Why Coffee?

We’re excited to ‘spill the beans’ about cupping this week, a process used by coffee pros for sensory analysis. We taste our way through four different coffees from four great roasters, while sharing our tips and tricks on how to cup. We encourage everyone to experiment and expand your tasting experience with an at home cupping session using only ground coffee, boiling water, a bowl and a spoon... okay, and maybe a scale or coffee scoop too. Just be sure to keep your preparation consistent!



Coffees tasted in this episode:

Pallet Coffee Roasters

49th Parallel Coffee Roasters

Square Mile Coffee Roasters

Esquimalt Roasting Company 

.
.
.

Music / Sound Effects Include:

"Tin Man" by Ava Low

"Firework Boom", "Forest Birds 2", "Trumpet Sad", "Ship Bathroom 2", "Bottle Beer Toast", "Slide Whistle Descend 2", "Baby Mobile Lullaby", "Record Scratch 11", " Applause Cheer Small" by SFX Producer

“Then I Go” by Damma Beatz

Support the show

Our friends at Pause Coffee in Regina sent us a bag of coffee! It's an Ethiopian special process lot roasted by Quietly Coffee called Magnolia, a deliciously intense floral and fruity coffee that tricked us into thinking it was a natural. Due to busy lives and Covid, we’re finally ready to slurp this brew three months after it’s roasted on date. This delay provided us with a great opportunity to talk about coffee storage, and how a hands-off approach is often best practice.



Names dropped in this episode:

Pause Coffee

Quietly Coffee

Sam Jones of 2% Jazz developing a water-cooled espresso grinder

Monogram Coffee

James Hoffmann

Fellow Atmos canister

.
.
.

Music / Sound Effects Include:

"Boom Bap Jazz" by Amber Spill

"Canals of Venice" by Sight of Wonders

"The Mourning After" by Jon Bjork

"Chasing That Rainbow" by River Run Dry

"Cave Water Drips 1", "Punch Face Whip 1", "Arrow Impact Wood", "Punch Face 5", "Doorbell Ring 3", "Human Fart 2", "Arm Farts Squeezing Repeatedly 21", "Bullwhip Crack 2", "Electricity 9", "Kids Cheer Light", "Cat Meow and Purr", "Applause Cheer Small", "Coins Drop 2" by SFX Producer

“Then I Go” by Damma Beatz

Support the show

We take a deep dive into coffee media this week, from printed paper to internet articles, and we cover this global industry from our Canadian perspective. Coffee media comes in all forms, from content that will blow your mind to something that will make your eyes roll. Whatever the industry stimulus is that you seek, even if it is just enjoying a cup of coffee at home reading an article online, there is relevant coffee media available for your pleasure.  

Names dropped in this episode:

Pallet Roasters decaffeinated Sidamo, Ethiopia 

Swiss Water decaffeination process 

Media - Magazines & Internet

Standart Magazine 

Roast Magazine 

Barista Magazine 

Sprudge 

Perfect Daily Grind 

Importers/Brokers: 

Olam Specialty Coffee 

Royal Coffee

Cafe Imports 

Atlas Coffee

Sustainable Harvest 

.
.
.

Music / Sound Effects Include:

“Big J” by Sir Gigalot

“Human Crowd Studio 27”, “Arm Farts Squeezing Repeatedly 21”, “Baby Mobile Lullaby”, “Human Voice Clip 165”, “Tympani Drum Hit 9”, “Kids Cheer Light”, “Human Fart 2” and “Applause Cheer Small”  by SFX Producer

“Then I Go” by Damma Beatz

Support the show

We’ve brewed up something special this week for our dear friends and families! We have a foundational episode about coffee extraction with our thoughts on how water can make a big difference in creating your heavenly brew. 

Believe it or not, coffee brewing is a recipe with only two ingredients, coffee and water! So if you don’t like the taste of your coffee, we suggest first questioning your water, both the quality and the temperature. Use a meat thermometer to check that the water starts off between 92 to 96 degrees Celsius, or 195 to 205 degrees Fahrenheit. 

When adjusting your brewing recipe further, our best advice is to change only one variable at a time. Start off with a thermometer and a scale, and then expand into changing your brewing method, water quality, grind size, roast profile, origin or type of coffee to achieve your desired results. 

Names dropped in this episode: 

Drew Billups 

Third Wave Water

MadCap Coffee

.
.
.

Music / Sound Effects Include:

“The Devil’s Defiance” by Ritchie Everett

“Crowd Gasp 2”, “Human Voice Clip 9”, “Human Voice Clip 17”, “Punch 45”, “Applause Short Outdoors”, “Human Crowd Studio 7” by SFX Producer 

“National Anthem Canada” by National Anthem Worx

“Then I Go” by Damma Beatz

Support the show

BONUS episode! Enjoy this travel log by Jon about living la dolce vita and finding a good cup of coffee in northern Italy. Jon's adventures include sock nylons, oat milk, and the lesson all coffee-loving travellers must learn, to never underestimate the value of a hasty packet!


Names dropped in this episode:

Caffe Florian, Venice, Italy

Nouva Simonelli

Orsonero Coffee, Milan, Italy

.
.
.

"Il Pirata" by Medité

"Canals of Venice" by Sight of Wonders 

"Heart of Sicily" by Trabant

"Espresso Bar Italia" by Trabant

"Buonissimo" by Medité

"Tutto Bene" by Trabant

"Car Horn Honk 62", "Coins Drop 2", "Cash Register 5", "Champagne Cork 2", "Champagne Pour 1", "Glass Toast Clink", "Paper Sheet Rip", "Water Pour Liquid 1", "Tea Cup Spoon 22", "Applause Short Outdoors", and "Human Crowd Studio 62" by SFX Producer 

“Then I Go” by Damma Beatz

Support the show

We’re back with a morning coffee chat over a beautiful brew from Gardelli Specialty Coffees in Italy, which Jon picked up on his recent travels. This coffee is Finca Bella Vista from Guatemala, a bewitching SCA scored 88 point coffee that really wakes up our tastebuds! Over this fantastic cup of coffee, we have a great conversation about Italy, tasting notes, the golden ratio and our preferred brew methods. 

Jon’s recipe: 32g coffee to 520g water out, 3 to 4 min brew time in 4 pours.

Joshua’s recipe: 23g coffee to 270g - 290g extracted in 3 mins of brew time with four pours with 45 second bloom. 

Names dropped during this episode: 

Gardelli Specialty Coffees - Finca Bella Vista (Guatemala)

Orsonero Coffee in Milan, Italy 

Cole Torode from Forward Coffee

Cup of Excellence (COE) 

Father’s Coffee Roastery Bombe Coffee in partnership with Standart

.
.
.

Music / Sound Effects include:

"Zoo Zoo" by Martin Landström

"Canals of Venice" by Sight of Wonders

"Bad to Me (Sting Version)" by The Elloquent Jims 

"Harp Bliss 1", "Magical Twinkle 2", "Slide Whistle Descend 2", "Trumpet Sad" and "Punch Some Crack and Thud 4" by SFX Producer 

"Then I Go" by Damma Beatz

Support the show

We’re back to our usual banter this week to discuss the increasing cost of coffee, our beloved agricultural commodity, and the impact of global market mayhem on our daily cup. The global coffee supply chain has been burdened with logistics delays, like most consumer goods, and continues to be hampered by the pandemic. We also touch on ecological issues that regularly affect coffee-producing countries and can have an impact on pricing of specialty coffee. 

Info dropped in this episode: 

"C" Market and how it relates to specialty coffee: What Is The C Market?

Further reading from International Coffee Organisation, Feb 2022 Coffee Market Report: Despite conflict in Europe, the Composite Indicator Price increased for 17 straight months in February 2022.

.

.

.

 Music / Sound Effects Include:

“We had Ramen” by Smartface

“Seagulls 3”, “Tugboat Horn 2”, “Monkey Colobus 13”, “Coin Purse Shake”,  “Cartoon Voice 1”, “Coin Bag Drop 1”, “Arrow Impact Wood 1” and “Kids Cheer Light” by SFX Producer 

“Whimsical Wonderful (Sting)” by Gavin Luke 

“Then I Go” by Damma Beatz

Support the show

We’re offering up something a little different this week to all our Why Coffee friends, a brain-break in the form of a Why Coffee StoryTime. To ease input overload and doom scrolling, we join Joshua as he reads a coffee story. It’s a mystical and magical origin story for Coffea arabica from 9th century Ethiopia, read from Standart magazine #22. 

May, G., (2021 February). Have you herd the one about the… Standart: Napkins, glitter and coffee, 22, 68 - 74.

.
.
.

Music / Sound Effects Include:

“Zanzibar” by Jones Meadow

"Cat Meow and Purr" by SFX Producer 

“Kanakassi” by Sillaba

“Bongos Accent Low” by SFX Producer 

“Baby Goats 9” by SFX Producer

“So Much Better (Bubblegum Dance)” by Alphascan 

“Controlled Record Scratch 6” by SFX Producer

"Harp Bliss 1" by SFX Producer

"Fire Flame Crackle" by SFX Producer 

"Crunch Pasta Shells 5" by SFX Producer 

"Water Pour Liquid 1" by SFX Producer 

“Then I Go” by Damma Beatz

Support the show

We’re getting excited, or rather unexcited this week, around a fading fad in the specialty coffee industry. The Perfect Daily Grind article, “Are coffee competitions moving away from Gesha?” provided a great insight about how after 16 years, ‘the shine is off the penny’. The World Barista Championship (WBC) competition coffee trend is moving away from Gesha, also known as Geisha, a delicious, delicately floral tasting coffee that is high scoring and has an increasingly hyped up cost. 

This move is indicative of a larger change in the industry towards different flavours, seasonality and diversification. Industry leaders and WBC competitors are driving this change with innovation, taking the pressure off the ‘superhero’ producer and stepping up to support risky experimentation. We hope you enjoy this week’s deep dive with us, your intrepid coffee adventure guides! 

Perfect Daily Grind -  Are coffee competitions moving away from Gesha? - Perfect Daily Grind

and for your third-wave coffee history: God in a Cup: The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Coffee by Michaele Weissman (goodreads.com)

Names dropped during this episode:

David Lalonde - Rabbit Hole Roasters, Montreal QC Canada https://www.rabbitholeroasters.com

Laura Perry - Luna Coffee,  Langley BC Canada https://enjoylunacoffee.com

.
.
.

Music / Sound Effects Include:

“Save it for a Rainy Day” by Margareta 

“The Raiders March” by John Williams 

“Then I Go” by Damma Beatz

Support the show

Welcome back! We are excited to bring some new interesting and tasty coffee information to our listeners for Season 2. After a longer time away than initially anticipated, we are refreshed and recharged. We have expanded our Why Coffee Team and brought on Aimes Gentile as our Producer. This will allow us to keep our energy up, share the load and work at what we are best at, with the intention of expanding and growing our content across other platforms! 

Pandemic is still top of mind at the start of 2022 and we are currently in an Omicron wave. With recent restriction changes to curb this wave, coffee shops have been dealt a lot of uncertainty. Many businesses are in an uncomfortable space figuring out what type of business they fall into, operating in a grey-area and waiting to see if they get fined or shut down.  We have a great chat about how businesses and frontline staff are doing business differently, letting go of fear and embracing change. 

'Many of these businesses will fail': Canada's small business sector pushes for support extensions

https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2021/10/20/canada-small-business-covid-supports/

Dozens of big companies headed by top-paid CEOs collected COVID-19 government benefits: report

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/ceo-pay-covid-19-1.6303304

Boss Barista interview with David Lalonde 

David Lalonde Falls Down the Rabbit Hole (substack.com)

Rabbit Hole Roasters blogpost -  Haiti & Coffee: A Tale of Colonialism, Liberation and U.S. Intervention

.
.
.

Music / Sound Effects Include:

“So Casual” by Tigerblood Jewel

“Then I Go” by Damma Beatz

Support the show