Totally Dissolved

We're back and (finally) ready for a new season! Coming to you next week, season 5 begins and we've got another excellent lineup of guests. Can't wait for you to hear the upcoming episodes.

Community and coffee are synonymous. Coffee brings people together into shared spaces and through sharing stories and experiences. This week we chat with Double J on how he builds community through Black Rabbit and sharing coffee, culture, and stories through his new project Coffee Breath.

Join us as we ask 20 questions with our new Marketing Manager, Ashley Allen. We talk coffee, sparkling water, Nick Jonas, coffee tools, and generally keep it pretty silly to wrap up season 4. Thanks for joining us for another great season of Totally Dissolved, and we’ll catch you on the next one!

Trying to educate oneself about coffee can be daunting and confusing. This week we chat with Hailie Stevens from Fellow and gives us some great perspectives on educating consumers on Specialty Coffee.

Learning about Specialty Coffee can be daunting for anyone, regardless of being in coffee for 1 year or 10 years. Grant Gamble and Suneal Pabari created Leaderboard: The Coffee Game to help make learning about coffee fun for everyone, educational, and a unique way to think about how you learn about coffee. This week’s conversation gives us a peek into the thought process of creating educational experiences and how you can help develop a better palate.

Grant is an ad school dropout turned coffee professional, typically working behind the scenes on too many projects at once. In addition to Leaderboard, Grant is the founder of Culture Coffee Project, Creative Director for the World AeroPress Championship, Events Director for the NA division of Allegra Events and the Director of Marketing for the Montreal-based symposium ECCM. Despite having been in the industry since '05, Grant is still learning everyday (though he's pretty confident he'd score at least 86 points in Leaderboard).

Suneal is obsessed with making fun coffee experiences and pushing the boundaries of the coffee industry. Back in 2014 he co-founded The Roasters Pack (Canada’s best specialty coffee subscription service - think of it like your nerdy coffee friend who shares awesome coffees) and has since co-founded a few other coffee projects along his journey in the coffee industry. Hand him a cup of a washed Ethiopian or Colombian and he’ll be a happy man.

#coffee #coffeepeople #palatedevelopment #tasting #coffeecupping

We have a very fun, science focused episode this week for you all! We bring back Chris Hendon and welcome Robin Bumbaugh to discuss experiments they've done this past year with grind particles, electricity, and chemical reactions.

Dr. Christopher H. Hendon is a Professor of Computational Materials Chemistry at the Univeristy of Oregon. His interests are in energy materials and coffee science. Prof. Hendon’s interest in coffee began during his PhD, and since then has published several peer-reviewed articles and a book, Water For Coffee. He enjoys washed African coffees, dry Rieslings, and east coast oysters.

Robin Bumbaugh is a PhD Candidate at the University of Oregon and has been conducting research in the Hendon Coffee Lab since 2021. Originally from northern California, she obtained her B.S in Chemistry and Biochemistry from California State University, Chico in 2019. From there she spent a sunny summer working at the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida before heading to UO where she earned her Master’s in Chemistry. Recently, her work at UO has earned her a Graduate Student Community Builder Award and an upcoming publication in Matter. Aside from coffee, Robin’s hobbies include spending time in the sun, cooking, and walking her dachshund.

The manuscript of the study, "Moisture Controlled Triboelectrification During Coffee Grinding," will be available to read in Matter in November and will link here when available. DM us if you would like a copy.

#coffee #coffeepeople #coffeescience #specialtycoffee #coffeegrinders

Technology is ever evolving in Specialty Coffee and quickly developing in every facet from Roasting to Brewing. We chat this week with David Chou from Eversys to help us better understand how automatic espresso machines have changed and the possibilities this technology has in Specialty Coffee and Hospitality.

David Chou (he/him) is the Customer Success Manager at Eversys USA, based in New York, NY. With a background in coffee education at Stumptown Coffee Roasters, he now creates resources for end users and technicians, and ensures that the programming and recipes of each machine match what is expected. He is also the co-chair of the US Latte Art Competition, and greatly enjoys seeing the competitors, judges, and competition itself grow in its return to the USCC stage. Outside of coffee, he loves cooking, running long distances, and hanging out with his wife and two cats.

#coffee #coffeepeople #espresso #specialtycoffee #technology

We interview each other about Training, Education, and Barista-ing. We both love being in the Specialty Coffee Industry and sometimes you just need to chat it out to learn more and also appreciate how much has changed and evolved over time.

Tell us what you think about being in the role you do in Specialty Coffee and bonus points for also sharing fun kid pics and stories and your ideal day.

#coffee #coffeepeople #specialtycoffee

We continue our discussion on SE Asian Coffee with Will Frith. We get into the history and rise of Vietnamese Coffee and it's modernization.

Will Frith is an American of Vietnamese descent who grew up in Texas. He first came to Vietnam in 2004 to meet his maternal grandparents, and has subsequently split his time between Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and the Pacific Northwest of the United States.

He got his start in the coffee business as a barista at MOD Coffeehouse in Galveston, Texas. In 2007 he was hired as a Production Assistant at Batdorf & Bronson Coffee Roasters (now Dancing Goats Coffee) in Olympia, Washington, and would eventually become Production Roaster and QC Specialist at Olympia Coffee Roasters.

In 2013 he moved to Vietnam to contribute to the development of specialty arabica. He is largely credited with sparking a movement in specialty coffee there. With the exception of a year at The New Black in Singapore and three years with Modbar as its west coast US rep, he has since lived and worked in Saigon, dedicated to changing the way the world views Vietnam's coffee.

In 2019 he co-founded Saigon-based Building Coffee, a coffee company at origin that believes in Better Coffee for More People. He opened Building Coffee's flagship cafe BEL with Building Coffee partner Kel Norman in 2021. Ed Leebrick, owner of Seattle's legendary Lighthouse Roasters, joined Building Coffee in 2021. The brand launched in the USA at the Specialty Coffee Association's 2023 Expo in Portland, OR.

#coffee #coffeepeople #vietnam #vietnamesecoffee

October is FilAm History Month and this week's episode we get to know what is special about Philippine Coffee.

Paul Barreto is local to the LA area (Long Beach represent!) and is one of the burgeoning FilAm Specialty Coffee Roasters specifically working with Filipino Coffee and Filipino Coffee Farmers. We (especially Bronwen) are so excited to share this conversation with you all and share a little about Philippine Specialty Coffee.

Paul Barreto is one of the co-founders of Out of Office Roasters. As a hobbyist, he began roasting on a Whirley Pop in his apartment kitchen. After several fire alarm incidents, and a trip to Mexico City seeing coffee culture in a coffee origin country, the idea for Out of Office Roasters arose and he was inspired to produce coffee on a larger scale.

Out of Office Roasters aims to connect coffee, art, and people while providing a platform for Asian and Asian-American creatives. Paul’s passion is in showcasing the amazing creative work by AAPI artists, and in building community with other AAPI and BIPOC business owners in the Long Beach and Los Angeles area.

Paul recently finished his first documentary, Ma'am Tere, which explores Philippines specialty coffee and the work of the farmers, mill managers, and importers in the Philippines. The film is an official selection for the Silicon Valley Asian Pacific FilmFest in 2023. Out of Office Roasters continues to source coffees from the Philippines and hopes to bring more attention to the unique flavors of the coffee, as well as the people and relationships behind it.

#coffee #coffeepeople #roaster #pinoy #philippinecoffee