Unfiltered Coffee Podcast: The Theory, Philosophy, and Science of Specialty Coffee

Our guest today is Steve Holt, founder of Unravel Coffee Merchants, a business working directly with farms in Ethiopia with his partner Ashenafi Argaw. Steve started his specialty coffee career in 2002 at Novo Coffee in Denver, before moving to co-found Ninety plus where he has worked up until he started Unravel.  He has spent years, working on farms in Panama and Ethiopia, helping to create some of the highest quality coffees in the world. During his time at Ninety Plus, their coffees were used to win 5 world brewers cup championships. Steve walks us through his history in coffee up until this point, talks about his plans for Unravel Merchants, his love for Ethiopia, and gets into some fermentation techniques. This was a fascinating conversation and we hope you love it.

Special Guest

Steve has been on the cutting edge of specialty coffee for over a decade but you would never guess from his kind and humble presence. He is doing incredible work in Ethiopia make sure to follow his progress  @unravelmerchants or his coffee shop @unravelcoffeeco. Reach out for samples at [email protected]. 

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Our guest today is Blair Smith, the general manager at Presta Coffee. Blair has had a long and storied career in coffee. Starting with a position as a barista at Tart baking company in Massachusetts and then moving across the country to work for Augies, where she would become the general manager. She also started her competition run with Augies starting in 2014, and has now competed at a national level or judged every year since. This conversation is packed with information about coffee shop management, brewers cup and how to brew a better cup of coffee.

Special Guest

Blair is not only an incredible competitor with 5+ years of judging/competition experience but she is also a top notch coffee shop manager, and is responsible for creating a one of kind experience during her time at Augies. She is just starting her journey at Presta and we can't wait to see what she can accomplish there. If you want to follow her on her coffee journey you can find her on instagram @theblairista or follow Presta Coffee.

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Instagram: @unfilteredcoffeepodcast

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[email protected]

In this podcast we talk to Jake Miller, the CEO and Founder of Fellow, a coffee product designer and manufacture based out of San Francisco. We talk to Jake about a bunch of different aspects of his business including how he thinks about product design, the process behind creating the Ode grinder, marketing, and running his business during covid. This was such a fun conversation for us after using fellow products for so many years. We hope you enjoy.

Special Guest

Jake Miller is responsible for the creation of so many things that we love and use on a daily basis. If you want to check out his work head over to Fellow's website. If you want to support his amazing cause, which is helping to get coffee shops the support they need during this hard time head over to cometogether.coffee.


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Instagram: @unfilteredcoffeepodcast

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patreon.com/unfilteredcoffee

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[email protected]

In this podcast we talk to Anita Tam, owner of Slow Pour Supply, which is a distributor of coffee tools. We talk about how she got into coffee, what makes for good design, latte art, inclusivity, and so much more.

Special Guest

Anita is  incredibly intentional and thoughtful in everything she does. We learned so much from her and were so happy to have her on the show. You can find look at her website Slow Pour Supply or follow their Instagram @slowpoursupply to find more.


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Instagram: @unfilteredcoffeepodcast

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patreon.com/unfilteredcoffee

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[email protected]

In this episode, we talk with our guest Curtis Zimmerman owner of Presta Coffee, where he is also the green buyer and roaster. Curtis is a long time friend and incredible person. He talks to us about how he got into coffee, roasting, sourcing, how he thinks about building out cafes and biking. We learned a ton from Curtis and think you guys will love this conversation.

Special Guest

Curtis is one of the most genuine and kind people you will ever meet. He is also one of the best roasters that we know. If you want to try some of his coffees, you can find them on his website  or you can follow his company @prestacoffee.


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Instagram: @unfilteredcoffeepodcast

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patreon.com/unfilteredcoffee

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[email protected]

In this episode, we start by cupping coffee sourced by our guest, Aaron Jordan from The Roast House. The Roast house is a fully organic roastery in Spokane, Washington. We talk to Aaron about his start in coffee, then we dig deep into the organic process and sourcing organic coffees. Aaron also shares valuable insights on growing a roasting team and making sustainable long term decisions. Aaron is such a blast to talk to and we hope you love his stories and insights.

Segment 1 Coffee Rankings:
1st place
Ethiopia -  Nano Genji #6
2nd place
Colombia - La Pradera Gesha
3rd place
Costa Rica - Diego Robelo
Read about the variety here. 
4th place
Colombia - La Pradera Tabi

Special Guest

Aaron has an incredible mind for business and sustainability, as well as being an awesome coffee roaster. We were honored to have him on the show. If you would like to follow him, you can find him @pouroveraaron or you can follow Roast House @theroasthouse.


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Instagram: @unfilteredcoffeepodcast
Twitter: @unfiltercoffe
YouTube: Unfiltered Coffee Podcast

Donate
patreon.com/unfilteredcoffee

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[email protected]

In this episode we talk to Daniel Mendoza, he led an interesting career in coffee working for many different coffee roasteries around the country including Buddy Brew Coffee in Tampa, as well as Corvus and huckleberry in Denver. He then moved into the world of Specialty tea, where he helped bring to specialty coffee shops across the west coast. He is now working at Cropster, where he does support and sales. We discuss his work in judging roasting competitions, roasting advice, roasting software, specialty tea and much more.

Special Guest

Daniel is a one of those amazing people that just want to help make the world a better place. He has worked all throughout the industry and has a wealth of knowledge that he kindly spreads.

Learn more about his Daniel by following him on Instagram @oigaperoque. Learn more about Cropster on their (website). 

Other companies mentioned in this podcast were:
Buddy Brew Coffee @buddybrewcoffee
Corvus Coffee @corvuscoffee
Sweet Bloom @sweetbloomcoffee
Huckleberry @huckleberryroasters
Pair Cupworks @pair.cupworks
Cute Coffee @ilovecutecoffee

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Instagram: @unfilteredcoffeepodcast
Twitter: @unfiltercoffe
YouTube: Unfiltered Coffee Podcast

Donate
patreon.com/unfilteredcoffee

Reach out
[email protected]

In this episode, we start by cupping coffees that have been exported and imported by our guest Herbert Peñaloza and his buisness La Real Expedición Botánica. Then, we talk with Herbert about how he got started in coffee, why he started exporting and importing himself, and ask about his views on coffee processing.  

Segment 1 Coffee Rankings:
1st place
Colombia - El Crucero
2nd place
Colombia - Agua De Dios
3rd place
Colombia - Sugarcane Decaf

Special Guest

Herbert is a modern day coffee polymath, he owns a farm in Colombia that goes by the name 575 café, he runs his import/export business, and roasts/brews his own coffees. He is a wealth of information and it was an absolute pleasure to have him on the show.

Learn more about his work by following La Real Expedición Botánica @larealreb (website)  or his farm @575cafe (website).


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Instagram: @unfilteredcoffeepodcast
Twitter: @unfiltercoffe
YouTube: Unfiltered Coffee Podcast

Donate
patreon.com/unfilteredcoffee

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[email protected]

In this episode, we try to understand what the job of the barista would be in a fully automated coffee shop, the benefits of automation with covid, and how this may impact the producer. Then we bring back Kimhak to ask him his thoughts on automation and coffee trends more generally.

Special Guest

Kimhak Em is part owner, roaster and barista at his coffee shop PAIR Cupworks in Mesa, AZ. He has 15 years of food service experience, with 5 years being in specialty coffee. He has spent time in various roles from coffee director/educator to now running his own roastery. He's a serial Coffee Champs competitor and has competed in roasting, brewing and coffee in good spirits.

Learn more about his shop by following their Instagram @pair.cupworks or visting their website https://paircupworks.com/.

Follow Kimhak directly on Instagram @kimhak.em.

Follow us
Instagram: @unfilteredcoffeepodcast
Twitter: @unfiltercoffe
YouTube: Unfiltered Coffee Podcast

Donate
patreon.com/unfilteredcoffee

Reach out
[email protected]

In this episode, we are joined by Alex Kenzler to first evaluate some coffees. Then we go on to talk about how to handle the mental stress behind the bar, how management may be able to approach the mental health of the employees and the nuance behind taking a political stance as a business owner.

Segment 1 Coffee Rankings:
1st place
Costa Rica - Diego Robelo
2nd place
Guatemala - Los Cedros
3rd place
Colombia/Rwanda - Fall Wonder

Special Guest

Alex Kenzler is a barista at Mythical Coffee in Gilbert, AZ. She has 3 years of specialty coffee experience at various shops in the Arizona. She approaches customer service with kindness first and is always trying to bring happiness to her customers. She has a deep passion for coffee education and is always looking for ways to learn more about her work.

Learn more about Mythical Coffee by following their Instagram @mythical.coffee or going to their website mythical.coffee.

Check out Juniper here.

Follow us
Instagram: @unfilteredcoffeepodcast
Twitter: @unfiltercoffe
YouTube: Unfiltered Coffee Podcast

Donate
patreon.com/unfilteredcoffee

Reach out
[email protected]