In this episode, I talk with Håkon Rydningen, filmmaker and founder of Rammelaus. We have had the pleasure of working with Håkon for the past five years – he is the person behind many of our videos, including the subscription videos.

In 2023, Håkon travelled with me to Finca Tamana in Colombia to film the daily life on the farm and document all the work we have done with Elias and Bellanid over the years. Earlier this year, he also joined me on my annual trip to Honduras and El Salvador, where he filmed at Los Pirineos, Finca el Puente and Finca Nacimiento.

In this episode we talk about Håkon’s background in film and photography, his relationship with coffee. Håkon has been a coffee enthusiast for quite some time which opens up for a conversation about what he knew about coffee before we started working together, and what his experience with coffee is today after seeing how coffee is produced.

Håkon shares his thoughts on what it was like to be a “fly on the wall” during our trips to origin and how spending time on coffee farms changed his perspective on what quality coffee really means.

We also talk about the similarities between filmmaking and coffee production, what Håkon has learned along the way, and how he now views the work we do at origin.

If you have not yet seen the videos from Finca Tamana or Los Pirineos, you can find them on our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@TimWendelboeCoffee

Music by my uncle Jens Wendelboe.

In this episode, I sit down with Damian from our team, who became the Norwegian Cup Tasters Champion in March this year. Damian works both as a barista in our espresso bar and as a roaster in our roastery, and he has been part of the team since 2023.

In this episode, I sit down with Lalo Perez to talk about biological agriculture and how it differs from conventional coffee farming.

The biggest project we are working on right now is what we call our "TW Biological Project". Our goal is that all the farms we buy from in 10 years will be practising regenerative and biological farming. We are currently testing this on six farms in latin-America, where we are comparing biological farming techniquea to how they are currently working (conventional farming) on two similar areas of each farm to see what the results will be within three years. We are discussing the results we expect and how we plan to work to reach our goal. 

In this episode, I sit down with my good friend Stephen Vick during my recent visit to Kenya. Stephen shares his journey in the coffee industry, which began in Oregon, USA, and has since brought him to Kenya. Together, we reflect on how the industry has evolved over the more than twenty years we have both been a part of it.

Stephen works for the Danish Coop, a grocery store chain in Scandinavia. He oversees their roasting and export of roasted coffee from Kenya to Scandinavia. He explains how his work in Kenya operates and the impact of exporting roasted coffee as opposed to unroasted coffee makes locally.

We talk about the supportive barista community in Nairobi, where sharing knowledge has become more common and important for growth. We also discuss robusta coffee and the increasing interest in experimenting with new cultivars.

Additionally, we talk about the rise of organically certified coffees in Kenya, which is still relatively rare but showing promising growth. Finally, Stephen shares what excites him most about the future of Kenyan coffee and the local coffee community.

In this episode, I sit down with Ben Symes, our wholesale manager, to reflect on the highlights of 2024.

We discuss our favourite coffees of the year, including the washed coffee from Tatmara and the Java from Finca Tamana, as well as developments on the farms we work with. Tim also shares insights from the farmer symposium he held in Honduras and our plans to help convert all the farms we work with to biological farming practices.

This year brought many memorable experiences, such as time spent in Kenya with Klaus Thomsen, our pop-up at the Coffee Collective in Denmark, the Ljubljana Coffee Festival with James Hoffmann, and a special dinner at Noma to mark the close of our chapter with them.

Being recognised as the best roastery by Roastful was a standout moment, made possible by the dedication of our team across every aspect of the business, from roasting and packaging to serving in the espresso bar and managing orders. But we would not be where we are without the hard work and dedication that all the coffee producers we buy from put in every year.

Finally, we reflect on what it means to be the "Best Roaster" and look ahead to 2025 with new harvests and plans.

Join us for a review of 2024 and a look at what is to come.

Music by my uncle Jens Wendelboe.

In this episode, I am joined by our Wholesale Manager, Ben Symes, to answer your questions.

In this episode, I am joined by our Wholesale Manager, Ben Symes, to answer your questions.

Earlier in October, we invited you to send in any questions you had for us. We received such a great response that we had to split the podcast into two parts. In this episode, Ben and I will be focusing on your questions about roasting and tasting.

Music by my uncle Jens Wendelboe.

In this episode, I’m joined by Mats Fredheim Vidby, our roastery team leader and one of our dedicated coffee roasters, who has been with us since 2021.

We will also provide updates on the latest developments at these farms over the past few years.

In this episode, I am back at Diego Baraona's farm, Los Pirineos, in El Salvador, one year after our last recording. Since then, significant developments have unfolded both on the farm and in Diego's future plans.

Having closely collaborated with Diego for nearly four years, and previously with his father, Gilberto Baraona, I've witnessed Diego's growth as a coffee producer firsthand. Taking over the farm after his father's passing, Diego has shown considerable progress.

Last year, I organised a trip to Guatemala for the farmers we buy coffee from in Latin America - Diego, Moises, Marysabel, and Elias - introducing them to Josué Morales, a dedicated organic coffee producer. The aim was to inspire a shift towards organic cultivation, with my personal goal of exclusively buying organically grown coffee from Latin America within the next decade.

Diego was particularly moved by this experience, with plans now underway to transition Los Pirineos into a fully organic farm in the coming years.

Despite being a successful coffee farmer, Diego is planning to scale down his farm. He'll delve into the reasons behind this decision and shed light on the challenges he currently faces as a coffee producer.

Looking ahead, Diego together with his mother, plan to open a hotel on his farm in the near future, offering coffee enthusiasts from all over the world an opportunity to visit his farm and delve deeper into the world of coffee.

In terms of processing, there have been notable shifts in Diego's approach. While he previously experimented with various methods, he now primarily focuses on washed coffees. He will share insights into the reasons for this shift.

If you stay until the end of the episode, Diego will answer questions submitted by you through our Instagram.

To learn more about the Los Pirineos farm, visit our website.

Music by my uncle Jens Wendelboe.