Coffee Podcasts

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Kanaal • 4 programma’s

Eten

Eten

Tweemaandelijks
Wetenschap

Wetenschap

Tweemaal per week
Geschiedenis

Geschiedenis

Bijgewerkt 2 mrt
Eten

Eten

Bijgewerkt 07-02-2023

08-12-2025

Coffee Quality, Part 3: When the “quality” myth hits the farm

For twenty years, the 2004 cupping form profoundly shaped the specialty coffee world. But on the hillsides of coffee farms, some of the form’s byproducts have been disadvantaging producers. In this episode, we follow two producers whose lives collided with the myth of universal quality. These stories reveal how a single idea of “quality” can close doors for the people with the least power in the supply chain. The new coffee evaluation form, the CVA, is still young, and with any luck it will keep evolving. I hope for a form that can empower even the smallest producers. Please support my work directly at Ko-fi.com/FilterStories Other ways you can help: Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify Follow me on Instagram and tag me in an Instagram story Write a review on Apple Podcasts Discover how I make these Filter Stories episodes by subscribing to my Substack newsletter Go deeper into the story of quality: The original Filter Stories episode about Murray Cooper in Ecuador, Firefly Specialty Coffee Association's new Coffee Value Assessment 2004 cupping form from the Specialty Coffee Association of America SCAA Coffee Cuppers Handbook (4th edition, 2011) Kenneth Liberman's book, "Tasting Coffee: An Inquiry into Objectivity" SCA's video series on the CVA presented by Peter Giuliano Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here. How does Perfect Moose detect what kind of milk is in the pitcher? Click here to find out. Visiting World of Coffee San Diego? Pull a shot on the gorgeous Slayer Steam Single What does the Marco MilkPal look like to you? WALL-E? Something Steve Jobs would be proud of? Check it out here.

08-12-2025

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30 min.
5 JAN

We Built This City…On Coffee: Hamburg and the making of Europe's coffee trade

On a long walk through Hamburg, somewhere between the fish markets and giant cranes, you might stumble a giant bronze coffee bean looks like its crash landed from space. But this giant coffee bean represents a staggering fact: one in every three cups of coffee drunk in Europe has passed through Hamburg. In the first half of this episode, we explore the many profound ways coffee shaped one of Europe’s most important cities. But then the story flips because, once coffee changed Hamburg, Hamburg began to change coffee. Series 3 of A History of Coffee is a collaboration between documentary maker James Harper of the Filter Stories coffee podcast and Jonathan Morris, Professor of History and author of ‘Coffee: A Global History’. Please spread the word about A History of Coffee! Follow us on Instagram - James (@filterstoriespodcast) and Jonathan (@coffeehistoryjm) - and tag us in an Instagram story. Write a review on Apple Podcasts Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify This free educational content for the coffee community was made possible by Mahlkönig, manufacturers of world-leading coffee grinders for 100 years for your home and cafe. Read Jonathan’s book, ‘Coffee: A Global History’ (https://amzn.to/3dihAfU) Support James’ work directly by buying him a coffee at Ko-fi.com/FilterStories Pick up a copy of Margrit Schulte Beerbühl’s book, Kaffee Ist Fertig! Read James’ article on Frederick the Great’s attempt to ban coffee in Standart Go on your own Hamburg coffee tour! Giant bean Speicherstadt Museum Burg Coffee Museum in the Speicherstadt Becking, 100 year old coffee roasters 1950s Rebuilt Coffee Exchange - and an Instagram post coming on @filterstoriespodcast Go deeper into the story of Mahlkönig’s grinders Early EKs - post coming on @filterstoriespodcast DK (aka Donkey Kong Dreiphasen Kaffeemühle) Grind-by-Sync espresso grinders EK Omnia Guatemala Matt Perger WBC routine demonstrating the EK Filter Stories episode on grinding curves Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here. How does Perfect Moose detect what kind of milk is in the pitcher? Click here to find out. Visiting World of Coffee San Diego? Pull a shot on the gorgeous Slayer Steam Single What does the Marco MilkPal look like to you? WALL-E? Something Steve Jobs would be proud of? Check it out here.

5 jan

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50 min.
08-12-2025

Coffee Quality, Part 2: How “quality” became a myth

If you ask two specialty professionals what makes a high-quality coffee, you’ll likely get a surprisingly consistent answer: clean, sweet, juicy, bright. To an outsider, they would be forgiven for thinking coffee quality is universally defined. But the truth is more sober. In this episode, we examine how a simple cupping form helped create a universal idea of quality. We then look at the evidence that, in fact, it’s just the personal preferences of a small group of people masquerading as universal quality. Please support my work directly at Ko-fi.com/FilterStories Other ways you can help: Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify Follow me on Instagram and tag me in an Instagram story Write a review on Apple Podcasts Discover how I make these Filter Stories episodes by subscribing to my Substack newsletter Go deeper into the story of quality: 2004 cupping form from the Specialty Coffee Association of America SCAA Coffee Cuppers Handbook (4th edition, 2011) Cup of Excellence cupping form Kenneth Liberman's book, "Tasting Coffee: An Inquiry into Objectivity" SCA's video series on the CVA presented by Peter Giuliano Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here. How does Perfect Moose detect what kind of milk is in the pitcher? Click here to find out. Visiting World of Coffee San Diego? Pull a shot on the gorgeous Slayer Steam Single What does the Marco MilkPal look like to you? WALL-E? Something Steve Jobs would be proud of? Check it out here.

08-12-2025

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26 min.
14-07-2025

Getting great water for coffee, step-by-step. Part 1: Alkalinity, hardness and why it matters

Water massively impacts your coffee’s flavours. But most of us struggle to fix our water because water science is confusing… …until now! In this special collaboration with Lucia Solis (Making Coffee podcast), I guide her through the two most important concepts you need to understand to get great-tasting water for coffee: hardness and alkalinity. We go step-by-step through: • Why these concepts matter for coffee flavour and equipment • How to test your water at home • How to fix it, depending on what you’re working with These aren’t one of my usual narrative episodes—they’re a straightforward, practical guide to help you take control of your water. By the end of these episodes, you’ll be able to say: “I know what good water for coffee is and how to get it”. I hope it helps you as much as it helped Lucia. Check my website for all the visuals mentioned in this episode, including: SCA graph for excellent water (the “map”) Map of different water hardness across Paris My Berlin water report The nightmarish table of conversions… Results from my water tests in my Berlin studio Bottled water brands rated for their hardness and alkalinity Please spread the word about The Science of Coffee! Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify Follow me on Instagram and tag me in an Instagram story Write a review on Apple Podcasts Discover how I make these Filter Stories episodes by subscribing to my Substack newsletter Resources mentioned in the episode: SCA’s Water Quality Handbook Hardness and alkalinity dripper testing kit (also good for keeping your fishies happy) BWT Penguin Filter Jug (what I used to use with the magnesium cartridges) BWT BestAqua ROC (what now I use) BWT BestBarista (for cafes) Create your own water by adding minerals to very soft or distilled water: JoJo Hersh’s simple calculator using epsom salts and bicarbonate of soda, and Barista Hustle’s more elaborate one. Want to go deeper into water chemistry? BWT White Paper on the effects of magnesium (German) Christopher Hendon’s book Water for Coffee Do an online Certificate of Advanced Studies at the Coffee Excellence Centre Read The Craft and Science of Coffee Barista Hustle's Water course Some water content on YouTube by James Hoffman and Lance Hedrick Season 3 of The Science of Coffee is made possible by these leading coffee organisations: The Coffee Quest | BWT | TODDY | Algrano | Probat Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here. How does Perfect Moose detect what kind of milk is in the pitcher? Click here to find out. Visiting World of Coffee San Diego? Pull a shot on the gorgeous Slayer Steam Single What does the Marco MilkPal look like to you? WALL-E? Something Steve Jobs would be proud of? Check it out here.

14-07-2025

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26 min.
2 MRT

Surrogates: Anything but the coffee

What happens when coffee disappears? This is not a thought experiment! It’s happened many times in history: War, blockades, tariffs, ideology, health panics, sanctions, supply shocks. When coffee is not around, people still need something warm, comforting, and familiar. And throughout history, people have reached for coffee surrogates: roasted plants and grains engineered to look like coffee…but do they actually taste like coffee? In this episode, Jonathan and James time-travel by taste testing a truly alarming number of coffee substitutes. Spoiler: you will hear a lot of spitting! Which leads to the bigger question: can anything actually replace coffee—or will we always come crawling back? Please spread the word about A History of Coffee! Follow us on Instagram - James (@filterstoriespodcast) and Jonathan (@coffeehistoryjm) - and tag us in an Instagram story. Write a review on Apple Podcasts Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify This free educational content for the coffee community was made possible by Mahlkönig, manufacturers of world-leading coffee grinders for 100 years for your home and cafe. Read Jonathan’s book, ‘Coffee: A Global History’ Support James’ work directly by buying him a coffee at Ko-fi.com/FilterStories Read James’ article on the history of decaf technology in Standart See Colin Smith’s amazing coffee museum at Smith’s Coffee in Hemel Hempstead, UK Get nerdy about the intersection of AI and the occult on Karin’s Subtack, Mercurial Minutes Do your own surrogate taste test! Postum Atomo Orzo Fig Dandelion root Dateseed Acorn Chickpea Chicory Root Camp Coffee Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here. How does Perfect Moose detect what kind of milk is in the pitcher? Click here to find out. Visiting World of Coffee San Diego? Pull a shot on the gorgeous Slayer Steam Single What does the Marco MilkPal look like to you? WALL-E? Something Steve Jobs would be proud of? Check it out here.

2 mrt

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46 min.
9 FEB

Mother Coffee: The history and heritage of Ethiopia's wild coffee forests

Most coffee is grown on vast plantations using machines, pesticides and fertilisers. But in Ethiopia, coffee grows wild in humid forests surrounded by birds. And that wild coffee matters more than most of us realise. It is the genetic ‘library’ we can turn to find new varieties to help us keep coffee thriving in the face of climate change. But the communities who live alongside them and have safeguarded this genetic treasure often don’t earn enough from coffee to make preservation the obvious economic choice. Could a great story be the answer to earn higher premiums for these communities? Could that story be that all the coffee we drink today can actually be traced back to a single “mother tree” in Ethiopia? This episode is about the history of coffee in Ethiopia, how far back the evidence goes, what counts as evidence, and what we should celebrate (and pay for) when we buy “wild” Ethiopian coffee today. Please spread the word about A History of Coffee! Follow us on Instagram - James (@filterstoriespodcast) and Jonathan (@coffeehistoryjm) - and tag us in an Instagram story. Write a review on Apple Podcasts Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify This free educational content for the coffee community was made possible by Mahlkönig, manufacturers of world-leading coffee grinders for 100 years for your home and cafe. Read Jonathan’s book, ‘Coffee: A Global History’ Support James’ work directly by buying him a coffee at Ko-fi.com/FilterStories Discover how James makes these Filter Stories episodes by subscribing to his Substack newsletter Enjoy James’ Standart article about Avicenna and the earliest (supposed) written reference to coffee Read the scientific paper pinpointing where wild coffee forests are in Ethiopia Follow Solomon Tselele's work through his Facebook page Learn more about the Ethiopian coffee ceremony on the Adventures in Coffee podcast Series 3 of A History of Coffee is a collaboration between documentary maker James Harper of the Filter Stories coffee podcast and Jonathan Morris, Professor of History and author of ‘Coffee: A Global History’. Ethiopian forest sounds curtesy of George Vlad. Hear more nature sounds here. Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here. How does Perfect Moose detect what kind of milk is in the pitcher? Click here to find out. Visiting World of Coffee San Diego? Pull a shot on the gorgeous Slayer Steam Single What does the Marco MilkPal look like to you? WALL-E? Something Steve Jobs would be proud of? Check it out here.

9 feb

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49 min.
08-12-2025

Coffee Quality, Part 1: The birth of specialty coffee flavours

For the longest time, coffees were dull and bitter. But then a small group of pioneers changed the world. In this episode, we travel back to the 1960s and ’70s to meet the trailblazers who realised coffees could taste distinctive: sweeter, brighter, cleaner. We discover how their personal preferences became a movement, then a form, and eventually a global definition of “quality”. Please support my work directly at Ko-fi.com/FilterStories Other ways you can help: Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify Follow me on Instagram and tag me in an Instagram story Write a review on Apple Podcasts Discover how I make these Filter Stories episodes by subscribing to my Substack newsletter Go deeper into the story of quality: Specialty Coffee Association's new Coffee Value Assessment 2004 cupping form from the Specialty Coffee Association of America SCAA Coffee Cuppers Handbook (4th edition, 2011) Michael Sheridan of CQI discussing the inter-organisational politics behind the Houston Expo announcement on Lee Safar's Map It Forward podcast Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here. How does Perfect Moose detect what kind of milk is in the pitcher? Click here to find out. Visiting World of Coffee San Diego? Pull a shot on the gorgeous Slayer Steam Single What does the Marco MilkPal look like to you? WALL-E? Something Steve Jobs would be proud of? Check it out here.

08-12-2025

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24 min.
2 MRT

Surrogates: Anything but the coffee

What happens when coffee disappears? This is not a thought experiment! It’s happened many times in history: War, blockades, tariffs, ideology, health panics, sanctions, supply shocks. When coffee is not around, people still need something warm, comforting, and familiar. And throughout history, people have reached for coffee surrogates: roasted plants and grains engineered to look like coffee…but do they actually taste like coffee? In this episode, Jonathan and James time-travel by taste testing a truly alarming number of coffee substitutes. Spoiler: you will hear a lot of spitting! Which leads to the bigger question: can anything actually replace coffee—or will we always come crawling back? Please spread the word about A History of Coffee! Follow us on Instagram - James (@filterstoriespodcast) and Jonathan (@coffeehistoryjm) - and tag us in an Instagram story. Write a review on Apple Podcasts Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify This free educational content for the coffee community was made possible by Mahlkönig, manufacturers of world-leading coffee grinders for 100 years for your home and cafe. Read Jonathan’s book, ‘Coffee: A Global History’ Support James’ work directly by buying him a coffee at Ko-fi.com/FilterStories Read James’ article on the history of decaf technology in Standart See Colin Smith’s amazing coffee museum at Smith’s Coffee in Hemel Hempstead, UK Get nerdy about the intersection of AI and the occult on Karin’s Subtack, Mercurial Minutes Do your own surrogate taste test! Postum Atomo Orzo Fig Dandelion root Dateseed Acorn Chickpea Chicory Root Camp Coffee Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here. How does Perfect Moose detect what kind of milk is in the pitcher? Click here to find out. Visiting World of Coffee San Diego? Pull a shot on the gorgeous Slayer Steam Single What does the Marco MilkPal look like to you? WALL-E? Something Steve Jobs would be proud of? Check it out here.

2 mrt

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46 min.
25-10-2022

2) Coffee Extraction

How you brew your coffee dramatically affects what you taste. And I do mean dramatic! Brewing up the same bag of coffee beans can taste like a slice of heaven, or a slap in the face. So, what exactly is happening at a microscopic level when water swirls through coffee grinds? Why does boiling water extract certain flavours, while letting the kettle cool for five minutes make it taste markedly different? In this episode, we dive deep into the academic research conducted at the UC Davis Coffee Center so you can choose your flavour adventure: Do you like your coffees when they’re a sour bomb? A floral caress on the lips? A smokey drag on a pipe? Or a treacle of sweet syrup? We also explore why it can be so difficult getting the same flavours from the same beans consistently. And finally, I equip you with tools so you can begin finding your perfect brew. —--- Please spread the word about The Science of Coffee! Follow me on Instagram and tag me in an Instagram story Write a review on Apple Podcasts Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify Explore this episode’s sponsor Marco Beverage Systems SP 9 brewer and how it delivers consistent brews in the cafe (https://bit.ly/3Tgh18r) Listen to the Adventures in Coffee episode about making dramatically different brews using the Aeropress: https://bit.ly/3TghsQ7 Want more to listen to more documentary podcasts about coffee? Check out Filter Stories - https://bit.ly/3zb5vnO Want to go deeper into coffee extraction? Mackenzie Batali’s fractionation research - https://bit.ly/3CFnvH0 UC Davis’ brewing control chart research - https://bit.ly/3CLoiGz Take courses on coffee brewing with the Specialty Coffee Association - https://bit.ly/3EQFoVV Study at the UC Davis Coffee - https://bit.ly/3TwSgod Read ‘The Craft and Science of Coffee’ - https://bit.ly/3zb7bN8 Connect with my very knowledgeable guests: Samo Smrke - LinkedIn (https://bit.ly/3EKrjtg) and Instagram (https://bit.ly/3IdrfRz) Bill Ristenpart - Academic profile (https://faculty.engineering.ucdavis.edu/ristenpart/) Mackenzie Batali - LinkedIn (https://bit.ly/3s7VRxr) Peter Giuliano - LinkedIn (https://bit.ly/3yT66tv) Danny Pang - LinkedIn (https://bit.ly/3Sd9mqq) David Walsh - LinkedIn (https://bit.ly/3VEH7Uo) The Science of Coffee is made possible by these leading coffee organisations: BWT Water and More Marco Beverage Systems Trabocca Eversys Oatly Fiorenzato Subscribe to A History of Coffee podcast: https://bit.ly/2NArChO How does Perfect Moose detect what kind of milk is in the pitcher? Click here to find out. Visiting World of Coffee San Diego? Pull a shot on the gorgeous Slayer Steam Single What does the Marco MilkPal look like to you? WALL-E? Something Steve Jobs would be proud of? Check it out here.

25-10-2022

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53 min.
9 FEB

Mother Coffee: The history and heritage of Ethiopia's wild coffee forests

Most coffee is grown on vast plantations using machines, pesticides and fertilisers. But in Ethiopia, coffee grows wild in humid forests surrounded by birds. And that wild coffee matters more than most of us realise. It is the genetic ‘library’ we can turn to find new varieties to help us keep coffee thriving in the face of climate change. But the communities who live alongside them and have safeguarded this genetic treasure often don’t earn enough from coffee to make preservation the obvious economic choice. Could a great story be the answer to earn higher premiums for these communities? Could that story be that all the coffee we drink today can actually be traced back to a single “mother tree” in Ethiopia? This episode is about the history of coffee in Ethiopia, how far back the evidence goes, what counts as evidence, and what we should celebrate (and pay for) when we buy “wild” Ethiopian coffee today. Please spread the word about A History of Coffee! Follow us on Instagram - James (@filterstoriespodcast) and Jonathan (@coffeehistoryjm) - and tag us in an Instagram story. Write a review on Apple Podcasts Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify This free educational content for the coffee community was made possible by Mahlkönig, manufacturers of world-leading coffee grinders for 100 years for your home and cafe. Read Jonathan’s book, ‘Coffee: A Global History’ Support James’ work directly by buying him a coffee at Ko-fi.com/FilterStories Discover how James makes these Filter Stories episodes by subscribing to his Substack newsletter Enjoy James’ Standart article about Avicenna and the earliest (supposed) written reference to coffee Read the scientific paper pinpointing where wild coffee forests are in Ethiopia Follow Solomon Tselele's work through his Facebook page Learn more about the Ethiopian coffee ceremony on the Adventures in Coffee podcast Series 3 of A History of Coffee is a collaboration between documentary maker James Harper of the Filter Stories coffee podcast and Jonathan Morris, Professor of History and author of ‘Coffee: A Global History’. Ethiopian forest sounds curtesy of George Vlad. Hear more nature sounds here. Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here. How does Perfect Moose detect what kind of milk is in the pitcher? Click here to find out. Visiting World of Coffee San Diego? Pull a shot on the gorgeous Slayer Steam Single What does the Marco MilkPal look like to you? WALL-E? Something Steve Jobs would be proud of? Check it out here.

9 feb

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49 min.

Three entertaining podcasts that explore the world inside your cup of coffee!