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Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders

Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders

1,157 episodes — Page 12 of 24

Doing What You Want -vs- Doing What is Needed

Management absolutely means you have the opportunity to affect change in the coffee shop. It also mean you have a responsibility to make sure the current operation is running smoothly and that the basics are taken care of. Often we favor the change over the stewardship and that is where we can get in trouble. Today on shift break we are going to be chasing about the difference between what you want, what is needed, and how doing things in the proper order can and often does allow for both. Related episodes: 229 : 7 Tips for New Managers 226 : The Art of being Indispensable at Work w/Bruce Tulgan Visit our Sponsors!!! The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co

May 26, 202210 min

348: Founder Friday! w/ Benito Burmudez of Cafe Unido, Panama City, Panama!

It's Founder Friday! We are traveling to Panama to learn about one of the greatest cafes and roasters, Cafe Unido through a wonderful conversation with its founder, Benito Burmudez. Inspired by the idea that Panama has some to of the world's best coffees, the first Café Unido opens its doors in 2014 in the city of Panama with a clear goal: provide a space for Panamanians to learn and appreciate coffee grown by different local producers, their distinct terroirs, regions, micro lots, varietals and processes while at the same time giving back to coffee growing regions. Over the years they evolved from a single shop, to nine stores, seven in Panama City, one in Boquete, and a new store in Washington DC. Benito had previously opened and run a successful restaurant, Maito, prior to Unido and is also a Panama Barista Championship 2nd place finisher. Since founding the company he has been tirelessly promoting the celebration and deeper understanding of the coffees of Panama to the world. Today we will be talking all about this journey, what has made it successful, the lessons learned, and much more... We cover: How Restaurant experience helped Staying motivated through tough times Working to win over locals to a new flavor of coffee Being flexible and not snobbish about coffee Training system and structure Delegation and investing in understanding Culture and values at scale The biggest mistake in growing the business Allowing for the brand's evolution and how to judge success Exploring the depth and variety of Panama coffee Expansion to the states Links: https://cafeunido.com Instagram: @cafeunido Related episodes: 294 : At Origin Roasting Revolution w/ Luis Fernando, founder of Amor Perfecto! 335: A Better Business Model for Coffee Farmers w/ Thaleon Tremain of Pachamama Coffee 332: Founder Friday! w/ Iman Kusumaputra & Putri Yulandari of Kopikalyan, Jakarta, Indonesia 061 : You Don't Know Beans about Brazil w/ Kelly Stein, Coffea Podcast 289 : Founder Friday w/ Ochen Simon Eidodo of Chariots Coffees, Uganda! Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.groundcontrol.coffee www.pacficfoodservice.com

May 26, 20221h 3m

RoR Live! #10 : A Conversation w/ Kevin Nealon Green Buyer and Director of Coffee for Hucklberry Roasters

Welcome to the 10th episode of the Rate of Rise Live Series! In this interview we are talking with Green Coffee Buyer and Director of Coffee at Huckleberry Coffee Roasters, winner of the Roast Magazine Macro Roaster of the year award. The RoR Live Series is a project in partnership with Roast Magazine taking the popular RoR series on Keys to the Shop and to the SCA 2022 Global EXPO in Boston where we have some live face-to-face interviews with 10 of the coffee industry's brightest minds Kevin has spent well over a decade in specialty coffee. Beginning as a barista at Chinatown Coffee in D.C. he then moved to Guatemala where he assisted a small coffee growers' cooperative with processing, roasting, and packaging coffee and forging relationships that he maintains to this day. For the last 8 years Kevin has helped Huckleberry Roasters develop, grow, and refine their coffee program through values and relationship based sourcing and all this at scale. In this conversation we will be diving into Kevins role with the company and the journey of growth and development while maintaining long term sourcing relationships and quality. We cover: Kevin's approach to sourcing Growth and keeping grounded Huckleberry's culture and its impact on green buying Feedback's role in guiding the roastery Overcoming challenges in logistics and supply Long terms farmer relationships Care for the people and work culture at Huckleberry Links: www.huckleberryroasters.com Instagram: @Huckleberryroasters Subscribe to Roast Magazine! (Use code "ROR" to get $5 bucks off your subscription) www.keystotheshop.com Consulting and coaching: [email protected]

May 26, 202233 min

RoR Live! #9 : Roasting Innovation and Consistency w/ Scott Rao

Welcome to the 9th episode of the Rate of Rise Live Series! In this interview we are talking with specialty coffee and roasting luminary, Scott Rao! The RoR Live Series is a project in partnership with Roast Magazine taking the popular RoR series on Keys to the Shop and to the SCA 2022 Global EXPO in Boston where we have some live face-to-face interviews with 10 of the coffee industry's brightest minds Scott Rao has been in the coffee business for over 25 years as a cafe owner, roaster, consultant, and author. The Coffee Roaster's Companion and Coffee Roasting: Best Practices have influenced a generation of roasters and shaped the global roasting vocabulary and conversation. Scott's popular Instagram account @whereisscottrao offers expert-level tips and discussion about coffee brewing and roasting. Today we are chatting with Scott about the abundance of technological advances in roasting and how to approach adopting these tools and innovations in a way that serves your goals. We cover: Innovative technology up til now Controlling outcomes via technology vs brewing methods How better brewing and extraction tech has changed roasting Working with what we have Controlling coffee's body Best practice for achieving consistency The technologist vs artisan approach How to choose and adopt innovative tech Links: www.scottrao.com Instagram: @whereisscottrao Subscribe to Roast Magazine! (Use code "ROR" to get $5 bucks off your subscription) www.keystotheshop.com Consulting and coaching: [email protected]

May 26, 202230 min

RoR Live! #8 : Risk Mitigation for Roasters w/ Kat Nolte Ferguson, Sucafina Specialty

Welcome to the 8th episode of the Rate of Rise Live Series! In this interview we are having a great talk with Kat Nolte-Ferguson of Sucafina Specialty! The RoR Live Series is a project in partnership with Roast Magazine taking the popular RoR series on Keys to the Shop and to the SCA 2022 Global EXPO in Boston where we have some live face-to-face interviews with 10 of the coffee industry's brightest minds After earning a degree in accounting and spending a few years in rural Africa, Kat been exploring coffee from every possible angle: from barista to trader; from stock lot to microlot; from craft to commercial – she has experience the spectrum one specialty and is focused full time at Sucafina where she has dedicated her career to improving economic opportunity for African smallholder farmers. Kat is also a Chair on the SCA's Sustainability Advisory Counsel. In today's conversation we get to discuss some of what Kat actually presented on during expo related to supply chain risk mitigation for coffee roasters. We cover: Helping roasters understand the world of logistics Why do roasters have to understand the market and supply chain Cost, price, and buying green The main topics pithing the supply chain that impact your roastery Where do you start with price risk management? Flexibility and having contingency plans for all your origins Amount of risk inherent in relationship focused sourcing Blend's role in stability that serve everyone Links: www.sucafina.com www.keystotheshop.com Consulting and coaching: [email protected]

May 26, 202241 min

Special Message: Love and Sacred Space

In the wake of tragedy and heartbreak we find ourselves looking for ways to heal and make sense of the chaos around us. The recent violence, racism, and evil that took place in the U.S. took place in spaces where people should not need to worry about their safety. Spaces similar to the coffee shops we run and work in everyday. As we wrestle with the incomprehensible pain and senselessness of these events we find ourselves taking stock of our own communities and spaces and struggle to find ways to make a difference. Today I wanted to offer a short note on our role as providers of sacred spaces that are made for the beautiful humans that we get to work with and serve. How it does make difference and how we our we can lean into kindness and loving each other well through what we do as a part of the way we build a better future.

May 26, 20229 min

347 : Brewing Coffee and a Career w/ U.S. Brewer's Cup Champion, Elika Liftee!

Brewing a great cup of coffee is like crafting a career in coffee, it take intentionality, consistency, and a humility that keeps in mind the end goal of all your efforts. These are some of the qualities that make today's guest, Elika Liftee, not just a brewing champion, but an example of professionalism we can all be inspired by. Elika is the Director of Education at Onyx Coffee Lab, where he leads a team of educators in training in-house baristas, wholesale partners, and the public. He's been the reigning US Brewers Cup Champion since 2020, finishing 3rd in the World Brewers Cup during that time. In this conversation we get t talk with Elika about his career, lessons learned through experimentation, and how he has developed his current approach to teaching, training, and brewing a great cup of coffee. We cover: Falling in love with coffee Exploring management and finding teaching The difference between management and teaching Codifying and customizing the training program Discovering how people learn Experimenting with brewing and his favorite methods Dialing in hospitality + judge/ customer preferences Discovering and using the Melo drip and "flat" everything Dialing in coffee across the cafes. Consistency and what are forgiving and not forgiving coffees? Advice for brewing amazing coffee Links: Instagram @elikaliftee Onyx Coffee Lab https://www.mk-ceramics.com/pages/mk-dripper Related episodes: 296: Holistic Barista Training w/ David Castillo of Go Get Em Tiger , Los Angeles 339 : What Good Barista Training Produces 188 : Founder Friday w/ Jon Allen of Onyx Coffee Lab 012 : Lauren Airola of Onyx Coffee Lab : A Journey Into Management & Back Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.groundcontrol.coffee www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com

May 20, 20221h 14m

RoR Live! at SCA #7 Will Frith, Building Coffee | The Rise of Asian Coffee

Welcome to the 7th episode of the Rate of Rise Live Series! The RoR Live Series is a project in partnership with Roast Magazine taking the popular RoR series on Keys to the Shop and to the SCA 2022 Global EXPO in Boston where we have some live face-to-face interviews with 10 of the coffee industry's brightest minds In this interview we are having a wonderful chat with Will Frith all about the current rise of Asian coffee. Will Frith is a long time industry veteran with a broad range of experience as a barista, roaster, trainer and educator, and entrepreneur. He has been researching and working in the growing specialty coffee industry in Vietnam since 2012 and is the founder of the co roasting space Building Coffee in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Will is passionate advocate for Asian coffee and presented on this subject during the SCA expo. In our conversation with him we dive into the current rise of asian coffee in the industry and what we need to understand in order to support it and experience the wonderful variety it offers. We cover: What has led to the current surge in asian coffee Specialty robusta Alienation / Differences in cultural preferences Learning about emerging processes Local ecosystem of specialty How roasters should approach these coffees Sustainability connection Most common questions and concerns The key of branding and connecting the consumer Links: Building.coffee Bel: Will's Coffee and Wine Bar www.keystotheshop.com Consulting and coaching: [email protected]

May 20, 202232 min

RoR Live! at SCA #6 Chris Kornman| Author of Green Coffee : A Guide for Roasters and Buyers

Welcome to the 6th episode of the Rate of Rise Live Series! In this interview we are talking with industry veteran, green coffee expert, and author of the new book "Green Coffee", Chris Kornman! The RoR Live Series is a project in partnership with Roast Magazine taking the popular RoR series on Keys to the Shop and to the SCA 2022 Global EXPO in Boston where we have some live face-to-face interviews with 10 of the coffee industry's brightest minds Chris Kornman is a seasoned coffee quality specialist, writer and researcher, and the Lab & Education Manager at The Crown: Royal Coffee Lab & Tasting Room. He has extensive experience traveling in and purchasing coffees from East Africa and South America. Chris came up in coffee at the beginning of and through the 3rd wave coffee movement and has been deeply involved in many different facets of the green coffee trade through its many evolutions. Today we are going to be discussing the world of green coffee buying, trade, and insights into how to approach it in a practical and ethical way. We cover: Green buying and what's shifted over the years Density as an accessible measure of performance What we need to be aware of now in varieties Misconceptions of coffee based on origin Focusing on the people as a framework for sourcing Connecting to customer preferences in spite of ourselves Misconceptions about green buying Humility and respect for the farmers Links: Buy the book! www.roastmagazine.com/greencoffee The Crown: Royal Tasting Room Subscribe to Roast Magazine! (Use code "ROR" to get $5 bucks off your subscription) www.keystotheshop.com Consulting and coaching: [email protected]

May 20, 202239 min

RoR Live! at SCA #5 Nicki Amouri of Caffe Amouri | Understanding Roast Curves

Hey! It is the 5th episode of the Rate of Rise Live Series! In today's conversation we sit down with the Roastmaster of Caffe Amouri Nicki Amouri to talk about really getting a grip on roast curves! The RoR Live Series is a project in partnership with Roast Magazine taking the popular RoR series on Keys to the Shop and to the SCA 2022 Global EXPO in Boston where we have some live face-to-face interviews with 10 of the coffee industry's brightest minds Nicki Amouri is a Licensed arabica q grader, SCA certified roaster and barista as well as an SCA certified trainer. She is the Roastmaster and green buyer at Caffe Amouri in Vienna, VA where she also teaches roasting classes. Nicki Presented some great information during the latest Roast Summit on the most curve and so I wanted to sit down with her to talk about how we should be approaching and utilizing the roast curve to best dial in our coffees for our customers. We cover: Corolating taste to the curve Feedback and making adjustments Typical things that roasters get hung up on What to focus on to make a difference Dialing in to your roaster Remaining agile as you become more settled in The excitement of the unknowns Links: www.caffeamouri.com Nicki's presentation at the Roast Summit Click here tp watch video of this interview on Roast magazine's YouTube channel! Subscribe to Roast Magazine! (Use code "ROR" to get $5 bucks off your subscription) www.keystotheshop.com Consulting and coaching: [email protected]

May 20, 202229 min

RoR Live! at SCA #4 Anne Cooper of Equilibrium Master Roasters | How to Teach Roasting

For this 4th episode of the Rate of Rise Live Series! This time we sit down with one of my favorite roasters, Anne Cooper of Equilibrium Master Roasters to learn how to teach others to roast! The RoR Live Series is a project in partnership with Roast Magazine taking the popular RoR series on Keys to the Shop and to the SCA 2022 Global EXPO in Boston where we have some live face-to-face interviews with 10 of the coffee industry's brightest minds With over 25 yrs working in the coffee industry, Anne is an Australian Roaster who has gained extensive experience in many areas of the coffee industry as Barista, Café Owner/Manager, National Barista Trainer & Assessor, Head Roaster/Roasting Production Manager at both a National & International level. A certified Q Grader she regular judges competitions worldwide. With her consulting company, Equilibrium Master Roasters, Anne continues to develop her extensive roasting skills & knowledge with exposure to a wide range of roasting companies & machines and various roasting techniques / industry relevant processes & protocols – she is really passionate about passing on skills & knowledge to the next generation of flame keepers. In this conversation we dig into how a roaster should approach teaching someone to roast. If you have an apprentice roaster or are thinking you may want to train up some help then this episode will be very insightful. We cover: Keys to building a curriculum Realistic time frames and structure Education, communication, teaching decisiveness Learning to teach and tasting unrealized potential Patience and building confidence Creating a learning environment What we can get wrong about education Click here tp watch video of this interview on Roast magazine's YouTube channel! Subscribe to Roast Magazine! (Use code "ROR" to get $5 bucks off your subscription) Links: Equilibrium Master Roasters: www.eqmr.com.au www.keystotheshop.com Consulting and coaching: [email protected]

May 20, 202237 min

Specific Expectations and Due Dates

For some reason we tend to think people can read our minds. When we communicate generally but expect specific results we are setting ourselves and everyone else up for a lot of tension and confusion. On today's Shift Break we will dive into the idea of communicating and resourcing your baristas and managers to fulfill specific expectations and using due dates to help give structure to directives and projects. Related Episodes: 330 : Establishing Systems in Your Coffee Shop Communicate, Duplicate, Repeat : Key habits that make information stick 301 : Hiring and Training for Excellence 025 : Mastering the Art of Training w/ Dave Stachowiak : Coaching, Leadership, education , and how to communicate your coffee and barista knowledge so it sticks Blog: Good Communication is "For Here" Looking for guidance, clarity, and solid solutions for your coffee business? Visit our Sponsors!!! The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co

May 19, 20229 min

346: Connecting People Through Coffee w/ Celeste Wong of The Girl in the Cafe

We take for granted the kinds of interactions and connections we make in the course of our daily professional barista lives. An incredible variety of people with unique and interesting stories and perspectives pass through our doors daily. Coupled with the story of coffee itself, this business is a rich and fascinating one. Those are the motivations that led today's guest, Celeste Wong into the coffee industry and inspired her to start The Girl in the Cafe. Originally from New Zealand, Celeste is has held top positions in leading artisan cafes all over the world for over a decade. Since migrating to the UK, she has been listed as one of London's top five Baristas in The Financial Times and noted for her excellence in a plethora of other publications. With an Honors degree in Commerce & Design she is also an actress, with notable success in her roles in front of the camera, including her last feature-film becoming the highest grossing independent film of the year in New Zealand that won multiple awards internationally. Celeste produces and curates social media content for her own platform and other brands. She writes and consults on a range of services for cafes and lifestyle brands. In this conversation we get to experience the arch of Celeste's career from coffee as a job, then coffee as a career, -to the epiphany that led to her starting and growing The Girl in the Cafe. There are some wonderful insights here and I hope you enjoy! We cover: Beginning her coffee career in cafes Learning from serious professionals Love hate relationship with coffee Developing The Girl in the cafe platform Goals and personal lessons Reflecting coffee to consumers with empathy Finding your voice Memorable insights gleaned form the show Desire for the industry Links: www.thegirlinthecafe.co.uk Instagram: @The_girl_in_the_cafe Related episodes: 206 : The Emotional and Social Impact of the Cafe Space w/ Noa Berger 242 : A Conversation with James Hoffmann 024 : Chermelle D. Edwards, The Coffeetographer : Documenting Art and Culture Through the Lens of Specialty Coffee : Barista Culture, Consumer Experience, Movements in coffee culture 257 : A Conversation w/ Morgan Eckroth of MorganDrinksCoffee! Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.groundcontrol.coffee www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com

May 16, 202257 min

RoR Live at SCA #3 Karl Wienhold | Cheap Coffee Book

For this 3rd episode of the Rate of Rise Live Series! We are talking with the always thought provoking, Karl Wienhold, Author of the book, Cheap Coffee! The RoR Live Series is a project in partnership with Roast Magazine taking the popular RoR series on Keys to the Shop and to the SCA 2022 Global EXPO in Boston where we have some live face-to-face interviews with 10 of the coffee industry's brightest minds Karl Wienhold is a consultant, researcher and organizer of postcolonial rural development. He is dedicated to trying to better understand and undo extractive economic power structures that have oppressed people and degraded ecosystems to enrich others since colonial times. He studies coffee, microeconomics, agroforestry, circular economies, and is the author of the challenging and important book, "Cheap Coffee". In our chat we dig into lots of topics- mostly challenging- but some encouraging. All Inspiring action. We cover: The power difference in the supply chain Treating symptoms vs finding solutions The role marketing plays Incentive structures Conflicts of interest Autonomy, Charity, and efficiency Grace for growth Click here tp watch video of this interview on Roast magazine's YouTube channel! Subscribe to Roast Magazine! (Use code "ROR" to get $5 bucks off your subscription) Links: www.cheapcoffeebook.com www.keystotheshop.com Consulting and coaching: [email protected]

May 13, 202231 min

RoR Live at SCA #2 Areli Barerra Grodski | Little Waves Coffee

Welcome to Rate of Rise Live! Episode #2 brought to you by Roast Magazine! I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to partner with Roast during the SCA 2022 Global EXPO in Boston to have some live face-to-face interviews with 10 of the coffee industry's brightest minds. In this episode we are sitting down with Owner of Little Waves Coffee, Durham, NC, Areli Barerra Grodski! Areli Barrera Grodski is an immigrant from Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. She moved to San Antonio at 6 years of age and then to Cherokee, NC at 10. It is here where she was introduced to coffee as a community space and to her husband and business partner, Leon Grodski Barrera. She has been working in coffee since 2009 as a barista, coffee shop owner, roaster, and green coffee buyer. She proudly owns three shops called Cocoa Cinnamon and a roastery called Little Waves Coffee Roasters in Durham, NC. Areli is also the Recording Secretary and Board Member of the Coffee Coalition for Racial Equity. Little Waves is the most recent winner of the prestigious Micro-Roaster of the Year Award and in this conversation we chat with Areli all about her and her husband Leon's journey in beginning, growing, and learning through Little Waves Coffee. We cover: Bootstrapping and the uphill battle with a cart The range of challenges and emotions in entrepreneurship The mission behind Little Waves Surviving the pandemic How she defines success Applying values to daily work Open heartedness and growth Representation in coffee Subscribe to Roast Magazine! (Use code "ROR" to get $5 bucks off your subscription) Click here tp watch video of this interview on Roast magazine's YouTube channel! Links: www.littlewaves.coffee www.keystotheshop.com Consulting and coaching: [email protected]

May 13, 202236 min

RoR Live at SCA #1 Peter Giuliano | The New Definition of Specialty Coffee

Welcome to Rate of Rise Live brought to you by Roast Magazine! I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to partner with Roast during the SCA 2022 Global EXPO in Boston to have some live face-to-face interviews with 10 of the coffee industry's brightest minds all about specialty coffee, roasting, risk management, teaching roasting, roast curve, inspiring stories of entrepreneurship and much more! We are kicking off this series of interviews with the venerable Peter Giuliano! Peter Giuliano is the Executive Director of the Coffee Science Foundation and the Chief Research Officer Specialty Coffee Association and one our industries best thinkers. Recently the SCA presented their new definition of "Specialty Coffee" based on attributes to recognize a wider range of specialty expressions and this is exactly what I chawed with Peter about during the EXPO. We cover: History of defining specialty coffee Establishing the new definition according to SCA Inclusivity and diversity in flavor, preparations, etc. What is "good" and "bad"? interchangeability, uniqueness, and blends What changes for how roasters approach coffee as a result How coffee shops help in celebrating diverse ways to be specialty Subscribe to Roast Magazine! (Use code "ROR" to get $5 bucks off your subscription) Links: SCA's New Definition Peter's past episode on KTTS about Customer Preferences www.keystotheshop.com Consulting and coaching: [email protected]

May 13, 202235 min

The Importance of Debriefing

After a rush, an event, or any situation where there is tension and the need to perform well as a team (pretty much any time) there are always a lot of thoughts and emotions that people have. Unfortunately we tend to simply carry on as though it never happened and thus lose out on a lot of positive growth and development that can result from debriefing. On today's Shift Break we will be talking about the importance of debriefing as a team and how it creates better performance, communication, culture, and consistency in the coffee shop. Related episodes: 229 : 7 Tips for New Managers The One-on-One : How one meeting can dramatically impact your coffee shop's culture and morale. 028 : Why it's Ok to be the Boss w/ Bruce Tulgan Shift Break: The Agreement Tips for Conducting Great Staff Meetings The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co

May 12, 202213 min

345: A Conversation w/ 2022 U.S. Cup Tasters Champion, Julien Langevin

Accurately tasting coffee can be a daunting task. Add to that the pressure of competition or just the daily work of the bar, and being focused, confident, and at ease while dialing in or making flavor determinations seems all but impossible. These are all however attributes that today's guest possesses and has honed over their career to be able to remain cool and taste coffees like a champion. Today we are talking with the 2022 U.S. Cup Tasters Champ, Julien Langevin! Julien Langevin is the production roaster for Coffee By Design in Portland, ME. Langevin only just began learning how to roast after working for about four years as a barista in different iterations, and taking a brief hiatus from the industry to try his hand at being an electrician. His first real job was at Starbucks and worked through various shops in Portland while achieving his Bachelors of Fine Arts. After graduation he began to go to SCA events, acting as a volunteer and a sensory judge for the Barista competition, and then competing in the Nashville Cup Tasters qualifier in 2020. After a two and a half year separation from said community, Langevin found his way back to coffee somehow and is now the current 2022 US Cup Tasters Champion. In this conversation we will get to learn about Julien's career path, tasting techniques, and hear words of wisdom for aspiring tasters and coffee professionals! We cover: Journey and challenges in coffee career Techniques for tasting Grounding yourself Tasting when nervous vs relaxed Focus, Flow state, and visualization Preparing for competition Doing what you can where you are Links: Instagram @Julientheperson Related Episodes: 048 : How to taste coffee w/ U.S. Cup Tasters Champion, Steve Cuevas! 297 : Making Coffee Education Fun w/ Suneal Pabari of Leaderboard Coffee 078 : Exploring Green Buying and Sensory Analysis w/ Amanda Juris 037 : Chocolate & Coffee w/ Brian Beyke : Understanding Craft Chocolate Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.groundcontrol.coffee www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com

May 10, 202245 min

Messy Can Be Beautiful

Some of the reasons we do not take the next step to delegate management or take the next step in our business is because we feel we are not ready. It seems embarrassing to not have it all together when you've over authority to someone like a manager and you want to wait till you have a perfect system and suite of resources to hand them. Problem is that you will likely never truly be "ready". On top of that, you may be robbing them, and yourself, of the benefit that comes with working through and imperfect context. Today on Shift Break we are going to be talking about why what you think is messy can and often is something beautiful for your business and the people who work in it. Related episodes: 261 : The Basics of Managing Managers Hiring for Future Leadership Why "Next in Line" promotion Might be a Bad Idea 330 : Establishing Systems in Your Coffee Shop 267 : The Power of Delegation Visit our Sponsors!!! The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co

May 5, 20228 min

344 : From Fine Dining to Coffee w/ Nicolas Simon of El Condor Coffee Roasters

Our industry is one focused on creating memorable experiences for guests of our shops. Being detail oriented is part of our hospitality to people because we know that when all those little things come together, they deliver a real impact. This is what driven today's guest throughout his illustrious career working for some of the worlds most prestigious hotels and Restaurants to deliver these experiences. Nicolas Simon caught the hospitality bug upon graduating from one of the top business schools in France. From there, various experiences with Byblos Saint-Tropez, Four Seasons Paris, then Geneva and Plaza-Athénée defined his all-around profile in the industry, from F&B operations to finance and marketing. He was also the managing partner of three restaurants (two of them being awarded a Michelin star within the first year of operation), before being appointed Alain Ducasse's Director of Operations North America and moving to New York City 14 years ago. In November 2016, Nicolas became the co-founder and CEO of Wilcuma – a full-service hospitality workshop that offers services such as consultancy, management, and real estate, and also has a portfolio of proprietary concepts planned for development and operation Fueled by his passion for hospitality and executing at the highest levels, Nicholas has set his sights on the coffee world with the opening of the new El Condor Coffee Roasters in the West Village, NYC. El Condor seeks to create a transcendent and comfortable all-day cafe experience that delivers quality, consistency, and genuine connection. We cover: Beginnings in hospitality Growing as a manager and leader The critical role of operations Philosophy on service and caring for guests Entering into the coffee industry The vision and goals of El Condor Advice for how to approach hospitality and systems for accountability Links: www.elcondor.coffee www.wilcuma.com Related Episodes: 030 : Casey Underkofler : Matching Your Service to Your Quality : How to Manage and Control the critical details of service so both the experience and product are excellent 330 : Establishing Systems in Your Coffee Shop 301 : Hiring and Training for Excellence 188 : Founder Friday w/ Jon Allen of Onyx Coffee Lab Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.groundcontrol.coffee www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com

May 3, 202252 min

343 : Founder Friday! "Curated Edition" | Hospitality + Meeting People Where They Are

Welcome to this special edition of the Founder Friday series! We have an incredible collection of interviews from some of the world's best coffee shop operators and entrepreneurs. Within each interview are gems of wisdom that help us move ourselves and the industry forward. In this special edition of Founder Friday I went back into the archives to mine those gems from past guests around a specific topic, -hospitality and meeting people where they are. Our industry of specialty coffee has worked hard to build itself up and now we see a mammoth effort to help welcome people into what we have built. In this episode we will here form four past guests: Matt Chitharanjan and Namrata Asthana of Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters in India Dorian Bolden of Beyu Cafe in Durham, NC Daniel Brown and Nephthaly Leonidas of Gilly Brew Bar in Stone Mountain, GA Andrew Sinclair of Madlab Coffee in Los Angeles, CA Each of these past Founder Friday guests brings a unique take and perspective on what goes in to hospitality and meeting people where they are. From accessible brewing, staff and self care - to friendly service encounters, values, and connecting beyond the transaction, I think this episode will deliver a concentrated dose of wisdom to help inspire us all. Related Episodes: 171 : Founder Friday w/ Matt Chitharanjan and Namrata Asthana of Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters in India 225: Encore Founder Friday! Dorian Bolden of Beyu Caffe, Durham, NC 279 : Founder Friday! w/ Daniel Brown and Nephthaly Leonidas of Gilly Brew Bar 305 : Founder Friday! w/ Andrew Sinclair of MadLab Coffee, Los Angeles, CA 045 : Simple, Powerful Hospitality w/ Philip Turner 085 : How we Ruin the Specialty Experience Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.groundcontrol.coffee www.pacficfoodservice.com

Apr 29, 20221h 0m

Making a Decision Pipeline

It's one thing to make decisions when you work alone, but quite another thing when you work with others and your decisions have far reaching impact on different employees, leaders, and departments. What e and to do is force change into existing processes without regard for the wake those decisions leave behind. In today's Shift Break we will be talking about building a decision pipeline that takes into account all the people and relevant down stream departments that this one, seemingly small decision, will affect. Related episodes: 080 : Changing things in the Cafe : A workflow for Refinement 330 : Establishing Systems in Your Coffee Shop Blog: Accountability goes both Ways Visit our Sponsors!!! The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co

Apr 28, 20228 min

342 : A Conversation w/ 2022 U.S. Barista Champion, Morgan Eckroth!

Morgan Eckroth is the new U.S. Barista Champion! Part of the point behind competition is setting the stage for conversation around ideas ranging from social issues to the hands on craft of coffee. In both these areas there are far reaching implications for what the industry latches on to and is inspired to continue developing. On such theme is merging high-end experiences with accessibility in mind. Morgan Eckroth, known for her social media platform Morgan Drinks Coffee, has plenty of experience with connecting with an audience and in her presentation for USBC this year, leaned into the idea that specialty can be and should be experienced by more than just judges at the highest level of coffee. Morgan is a barista and content creator, having worked in the specialty coffee industry for 5 years. With over 5 million followers across TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, she shares her love for coffee through comedic customer service sketches, vlogs about her job, and educational videos. Morgan also released a line of coffee in collaboration with Wrecking Ball Coffee in December 2020 and is working to continue creating a link between baristas and their customers through a shared love for coffee and a dash of humor. Today we get to sit down with Morgan and hear all about her innovative approach to the competition and all the ups and downs on her journey to victory in Boston. We cover: Deciding to compete after years of life change Preparation for USBC and crafting a theme Innovation and challenges High level Accessibility Choosing the coffees Break down of beverage creation Goals and inspirations Advice to other competitors and shops Links: www.morgandrinkscoffee.com Related Episodes: 257 : A Conversation w/ Morgan Eckroth of MorganDrinksCoffee! 099 : The Barista League w/ Competition Founder Steve Moloney 298 : A Trophy, or Atrophy? 173 : 5 Areas of Focus for Retailers 296: Holistic Barista Training w/ David Castillo of Go Get Em Tiger , Los Angeles Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.groundcontrol.coffee www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com

Apr 26, 202246 min

RoR #14: How to Roast New Processing Methods w/ Mike Ebert of Fire Dancer Consultants

As new processing methods become more popular and prominent, roasters must pivot and adjust how they approach them in order to get the best possible result. Processes like honey and pulped natural present unique challenges for even the most veteran roasters. The good news is that there is a growing family of best practices that will help you see success and consistency while embracing the new and emerging methods on the market. To help us sort through this topic we turn to none other than Mike Ebert of Firedancer Consultants. As the founder of Firedancer Coffee Consultants, Mike is dedicated to helping clients create a personalized strategy to ensure long-term success. He works primarily with roasters, producers and retailers, drawing from his extensive experience in all facets of the specialty coffee supply chain to guide clients in reaching their potential. Ebert is an Authorized SCA Trainer; holding the professional level certificates in Green Coffee, Sensory Skills, Roasting and Brewing. He has had a hand in many positions up and down the supply chain and continues his volunteer work with the Specialty Coffee Association's Education Advisory Council as Co-Chair of the Education Content Committee. In our conversation we cover: Then challenge Pulp natural and other processes present Mistakes we make when roasting new processes Knowing your roaster and being vigilant Frame work for earlier success Taking into account the unique sugar changes Rate of Rise How learning new methods can help with old ones Shifting our minds to innovate new metrics Subscribe to Roast Magazine! Use code "ROR" to get $5 off Related Episodes: RoR #1: A Conversation w/ Anne Cooper of Equilibrium Master Roasters RoR #2: Exploring Quality Control w/ Spencer Turer of Coffee Enterprises RoR #3: Making Contingency Planning a Reality w/ Andi Trindle Mersch of Philz Coffee RoR #4: Practical Thermal Dynamics w/ Candice Madison of Royal Coffee / The Crown Oak RoR #5: Time and Color in Roasting w/ Morten Munchow of Coffee Mind" RoR #6: Buying Less and Doing More w/ Ever Meister RoR #7 Illustrative Sample Roasting w/ Mike Ebert of Firedancer Coffee Consultants ROR #8 How Post-Harvest Processing Impacts Flavor w/ Siva Subramanian and Byron Holcomb of Olam Food Ingredients RoR #9 Inside the Roaster's Tool Kit w/ Kat Melheim of Black and White Coffee and The Coffee People Zine RoR #10 : What Your Broker Wishes You Knew w/ Scott Merle of La Minita Coffee RoR #11 : Exploring Scent w/ Sandra Elisa Loofbourow RoR #12 : Inside Coffee Packaging w/ Ever Meister

Apr 25, 202247 min

An Essential Habit for Every Coffee Shop Worker

It's not uncommon to feel like the day get's away from us and that we are always being taken for a ride by the work. Heck, I can hardly remember entire years of my own career due to not taking on this one essential habit until much, much later. On today's Shift Break we are going to talk about "Bookending" your day and how to use this time in the beginning and end of your work day to show up fully, mature decisively, and have maximum positive impact on your business, coworkers, and staff. Related Episodes: The Counterbalanced Barista Patience & Passivity : Career Advice for the Long Game Learning -vs- LEARNING Accurate Reflection : A very important end of year challenge and encouragement to the Keys to the Shop community Career Advice from Joe Marocco of Mill City Roaster : Mission, learning, goals, mindset Visit our Sponsors!!! The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co

Apr 20, 202211 min

341 : How to Think About Success

How do you think about success and your coffee shop? For many people it boils down to financial metrics only which, in the long run, may not bring the kind of fulfillment the we seek when we first set out to begin in coffee. In fact without some more nuanced goals and metrics for success, even the profitability will and does suffer. Today I want to talk about four ideas of what I believe success can look like that go beyond the financial and help balance our pursuit of profit in a way that bring sustainability to both you and the people you serve through the business. We cover: Out normal understanding of sucess The importance of employee care Legacy and long term creation Intentionality and Community impact Personal and professional growth Related episodes: 055 : Personal Growth & Development w/ Jared Truby, Cat & Cloud Coffee 293 : Thoughts on Defining Professionalism 206 : The Emotional and Social Impact of the Cafe Space w/ Noa Berger 009 : How to Approach Data and Metrics w/ Simon Ouderkirk : Simon shows us how we should be thinking of numbers and their relation to our shops, baristas, and businesses 302 : Data's Roll in the Success of your Shop w/ Mark Calhoun and Jim Strarcev of Perfect Cube 227 : Connecting with Hearts and Minds Blog: Who we are and What we do Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.groundcontrol.coffee www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com

Apr 19, 202224 min

Are We Giving our Best to the Least?

I witnessed a heartbreaking scene unfold while at SCA EXPO in Boston. The situation was a common one in most of our cafes but in this context it really impacted me and inspired this Shift Break. What are we doing in specialty? Is our talk about accessibility just talk? Are the best expressions of coffee the most exclusive? Lot's of questions rolling around the ol' noggin after this trip and today I wanted to chat about it with you. As you listen, ask yourself what you would do in this scenario and how we as an industry might be able to do better in welcoming a larger variety of people into our spaces while we simultaneously pursue excellence. Related episodes: 262 : Understanding the Homeless Community w/ Natalie Harris, Executive Director of The Coalition for the Homeless 338: A Conversation w/ Martell Mason of The Sepia Coffee Project, Detroit, Michigan 337: Founder Friday w/ Diana Martinez of Cafe Calle, Los Angeles Building an Accessible Coffee Menu w/ Joe Visit our Sponsors!!! The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co

Apr 14, 202212 min

340 : Encore Episode of 10 Reasons to Love the Customer!

It is the 5 year anniversary of episode #19 titled "10 Reasons to Love the Customer"! Coffee professionals tend to pit themselves against the customer as and us vs them battle. The original episode in 2017 was inspired by a magazine article about what baristas hate about customers. This mentality does not good for anyone and because we easily fall into thinking negatively about the customer, I thought it was time we refocus and exercise thankfulness and positivity. All of these reasons are general enough to be true of almost any car or coffee shop. Truth be told, beyond the general reasons, there are a ton more specific ones that are unique to your own community. It is my hope that you take this episode and contextualize it, and put in place as a regular thankfulness practice for yourself and your team. Related Episodes: Ignoring the Customer Spiders! What they can Teach us About Hospitality 045 : Simple, Powerful Hospitality w/ Philip Turner 016: Raising the Bar on your Customer Experience w/ Michael Butterworth 277: Encore Episode: How to respond to Negative Feedback Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.groundcontrol.coffee www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com

Apr 12, 202242 min

Don't Force Vulnerability

We love the idea of developing a culture of trust. A place where it is safe to open up and be honest without worrying. Vulnerability is the new metric (among others) by which we judge how successful we are as leaders and I am happy that is. But if we are not carful then we risk using vulnerability as a weapon against people. In today's Shift Break we will be chatting about how our desire to have a team where there is openness and trust can lead to us resorting to coercion and essentially forcing people into vulnerability, making it weird for everyone. Related Episodes: Toxic vulnerability One on ones Above and beyond Reasonable expectations Visit our Sponsors!!! The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co

Apr 7, 20229 min

339: What Good Barista Training Produces

What does you baristas training produce? For many shops barista training is a loose and rushed experience that falls short in equipping staff with what is needed to succeed. It also creates stress in leadership who desperately want to see good results but through poor mindsets toward training, sabotage the chance of seeing them. In today's episode we will be talking about what goals and outcomes you need to be shooting for when thinking of and developing your your training programs. We discuss: Why we don't see the things we want What baristas need vs what we give them Pitfalls of rushed and overly wrought training Memorization and Understanding Standards and Consistency Excitement and Curiosity Related episodes: 194 : Encore Episode! Leadership in the Cafe: 10 Steps to being a People First Leader | Aired January 17 2017 330 : Establishing Systems in Your Coffee Shop 080 : Changing things in the Cafe : A workflow for Refinement 248 : The 5 Elements of Resourcing your Team 301 : Hiring and Training for Excellence Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.groundcontrol.coffee www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com

Apr 5, 202232 min

Getting Them In By Getting Out!

How do we get people to come to our shop? This is the question at the root of most of our marketing efforts. So many of us have stories of how customers will tell us, even after years of business, "I never knew you were here!". It's frustrating. In todays Shift Break we will be chatting about how we have been limiting ourselves with the way we are approaching marketing and the change of mindset and tactic that I think may help get people in your shop and aware of your brand. Related episodes: 215 : Communication and Marketing Master Class w/ Spencer M. Ross, PH.D. 304 : Inside the Coffee Data Trends Breakout Report w/ Katie Von Der Lieth of the SCA 120 : Social Media 101 w/ Jenn Chen 234 : Actions and Strategies to Improve your Messaging w/ Garrett Oden Visit our Sponsors!!! The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co

Mar 31, 20229 min

RoR #13 : The Norm Roast Protocol w/ Dave Baxter

How do we test the energy efficiency, emissions, and impact of or roasting machines?. We all want to be responsible with our environmental impact but all we have to go on for data is supplied by marketing from the manufacturer. Wouldn't it be nice to have a real measure of the performance of a roasting machine? Well that is exactly what today's guest is out to provide. Today on the Rate of Rise series from Roast Magazine we are going to be talking with Dave Baxter about The Norm Roast Protocol! Dave Baxter has avidly roasted coffee for more than 15 years. He applies an analytical approach to master the enigmatic art of coffee roasting. Dave joined the Artisan team in 2015 and is a founding member of the NORM-ROAST Consortium. Many of the analytical tools and other features in Artisan were created by him. Dave is an inventive engineer with over 60 granted patents. In our conversation we cover: How Norm Roast Protocol was conceived Verifying Marketing claims Key components of the protocol Establishing specification for the protocol from research Incentivization of manufactures to adopt a universal protocol How to begin using the protocol Balance of Innovations focus on emissions vs maintaining quality Mass adoption as key to create efficacy Small vs large roasters Optimizing existing equipment for efficiency Links: www.norm-roast.org Subscribe to Roast Magazine! Use code "ROR" to get $5 off Related Episodes: RoR #1: A Conversation w/ Anne Cooper of Equilibrium Master Roasters RoR #2: Exploring Quality Control w/ Spencer Turer of Coffee Enterprises RoR #3: Making Contingency Planning a Reality w/ Andi Trindle Mersch of Philz Coffee RoR #4: Practical Thermal Dynamics w/ Candice Madison of Royal Coffee / The Crown Oak RoR #5: Time and Color in Roasting w/ Morten Munchow of Coffee Mind" RoR #6: Buying Less and Doing More w/ Ever Meister RoR #7 Illustrative Sample Roasting w/ Mike Ebert of Firedancer Coffee Consultants ROR #8 How Post-Harvest Processing Impacts Flavor w/ Siva Subramanian and Byron Holcomb of Olam Food Ingredients RoR #9 Inside the Roaster's Tool Kit w/ Kat Melheim of Black and White Coffee and The Coffee People Zine RoR #10 : What Your Broker Wishes You Knew w/ Scott Merle of La Minita Coffee RoR #11 : Exploring Scent w/ Sandra Elisa Loofbourow RoR #12 : Inside Coffee Packaging w/ Ever Meister

Mar 30, 202242 min

338: A Conversation w/ Martell Mason of The Sepia Coffee Project

In order to have clarity on how to operate effectively in coffee we need to view it thought a global lens. The tapestry of people and cultures that make up our industry are rarely represented and even less often do they benefit from coffee culture. The answer to this problem is something that today's guest calls "The Sepia Coffee Project". Martell Mason is Co-Founder of the Sepia Coffee Project(SCP), a boutique roastery based in Detroit's North End. Although a native of the city, Martell has lived a very nomadic life with years spent throughout Asia, East Africa and Scandinavia. With a BA in International Affairs and grad work specializing in Sustainability and Coffee Value Chains; Martell continues to search for ways to bridge the gap from "farm to cup" while ensuring there is greater representation of all persons involved with an emphasis placed on those of color. In 2017, he established Arabica Trading House in Istanbul, Turkey, being one of the first specialty traders to import high-quality, transparent coffees direct from origin. Pivoting after the shocks of the pandemic, Martell arrived back in the US in 2021 and saw an opportunity to be of service to a young, yet vibrant coffee community in Detroit. Sepia Coffee Project's mission is to make specialty coffee more accessible to underserved markets, creating a more inclusive and equitable platform for coffee consumers, industry peers and the greater community at large. In our conversation today we are going to be learning about Martell's unique journey through coffee and how his experiences shaped his views and the work he does today to create equity and inclusion for all. We cover: Getting into coffee and developing a broad perspective Global travels and working in coffee How story adds value Learning by connecting directly with people Improve systems through deeper understanding Looking at what quality is and who defines it Farmer livelihoods and mainstream coffee Celebrating a wider range of coffee Addressing "Coffee Deserts" The establishment and goals of The Sepia Coffee Project Bringing coffee to the underserved and marginalized Related episodes: 116 : Understanding Gentrification w/ Dr. Stacey Sutton 183 : Exploring Diversity w/ Phyllis Johnson 233 : A Conversation w/ Anthony Ragler, Black and White 297 : Making Coffee Education Fun w/ Suneal Pabari of Leaderboard Coffee 092 : Tony "Tonx" Konecny of Yes Plz : Consumer Accessibility, roasting, 3rd wave, subscription 227 : Connecting with Hearts and Minds Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.groundcontrol.coffee www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com

Mar 29, 20221h 2m

337: Founder Friday w/ Diana Martinez of Cafe Calle, Los Angeles

Diana Martinez is one of those people that I am thrilled to see find success in coffee. She had a dream to open a coffee shop and consistently pursued knowledge and experience right out of the gate by working at a roastery and coffee shop then setting up a table on a sidewalk in her neighborhood to serve good coffee to those who did not have access to it. Today she has a brand new brick and mortar shop and the loyal support of her community. I dod not come easy though and that is what today's conversation is all about. In this Founder Friday we will get to hear details of Diana's journey into coffee entrepreneurship, the challenges, lessons, opportunities, and mission that drives her to continue to build this dream. Not just for herself but for her culture and her community. I know you will be inspired by this one! We cover: How the dream began during COVID Gaining experience and taking the first step Starting on the sidewalk to serve the underserved Getting a loyal following and the role of social media Lessons learned in catering BET Awards and other opportunities When things got real How getting in "trouble" led to a brick and mortar Realities of finding and building a space Community reception Advice to other entrepreneurs Links: www.cafecalle.com Instagram @cafecalle Related Episodes: 236 : Founder Friday! w/ Meil Castagna-Herrera & Curtis Herrera of Cafe Corazon! 284 : Founder Friday! w. Jackie Nguyen of Cafe Cà Phê | Kansas City, MO 187 : A Conversation with Nikki Outlaw of Anecho Coffee 097 : Founder Friday w/ Erica Escalante of The Arrow Coffeehouse Visit our awesome sponsors! Ground Control : Revolutionary Batch Brew Coffee! www.groundcontrol.coffee The Barista Series: Best Plant Based Beverages on Earth! www.pacificfoodservice.com

Mar 25, 20221h 8m

Flexibility for Owners and Managers

Giving up control and taking on a new role can be scary. As a result a lot of owners and managers rely on rigid and controlling way of leading that ends up doing more harm than good. In today's Shift Break we will be talking about the value of flexibility for both owners and managers and how it benefits the new context we find ourselves in when leading and delegating leadership. Recommended episodes: 261 : The Basics of Managing Managers 194 : Encore Episode! Leadership in the Cafe: 10 Steps to being a People First Leader | Aired January 17 2017 229 : 7 Tips for New Managers Shift Break: The One-on-One 165 : The Art of Deep Listening w/ Oscar Trimboli Visit our Sponsors!!! The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co

Mar 24, 202210 min

336: Cafe Leadership Masterclass w/ Selina Viguera of Blue Bottle Coffee

It's not very often you come across someone who has spent decades as a true example of what it is to be an exemplary manager, leader, and professional. When you do find them you better be prepared to absorb their wisdom and let it help guide your own career. Well, today we are privileged to sit down with some one who has done exactly that. We are talking all about leadership, management, and training, with Selina Viguera of Blue Bottle Coffee! Selina Viguera is well-known in specialty coffee mostly for being an amazing and dedicated barista. She leads the Barista Guild Café at Specialty Coffee Expo and U.S. CoffeeChamps; she's been a lead barista at TED in Vancouver, as well as TEDxWomen and TEDxMed; her latte art is featured on the Pacific Barista Series Oat and Rice packages. And she's been "the face" of Blue Bottle, especially in her adopted home in Los Angeles, for years. Selina Viguera is a coffee professional who has worked in the industry for over 20+ years. Selina has managed some of the busiest Blue Bottle cafes in the North American market such as San Francisco's Ferry Building location and LA's Abbot Kinney location, where she is currently the cafe leader for over 7 years. In our conversation we explore here long career and the experiences that have shied who she is as a leader today. We cover: Discovering the work of the cafe and then specialty coffee Connecting with customers and becoming a leader Leading the change to specialty in her first cafe Learning to train and teach Doors opening for management and leadership Leading "Team First" and the metric of staff happiness Training and onboarding effectively Empowering feedback and conflict resolution Balance of structure and culture Embracing difficult conversations and being courageous What she is most proud of accomplishing Advice to fellow managers Links: Instagram: @sellybean_13 Email: [email protected] Recommended Episodes: 329 : How to Teach Company Values to Your Staff 313 : Coffee Education and Training w/ Michael Phillips of Blue Bottle Coffee 306 : A Conversation w/ 2004 U.S. Barista Champion, Bronwen Serna! 305 : Founder Friday! w/ Andrew Sinclair of MadLab Coffee, Los Angeles, CA 305 : Founder Friday! w/ Andrew Sinclair of MadLab Coffee, Los Angeles, CA In Praise of Long Term Imperfect Employment Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.groundcontrol.coffee www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com

Mar 22, 20221h 14m

In Praise of Long Term Imperfect Employment

We have talked a lot about your career development on the show and for the most part I would say this show advocates that you find a place that is right for you. There are times though, when we are in what could be considered the right place, but the difficulty prompts us to move on too quickly, leaving opportunity for growth behind. In todays Shift Break we will be chatting about how long term employment in a place that can sometimes be deeply challenging can actually be beneficial and deepen your growth. Be sure to also listen to the linked episodes below. They provide other perspectives that will help you wrap your mind around your current situation to make a mindful and solid decision. Related Episodes: Hard Work is Hard 077 : How you can Happen to your Career w/ Scott Anthony Barlow : A frame work for finding the right work 015 : What to do if You don't Advance w/ Anne Nylander : How to take the next step in your barista/coffee career 260 : Wait! Is your current Job actually the right Job? 331 : The 7 Deadly Sins of my Career 292 : How to Take Charge and Drive Your Career w/ Ed Evarts Patience & Passivity : Career Advice for the Long Game Visit our Sponsors!!! The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co

Mar 17, 20229 min

335: A Better Business Model for Coffee Farmers w/ Thaleon Tremain of Pachamama Coffee

Most of us would say we represent farmers with our work. Few of can say we literally work for farmers. Increasingly we see the need for business models that don't just give financial reward to farms but that shift the power balance to them. This is where the example and work of Pachamama Coffee shines as an example of what is possible with true farmer ownership. Today we are going to be exploring this model with the CEO AND co-founder, Thaleon Tremain. Thaleon Tremain is the CEO and co-founder of Pachamama Coffee Cooperative, a vertically-integrated cooperative representing more than 240,000 smallholder coffee farmers around the world. Launched in California in 2006, Pachamama is the first coffee roaster in North American to be 100% owned and governed by farmers in Africa and Latin America. Thaleon has led Pachamama Coffee's formation and growth since 2003. Pachamama Coffee is wholly owned by its five member-cooperatives and its board of representatives is entirely composed of farmer representatives. Pachamama allows farmers to maintain quality control of their roasted coffee, while creating a brand and a simple path to share their own story with their own customers. Thaleon's passion for the cooperative business model began at an agricultural cooperative in rural Bolivia, where he worked as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the mid 1990s. In pursuit of a better ownership and governance structure for economic development, Thaleon is a dedicated advocate for the cooperative model. He lives in Sacramento with his wife and two sons. In our conversation we will be exploring the founding and development of Pacahamama, its growth, goals, and isights they have gained over the course of almost 20 years of changing the landscape of farmer equity. The beginning of pachamama True farmer ownership Working for farmers True partnerships Patience and building long term solutions The importance of marketing, branding, and the consumer Communication of preference to farmers from the market Long term viability through community Links: www.pachamamacoffee.com Instagram @pachamama_coffee Related Episodes: Sustainability Series #4 : Consumer Sustainability Series #2 : Importing & Roasting 294 : At Origin Roasting Revolution w/ Luis Fernando, founder of Amor Perfecto! 288 : The Truth behind Cheap Coffee w/ Karl Weinhold 265 : Gaining Clarity on Transparency w/ Jonas Lorenz of The Pledge Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.groundcontrol.coffee www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com

Mar 13, 202257 min

When Patience is not a Virtue

A them of this show has been to infuse grace and patience into your leadership. For the most part, when we exercise patience and extend grace to baristas in the cafe it is a good thing that brings about positive results. There are times though, when it turns into something detrimental and it is hard to tell where that line is. Today on Shift Break we are going to explore why patience is not always the best play and what you can to avoid letting your emotions prolong a bad situation. Recommended episodes: Hard Work is Hard Reasonable Expectations The Problem with "Should" Patience & Passivity : Career Advice for the Long Game Visit our Sponsors!!! The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co

Mar 10, 20229 min

334: How to Approach Deescalation in the Coffee Shop w/ Melissa Tucker of Mind of Matters Institute

Working in customer a customer facing environment like a coffee shop means that we get to serve and experience all different types of people in the course fo the day. While so many of our interaction are within the expected range of emotions, there are times where things get pretty tense and situations escalate past where we are comfortable. What do we do when confronted with these circumstances? Are we prepared for and confident in deescalation? Sadly we often fail in this area which means bad situations often get worse leaving staff and customers feeling demoralized and without much hope for resolution. This is a really important topic and To help us learn how to approach deescalation and make it a real process in our shops we are talking to Melissa Tucker or Mind Over Matters and Pathways to Peace. Melissa graduated with a Master's in Counseling Psychology from University of Hawaii Hilo, in August 2015. She worked for five years, in Hawaii, as a crisis mobile responder for youth, as a counselor at the domestic violence shelter, as a counselor for a private outpatient substance abuse clinic, and as the clinical supervisor providing training, counseling, parent education and services to staff and Child Welfare Services mandated clients. After moving to Washington State in 2019, she began providing private coaching and training in Motivational Interviewing, supervision, and counseling skills. She also worked for Crisis Connections as a supervisor and trainer for counselors and non-clinicians in Mental Health related skills. She currently works as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor Associate in private practice in addition to doing private training. In today's conversation we cover: What leads to poorly handled conflict The unique context of the coffee shop Caring for staff needs and safety Listening and understanding The right mindset and cultlure Inoculating baristas against conflict Making policy a conversation Modeling behavior Principles and techniques of deescalation Links: Pathways to Peace Training https://www.mindovermattersinstitute.com EMAIL: [email protected] Related episodes: 125 : Confidence in Conflict w/ Kwame Christian : A framework for Compassionate Curiosity 262 : Understanding the Homeless Community w/ Natalie Harris, Executive Director of The Coalition for the Homeless 052 : Solving Coworker Conflict w/ Tom Henschel 165 : The Art of Deep Listening w/ Oscar Trimboli 104 : How to Deliver Difficult Feedback w/ Tom Henschel 330 : Establishing Systems in Your Coffee Shop Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.prima-coffee.com/keys www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com

Mar 8, 20221h 13m

Building your Coffee Shop's Capacity from Simplicity

Coffee shops are notorious for overcomplicating their menus, concepts, and services. Most shops, if left unchecked in this, will have a significant number of poorly thought through drinks, back stock of unused inventory, and frustrated staff and customers either leaving bad reviews or leaving the business. The answer is not what we can add to our already burdened shops to find success, but what can we do less of to focus more on the few things that will bring success. On today's Shift Break we are going to discuss how to approach building your capacity and ability to make good decisions by embracing simplicity and learning what you business needs and what it can handle as you go. Related episodes: 327: Founder Friday! w/ Phuong Tran of Lava Java 224 : Essentialism: Focusing on what truly Matters w/ Greg McKeown 274 : Crafting Specialty Drinks in your Shop w/ Matt Foster" 240 : What to do before your Build your Bar Exclusivity is a Bad Strategy Blog: Soul Searching in the New Landscape of Retail Visit our Sponsors!!! The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co

Mar 3, 20228 min

333: Bridging the Professional and Home Barista Gap w/ Lance Hedrick of Onyx Coffee Lab

We are living in a time where the average consumer is both spoiled for choice and simultaneously vexed at the sheer number of options available for great coffee and brewing equipment. What used to be a need for more and better green and gear has shifted to a need for how to choose and then use it all to get the best results for you. At the same time professionals, who represent coffee to the consumer, are increasingly hungry for reliable knowledge beyond their shops but lack the time that home enthusiasts tend to have more of. In the field of resources for making sense of coffee, today's guest, Lance Hedrick, stands out for his friendly, accessible, and well reasoned and researched approach to demystifying brewing for both pros and the average consumer. Lance Hedrick is a PHD student truanted coffee student who gave up his path in academia and pursuing a professorship in philosophy and linguistics to pursue coffee science and equipment. In Lance's time working in coffee, he has worked bar, in a kitchen, bagging coffee, making deliveries, roasting, quality control, managing, opening a shop, consulting, designing bars, servicing equipment, training, and is currently overseeing wholesale for the west coast and international accounts for Onyx Coffee Labs. As an accomplished competitor Lance has won somewhere over 30 latte art throw downs, is a 2 time CoffeeFest Latte Art World Champion, and has won 3rd and 2nd, respectively, in the US Brewers Cup Championship. Finally, he has been a coach to Andrea Allen in the Barista Championship since joining in 2018. Lance has taken his passion for academia and coffee and combined them to create his popular Youtube channel where he breaks down the complex world of coffee and coffee equipment to make enjoying the best coffee accessible to all. In our conversation today we are going to hear a bit of Lances story and dive deep into the subject of how he approaches research, coffee education, and the importance of creating in roads for consumers to more fully enjoy specialty coffee. We cover: Abandoning academia for coffee Discovering specialty Becoming latte art famous Developing skills for training and teaching Starting to develop online material Making coffee education accessible The education gap between consumers and professionals Equipping our customers well Methodology for what is right vs what is best The importance of investing training and education Barista education as the key equipping and embracing consumers Links: Lance Hedrick YouTube Lance on Instagram Related Episodes: 188 : Founder Friday w/ Jon Allen of Onyx Coffee Lab 024 : Chermelle D. Edwards, The Coffeetographer : Documenting Art and Culture Through the Lens of Specialty Coffee : Barista Culture, Consumer Experience, Movements in coffee culture 321 : Marketing and Moral Injury w/ Josh Tarlo of Kiss the Hippo 282 : How to Listen to your Customers 297 : Making Coffee Education Fun w/ Suneal Pabari of Leaderboard Coffee 312 : How to Choose the Right Machine for Your Shop w/ Chad little of La Marzocco 197 : Getting the most from your Equipment w/ Melissa Vaiden of Counter Culture Coffee 035 : The Consumer Revolution w/ Kevin Sinnott 069: Hosting Consumer Coffee Classes : 7 Guidelines Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.prima-coffee.com/keys www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com

Feb 28, 20221h 13m

332: Founder Friday! w/ Iman Kusumaputra & Putri Yulandari of Kopikalyan, Jakarta, Indonesia

On this Founder Friday we go to Jakarta, Indonesia to explore the story of Kopikalyan! This ground breaking roaster retailer sources, roasts, and serves exclusively Indonesian Coffees. Innovation, Hospitality, and relationships are what drive this fantastic company and in today's episode we get to talk to Iman and Putri, two of the co-founders about how they took this business from idea, to reality Iman & Putri are two of six friends who co-founded Kopikalyan, both studied in Melbourne, Australia, one of the best cities in the world to enjoy coffee. The idea to start a coffee shop business happened over a casual conversation in 2016 and today Kopikalyan has 4 outlets in total, 3 in Jakarta and 1 in Tokyo, Japan. Iman is an ex-banker who turned into a full-time entrepreneur due to his interest in F&B Business. Upon entering the coffee industry, he got interested in enhancing the synergy between upstream & downstream, particularly on how coffee shops could directly support a better life for farming families of Indonesia through fair prices. Putri is an architect who previously worked on many hospitality projects. What interests her most about designing a coffee shop is the limitless possibility of always creating something different, in terms of customer's experience as well as branding identity. She believes that visuals are an important aspect of showcasing great coffee. A coffee shop should be representing and spotlighting the coffee as well as the people behind that cup of coffee. We cover: Their inspiration to start First year success and challenges, Learning coffee and roasting Growing the business , and staying true to values Differentiation through sourcing and innovation Building relationship with farmers Scaling and metrics Balancing intuition with dataLinks Links: www.kopikalyan.com Instagram @kopikalyan Related Episodes: 256 : Founder Friday w/ Varat Vichit-Vadakan of Roots Coffee Roaster in Bangkok, Thailand 247 : Founder Friday! w/ Ritesh Doshi, CEO of Spring Valley Coffee, Nairobi, Kenya 289 : Founder Friday w/ Ochen Simon Eidodo of Chariots Coffees, Uganda! 171 : Founder Friday w/ Matt Chitharanjan and Namrata Asthana of Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters in India 134 : Founder Friday w/ Jeremy Zhang of M2M Roasters & Uni Uni Coffee in Nanjing ,China 294 : At Origin Roasting Revolution w/ Luis Fernando, founder of Amor Perfecto! Visit our awesome sponsors! Ground Control : Revolutionary Batch Brew Coffee! www.groundcontrol.coffee The Barista Series: Best Plant Based Beverages on Earth! www.pacificfoodservice.com

Feb 25, 20221h 4m

How to Talk to Each Other

Do you have an agreed upon way that you and your staff talk to each other? Poor communication is one of the most cited issues in exit interviews yet we rarely end up doing much to address it specifically. Since we have been focusing on values in action lately today on Shift Break I thought it would be good to discuss how to collectively establish rules of engagement that will help guide how everyone in the business thinks about, approaches, and works with each other. 291 : What to do if Your Baristas Wont Listen to You 244 : Top 10 Ways to Lose Employees 329 : How to Teach Company Values to Your Staff Scaling Values Bridging the Values-Actions Gap Visit our Sponsors!!! The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co

Feb 23, 20228 min

331 : The 7 Deadly Sins of my Career

We all make mistakes. It's part of the learning and growth process for everyone. As you go in your career you will find that there are certain types of mistakes that are worse than others in that they have a greater negative impact on you and those around you. I have been doing this coffee thing long enough to have amassed a nice list of those types of mistakes and today I want to share that list with you and elaborate on each one. I am pretty sure most if not all the listeners here will experience or are currently mired down in one or more of these mistakes and it's my hope that by shedding light on it in this episode you will be able to correct course sooner than I did! We cover: Arrogance Being Overbearing Taking it Personally Not listening to my boss Poor Heath Overwork Passive approach to development Related Episodes: 083: 6 Essential Books for your Professional Growth 243 : Encore Episode! "The Sleepwalking Barista (Owner)" Patience & Passivity : Career Advice for the Long Game 258 : Prioritizing your Mental Health in the New Year w/ Dr. Lara Pence 266 : Building Physical Resilience W/ Dr. David Dahl DPT, CAFS Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.prima-coffee.com/keys www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com

Feb 22, 202240 min

RoR #12 : Inside Coffee Packaging w/ Ever Meister

Your coffee packaging holds more than just coffee. It holds an incredible amount of potential for communication of values, impact on the supply chain, and how coffee itself is percieved and succeeds in the global market. Packaging might not seem like the most compeling topic but the package itself may be on of the main tools that compels consumers and how we approach it matters greatly. Today on the Rate of Rise series from Roast Magaine we will be exploring pacaging and beyond with the author of the Sept/Oct 2021 article "The Perfect Package", Ever Meister. Ever Meister has worked in the coffee industry for 20+ years in a wide range of capacities, but primarily she is a journalist, educator, and communicator whose work focuses on issues of access, equity, and ethics. She is the author of New York City Coffee: A Caffeinated History (The History Press, 2017) and the host of the coffee-marketing podcast In Good Taste on the Sprudge media network. A conversation with Ever will always lead to the deep and existensial issues at the root of our industry and this one is delivers that in spades along side some extremely practical tips and advice to put into action as your develop your own coffee packaging. We cover: Evolution of packaging What are the main considerations Decisions fatigue Customer experience Judging Quality control claims Investing in vendor relationship How do we decide what to prioritize Time budgeting Sustainability The give and take of waste Messaging on the bag Constraints and values Links: Ever Meister on Instagram: @justmeister [email protected] Subscribe to Roast Magazine! Use code "ROR" to get $5 off Related Episodes: RoR #1: A Conversation w/ Anne Cooper of Equilibrium Master Roasters RoR #2: Exploring Quality Control w/ Spencer Turer of Coffee Enterprises RoR #3: Making Contingency Planning a Reality w/ Andi Trindle Mersch of Philz Coffee RoR #4: Practical Thermal Dynamics w/ Candice Madison of Royal Coffee / The Crown Oak RoR #5: Time and Color in Roasting w/ Morten Munchow of Coffee Mind" RoR #6: Buying Less and Doing More w/ Ever Meister RoR #7 Illustrative Sample Roasting w/ Mike Ebert of Firedancer Coffee Consultants ROR #8 How Post-Harvest Processing Impacts Flavor w/ Siva Subramanian and Byron Holcomb of Olam Food Ingredients RoR #9 Inside the Roaster's Tool Kit w/ Kat Melheim of Black and White Coffee and The Coffee People Zine RoR #10 : What Your Broker Wishes You Knew w/ Scott Merle of La Minita Coffee RoR #11 : Exploring Scent w/ Sandra Elisa Loofbourow

Feb 21, 202253 min

Proactivity in the Owner - Manager Relationship

We often talk about charitable assumption and being proactive to address the needs of our guests. But how often are we considering the way we approach the relationship between owners and managers? There are a lot of expectations going both ways but not always a lot of understanding. Today on Shift Break we are going to talk about how if we can lean into communication and the spirit of mutuality then I am going to guess a lot of bad blood can be avoided. Related Episodes: 261 : The Basics of Managing Managers 141 : The 27 Challenges Managers Face w/ Bruce Tulgan 109 : Leadership Abandonment Syndrome : Lack of development in senior staff and what to do about it 229 : 7 Tips for New Managers Visit our Sponsors!!! The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co

Feb 18, 20229 min

330 : Establishing Systems in Your Coffee Shop

Good intentions are nice and all, but how do you make sure that you can actually deliver on your ideals for quality, service, and beyond? The answer is systems. Unfortunately many shops are organizationally flying by the seat of their pants and delivering an inconsistent and frustrating experience. A well developed set of processes, lists, and procedures will give consistency to the standards we strive to offer our baristas and guests as well as aid us in developing a culture where people feel confident and cared for. But how do we create, establish, and refine systems and processes so they serve our shops and people well? That is exactly what we are going to cover today in a pretty thorough examination of the steps needed to make and launch systems in your cafe. We cover: Beginning mindsets and assumptions Leaders role Observation and feedback Rules for prioritization Writing for detail and for realism Training, coaching, and refinement Advice for both the new and existing shop Related episodes you must listen too! 329 : How to Teach Company Values to Your Staff 123 : The 10 Essentials of a Barista Manual 080 : Changing things in the Cafe : A workflow for Refinement 057 : SOP's FTW! Success through Standard Operating Procedures 007 : The 4 Keys to an Effective Checklist Feedback Culture : Making feedback a part of what you do not just something you sometimes do The Impact of Absence Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.prima-coffee.com/keys www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com

Feb 15, 202240 min

Customer Caricatures and Inside Jokes

When the customer first walks in the what do you think about them? Well chances are your immediate thoughts will be based on your assumptions formed in conversation with fellow baristas and the inside jokes we have at their expense. Yes, customers can say and do very similar things but why is our default to seek out ways to dismiss and make a caricature of them rather than trying to serve them with the benefit of the doubt as individual? Today on Shift Break we are going to talk about the problem with our natural tendency to train our brain to react to and think about customers in ways that ends up creating an unfair and less than stellar coffee experience. Related Episodes: Gossip: How this toxic element destroys community in the coffee shop and what to do instead 019 : 10 Reasons to Love the Customer w/ Chris Deferio Encore! Curbing Their Enthusiasm 329 : How to Teach Company Values to Your Staff Visit our Sponsors!!! The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co

Feb 10, 20229 min

329 : How to Teach Company Values to Your Staff

It's pretty easy to write our a set of company values. But how do you teach them in such a way that your staff own them and live by them? Now THAT is not easy. If you want to teach your staff the company values so that you are confident that they know, understand, and act according to them, even if you are not there, then todays episode is for you. We will be talking with about the five tips and methods needed to teach values effectively to your baristas and create a culture the lives those values out every single day. We cover: Creating meaningful values Your daily example The tools you use Cultural saturation Speaking the language Seeking connections to values Being open to change focus Recommended Episodes: Learning -vs- LEARNING Scaling Values Bridging the Values-Actions Gap The Conversational Reality of Your Business : Thought on how to approach creative projects in the new year Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.prima-coffee.com/keys www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com

Feb 8, 202224 min