Opposites Extract: A Debate Podcast about Coffee

What better way to end the first full season of "Opposites Extract" than by surrounding ourselves with friends and coffee family from all over? In this year-end show, Joe and Meister bring in their colleagues on the sales teams both at HQ in Minneapolis as well as based in Europe and Australia. It's a multicultural extravaganza! Plus, Meister and Joe reflect on the whirlwind of season one, sneak-peek some of what's to come, and hopefully spread a little caffeinated cheer. We'll be back in March for season two, with a new format, more fantastic guests, and of course plenty of laughs and surprises.

Kalle, a former Finnish barista champion, coffee-shop owner, and now cofounder and CPO of Sudden Coffee, joins us for a conversation on how his new company is revolutionizing instant coffee for a specialty market.

In this short interview, Meister has a chat with director Jeff Hann and producer Roland Fraval, whose feature-length documentary "The Coffee Man" follows former World Barista Champion Sasa Sestic around the globe in search of interesting coffees and a fascinating story. Roland and Jeff speak about their filmmaking careers thus far, what's down the road for them, and how their work on this movie turned them both into bona fide coffee obsessives.

Urban gardener and co-owner, coffee-buyer, and roaster for St. Louis, MO's Blueprint Coffee, calls in to the show to argue the merits of natural or biological farming, an agricultural technique that uses native ecosystems to encourage farm health and success. Joe and Meister use this opportunity to "beta test" a new show format, as they consider what Season 2 will look (well, sound) like.

Opposites Extract was recorded live in Detroit, MI where Joe and Meister were honored to be masters of ceremonies for six unique, thought-provoking, and illuminating presentations by coffee professionals from throughout the region. We gather the speakers around a table to talk about their topics, ask one another questions, and continue the conversation that was started during the program.

Opposites Extract was recorded live from the Vue in Columbus, OH, where Joe and Meister were honored to be masters of ceremonies for six unique, thought-provoking, and illuminating presentations by coffee professionals from throughout the region. We gather the speakers around a (tiny) table to talk about their topics, ask one another questions, and continue the conversation that was started during the program. Tune in next week for the second part of the two-part series, recorded live in Detroit, MI.

Things get sweet when Kerry Foods' resident barista and mixologist Levi

Andersen comes in studio to argue the benefits of flavored syrups, specialty drinks, and flavor creativity in specialty coffee cafes. He also whips up some original drinks for Joe, Meister, and producer Andy to taste.

Andy Newbom, long-time green coffee developer and author of Coffee Spanish for Coffee Buyers, calls in to debate Joe on the big topic of microlots.

We sit down in the studio with Paul Schlader, cofounder and co-owner of Birch Coffee in NYC, to discuss (but not strictly debate) the pros and cons of business models that are strictly wholesale, strictly retail, and those which blur the lines between the two. Does it help or hurt a business to be a back-of-the-house brand? How much opportunity is there in focusing your caffeinated energy on the street level?

In this episode Meister takes on Jamie Isetts in a debate about the subjectivity of what we define as good and bad taste.