Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders

This Founder Friday is such unique success story! What started as a dream between two best friends (one an actor, the other a classical opera singer) has now been a 7 year coffee journey that is easily the most important and rewarding performance of their lives. From a humble garage to now an award winning roastery with 4 cafes and countless culinary collaborations, we will be diving into the story of Mostra Coffee with co-founders Jelynn Malone and Beverly Magtanong.

Jelynn Sophia Malone is a Filipino-American entrepreneur, businesswoman, philanthropist, actress, TV host, producer, wife, and mother of 2 beautiful daughters. She is a co-founder, owner, and acting Chief Marketing Officer for Mostra Coffee, With over 15 years of marketing experience in Hollywood, Jelynn has been instrumental to the growth and international success of Mostra Coffee. She is dedicated to creating positive change that uplifts entire local and global communities.

Beverly Magtanong is a Filipino-Canadian-American entreprenuer, businesswoman, philanthropist, wife and mother of 5 children. She is a founder and co-owner of Mostra Coffee, As a classically trained opera singer with no prior business or coffee experience, Beverly is inspired to empower others to find their true, authentic selves, and make intuitive and empathic entrepreneurship the norm.

Mostra Coffee is a specialty coffee roaster located in San Diego, CA and the recipient of the international and coveted 2020 Micro-Roaster of the Year award by Roast Magazine.

They have been featured on Forbes, Us Weekly, Buzzfeed, Gear Patrol, Huffington Post, Conde Nast's Bon Appétit, as well as ABC, NBC, FOX, KTLA, ABS-CBN, TFC, Alaska Airlines and Google Talks at Google HQ.

Mosta is focused on providing an excellent experience for their customers through the tireless pursuit of perfecting their craft and being the beauty in humanity.

I hope you enjoy and are inspired by the Mosta Coffee story!

We cover:

• From entertainment to coffee
• Philippines and the Mission of Mostra
• First steps t launch Mostra in a garage
• Genesis of their first retail space
• Dialing in their quality through feedback
• Cold brew, beer pioneers
• Creating the first brick and mortar retail experience
• R & D and utilizing early versions
• Interview and hiring process
• Being and spreading goodness through authenticity
• Navigating growth and planning the future
• Perspective and the magic needed to say no
• Harmonious partnerships

Links:

www.mostacoffee.com

Mostra Coffee on Instagram

Mostaland 7th year Celebration

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284 : Founder Friday! w. Jackie Nguyen of Cafe Cà Phê | Kansas City, MO

Special! "Thinking Differently" Series | Filipino Coffee w/ Ron Dizon of Teofilo Coffee!

256 : Founder Friday w/ Varat Vichit-Vadakan of Roots Coffee Roaster in Bangkok, Thailand

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Confrontation and difficult conversations are things we tend to avoid. One of the outcomes of this is an increasingly passive-aggressive style of management that seeks to take care of the issue without having to face it.

Today on Shift Break we will be talking about this common issue in coffee shops and how we can reframe confrontation and do away with passive aggressive management for good.

Related episodes:

125 : Confidence in Conflict w/ Kwame Christian : A framework for Compassionate Curiosity

165 : The Art of Deep Listening w/ Oscar Trimboli

067: 6 Truths about Power

221 : Building your People Program w/ HR Consultant Dana Goodwin

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Interested in consulting or coaching? Reach out! [email protected]

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Few things are as essential to the global barista community as Barista Magazine. For 16 years they have been "Serving people Serving Coffee" and advancing the knowledge, craft, and profession of the barista with every issue. Barista Magazine gives a platform and voice to the vibrant and amazing people who make amazing coffee and today we get to talk with the founders, Sarah Allen and Kenneth Olsen, All about how it started, grew, and their perspectives on the growth of the industry they have been faithfully reflecting all these years.

Sarah Allen, the editor-in-chief and co-founder of Barista Magazine, has been a driving force in the international barista movement from its outset, writing thoughtfully and compellingly about the barista craft, as well as contributing numerous stories on the subculture of baristas to multiple magazines and newspapers.

Sarah has worked in a variety of editorial positions in her 20 years of professional publishing experience, as a staff writer for The Oakland Tribune in the San Francisco Bay Area; as a staff writer for The Oregonian newspaper in Portland, Ore.; as a freelance writer for such publications as WebMD, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, and The Hollywood Reporter; and as the Editor of Fresh Cup Magazine.

She holds a Master's degree in Journalism from the University of Oregon in Eugene, Ore., and a Bachelor's degree in English from the University of California in Davis, California.

Publisher Kenneth R. Olson has more than two decades of experience working as a writer and editor for both mainstream and specialty coffee publications. Kenneth's work has appeared in a number of publications, including academic journals, Oregon Humanities, and The New York Times.

Kenneth holds a Master's degree in Communications from the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and a Bachelor's degree in History and Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington.

I am old enough to remember when Barista magazine first came out only 6 years into my own career in coffee and what an impact it made. I have known Sarah and Ken for a good portion of that time and so getting to interview them here on this show feels truly magical.

I hope you enjoy this conversation!

We cover:

• Beginning at the perfect time
• Creating and curating the first issue
• Highlighting baristas and connecting the community
• Listening as essential to serving well
• Providing tools, education and lifting up the barista
• Accessibility of information
• Global spread of barista culture
• Rise of barista in producing countries
• Providing clear learning pathways
• Why there is no "right" answer
• How owners can meet barista's needs right now

Links:

www.baristamagazine.com

Instagram @baristamagazine

Related Episodes:

306 : A Conversation w/ 2004 U.S. Barista Champion, Bronwen Serna!

305 : Founder Friday! w/ Andrew Sinclair of MadLab Coffee, Los Angeles, CA

294 : At Origin Roasting Revolution w/ Luis Fernando, founder of Amor Perfecto!

252 : Founder Friday w/ Klaus Thompson of the Coffee Collective, Denmark

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This question gets brought up often when people are discussing their plans to open a coffee shop. The answer, as you might expect, is not as easy as saying yes or no. Ultimately we need to explore what is behind the question. Why is it being asked and how can you answer it for yourself.

Today on Shift break I will be giving you my perspective on this question in hopes that it encourages you to pursue the best paths of preparation for the coffee journey ahead.

Related episodes:

283 : 5 Bad Reasons to Open a Coffee Shop

269 : What to Focus on after you Launch

258 : Prioritizing your Mental Health in the New Year w/ Dr. Lara Pence

253 : Mindsets that Sabotage Success

Interested in consulting or coaching? Reach out! [email protected]

Visit our awesome Sponsors!

Elevated batch brew and so much more!

Ground Control Cyclops Brewer

The best espresso machines in the world!

www.lamarzoccousa.com

Italian coffee has shaped how the world understands coffee and cafe culture. These days there is a movement to take the traditional Italian way of of getting a coffee and elevate the quality and the experience making it a truly specialty coffee experience. At the heart of that movement is Aroma Caffe todays guest, Alessandro Galtieri.

Alessandro has owned and operated Aroma Caffe since 1994 and has been a coffee professional since 1991. As he ran the cafe he began to shift it into a beacon of progressive specialty coffee amidst the traditional coffee culture landscape of his city of Bologna, Italy.

Alessandro is the 2018 and 2019 Italian Brews Cup Champion and 3rd place finisher in the 2019 World Brewers Cup. He has published several books/ manuals on professional barista work and training, is a certified SCA trainer, and is tirelessly working to serve his customers the best quality and to make them happy through coffee.

In today's conversation we will be covering his beginnings in coffee, becoming an owner, the challenge of shifting to specialty, and his vision for the future of Italian coffee culture.

We cover:

• Learning under older traditional Italian baristas
• The road to owning his own bar
• Changing the business model to specialty coffee
• Training and educating both baristas and customers
• Experiencing resistance to new ways from traditionalists
• What makes Italian coffee culture?
• What is the future of Italian coffee culture
• The most important behaviors of a barista
• How loving our coffee helps its sustainability
• Constance and temperance

Links:

Aroma Caffe on Instagram @aromacoffeelove

Website: https://www.ilpiaceredelcaffe.it

Alessandro's Brewers Cup Routine

Related episodes:

198 : The Evolution of the Coffee Shop w/ Prof. Jonathan Morris

205 : Inside Caffe Florian, the World's Oldest Coffee Shop ! | Venice, Italy

019 : 10 Reasons to Love the Customer w/ Chris Deferio

299 : 5 Rules for a Successful Coffee shop

Blog: The Customer of Tomorrow

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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 bean's 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:

www.olamspecialtycoffee.com

www.asic-cafe.org

Subscribe to Roast Magazine!

www.roastmagazine.com

Related Episodes:

RoR #1: A Conversation w/ Anne Cooper of Equilibrium Master Roasters

RoR #2: Exploring Quality Control w/ Spencer Turer of Coffee Enterprises

RoR #3: Making Contingency Planning a Reality w/ Andi Trindle Mersch of Philz Coffee

RoR #4: Practical Thermal Dynamics w/ Candice Madison of Royal Coffee / The Crown Oak

RoR #5: Time and Color in Roasting w/ Morten Munchow of Coffee Mind"

RoR #6: Buying Less and Doing More w/ Ever Meister

RoR #7 Illustrative Sample Roasting w/ Mike Ebert of Firedancer Coffee Consultants

It seems like we as an industry want two conflicting things. On the one hand we want baristas to create excellent drinks and to come to work with the mentality that they will not just be on autopilot and phone it in. On the other hand, we have a tendency to believe that the right configuration of recipes and equipment will solve the problem.

Today on Shift Break we will be discussing why machines and recipes cannot replace people in providing the kind of quality we seek, and how, ultimately, we need to take ownership over creating the environments where quality can achieved.

Related episodes:

298 : A Trophy, or Atrophy?

296: Holistic Barista Training w/ David Castillo of Go Get Em Tiger , Los Angeles

025 : Mastering the Art of Training w/ Dave Stachowiak : Coaching, Leadership, education , and how to communicate your coffee and barista knowledge so it sticks

248 : The 5 Elements of Resourcing your Team

Interested in Consulting? Reach out! [email protected]

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Elevated batch brew and so much more!

Ground Control Cyclops Brewer

The best espresso machines in the world!

www.lamarzoccousa.com

Our coffee shops are the sum total of many different small and large things. When business gets going it can be easy for some of the simpler and more nuanced elements of running a coffee bar to fall by the wayside. The impact these have over time can be and is felt by both your staff and your customers.

Today you and I will be covering ten ways you can upgrade how your employees and patrons experience your cafe. These will be practical/physical changes as well as mindset shifts. As you listen, I would challenge you to select one or two of these and really create an initiative to implement them in your shop long term. As you go through the whole list I believe you (and everyone else)will see some remarkable changes.

We cover:

• Bathrooms
• Bar cleaning
• Condiments
• Seating area
• Aromas in the shop
• Service standards
• Prioritizing feedback
• Upgrading and maintaining
• Focusing on your work

Related Episodes:

057 : SOP's FTW! Success through Standard Operating Procedures

Spiders

299 : 5 Rules for a Successful Coffee shop

128 : Terry's Top 10 w/ Terry Ziniewicz : Best practices for how not to kill your espresso machine

253 : Mindsets that Sabotage Success

Fix the Small Stuff! : Management, Morale, Coffee Bar Culture

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www.pacficfoodservice.com

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The question of who to promote to available positions is one that coffee shop operators wrestle with a lot. As with any hiring decision, we can make great choices based on solid reasons or we can make a choice we will regret later that was based on shaky reasoning. One of those not so great reasons to promote someone is that they are "next in line"

Today on Shift Break we will explore the idea of "next in line" promotion, why it may not be a great idea, and what to do to make the best decision for your baristas, the customers, and the cafe.

Related episodes:

172 : Why Tracking Performance is a Must!

Blog: Good Communication is "For Here"

232 : Rebuilding your Staff with Excellence w/ Dave Stachowiak

301 : Hiring and Training for Excellence

278 : Making great Hiring Decisions

Visit our awesome Sponsors!

Elevated batch brew and so much more!

Ground Control Cyclops Brewer

The best espresso machines in the world!

www.lamarzoccousa.com

Today we get to chat with 2004 U.S. Barista Champion and legend, Bronwen Serna! Bronwen has been a practicing Coffee Professional since 2000, a Professional Barista, Roaster, and Barista Trainer, a Certified Instructor and Assessor with the Specialty Coffee Association. Her love of coffee precedes her experience, where she manages to frequent many coffeehouses all over the world and became a Barista after having drunk many cups of coffee and inspired by a trip to Italy.

What has driven her all these years has been her love coffee and people. Bronwen is currently working with Counter Culture Coffee in LA, as she continues to build excitement and knowledge for clients and coffee professionals in the Specialty Coffee scene.

This is quite a special episode. I have known Bronwen since the early 2000s. Having both grown into our careers during the same era of specialty coffee and in the same professional barista community I have witnessed first hand Bronwen's dynamic and inspiring impact in the industry and it is a tru privilege to welcome her to the podcast to share her story and wisdom with the KTTS audience!

In our conversation today we will be exploring Bronwen's early years in coffee, and by default the early years of the 3rd wave that she was helping to shape. We talk about training, education, hospitality, business models, and how all these things have developed and what she believes are the timeless truths that contribute to a thriving community and career in coffee.

I hope you enjoy this episode and that it helps you mindfully pursue building a great future coffee history with what you presently set your hand to.

We cover:

• Formative years in coffee and 3rd wave
• Being a life long learner
• Roasting as a career springboard
• Competition and expanding horizons
• Tailoring education
• Evolution of the industry
• Universal truths and practices of barista and coffee work
• How to best serve our customers
• Simplicity as a virtue
• Biggest needs in the industry

Links:

Bronwen on Instagram

www.bronwenserna.com

Counter Culture Coffee

Visit our amazing Sponsors!

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www.pacficfoodservice.com

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