from this cupping and how you can start learning from similar experiences.