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  

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  

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    

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  

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        

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    

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  

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  

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  

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  

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  

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  

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      

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    

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    

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  

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    

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    

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    

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  

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  

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

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      

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    

One of the questions I get asked a lot by consulting clients is when they should instal or think about hiring a manager. I see lots of coffee shops get into the mindset that they “should” have a manager but I don’t often see people give competing reasons other than it is part of the coffee shop structure they see elsewhere. Today on Shift Break we are going to chat about a couple reasons you should delay the installation of a manager and  why doing so will help you make a better management decision when the time is right.  Recommend Episodes:    Hiring for Future Leadership Helping Managers Avoid Burnout Tips on how to Replace a Manager 261 : The Basics of Managing Managers 129 : Founder Friday w/ Casey & Jeremy Miller of The Mudhouse, St. Louis, MO Visit our Sponsors!!! Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co   The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com  

Navigating our way through the coffee industry can be a daunting task. Especially if you want to make a difference. As you go you are confronted with many challenges that threaten your stability and test both your resolve and faith in the reasons you began the journey in the first place. Through it all though, there is a kind of wisdom, strength, and perspective that you gain if you use your experiences, good or bad, as opportunities to refine yourself, what you do, and why you do it.  Today we are going to be talking with the co-founder of Metric Coffee in Chicago. Xavier is someone who has had all these experiences and more working in the heart of the specialty coffee world since the early 2000's as a barista, roaster and roasting manager, and now for the last 8 years founding and running his own roastery and cafe space along with business partner, Darko Arandjelovic.  Metric Coffee was born from a common desire of both founders to create a better way for themselves and for those producers they represent as roasters. A Good Food Award winning company, Metric definitely roasts and sources excellent coffees, but the relationships and commitment they develop along the way with producers is a hallmark of what makes Metric truly special.  In today's conversation we are going to hear Xavier detail his own beginnings in coffee, growing in skill but also restlessness, developing resiliency through personal and professional trials, and of course the values, mission, and motivations behind starting Metric Coffee. This conversation gets deep and hopefully speaks to your heart and mind and gets you to see the world around you and your business in a clearer light.  We cover: Developing values early in life  Learning as a roaster The catalyst fo beginning Metric Revelations via relationships Using your position to build solutions Developing resiliency through hardships Personal responsibility and not blaming others Why it’s not a race Iterating the mission Long term relationships  Intuition and who to work with Inspiration to pay it forward through business Having a serving heart Representing the coffee well in a cafe Resourcing staff Defining success  Related Episodes:  Sustainability Series #2 : Importing & Roasting 060 : Serving the Coffee Plant w/ Hanna Neuschwander, World Coffee Research 265 : Gaining Clarity on Transparency w/ Jonas Lorenz of The Pledge 020 Joe Marrocco : Transparency, Origin Knowledge,and Your Shop : How to approach and apply coffee origin information to enhance, not detract, from the cafe experience 288 : The Truth behind Cheap Coffee w/ Karl Weinhold   Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.prima-coffee.com/keys www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com      

Today we get to talk with a pillar and foundational member of the specialty coffee community, Phuong Tran of Lava Java For 20 years now Phuong Tran has been the owner/operator of the famed coffee shop, Lava Java in Ridgefield Washington. There she discovered a passion for coffee that led her to not only craft the shop into a beacon of hight standards in the beginning of the 3rd wave of coffee, but she also became inspired to begin competing to in barista competitions as a way to improve. She won the U.S. title in 2005 and amidst the notoriety of the win simply continued to run a great cafe and teach coffee to her staff and through the SCA.  I am lucky to consider Phuong a friend who I have known since back in 2006 or so. I have been inspired by her consistency, focus, values, and the simplicity with which she runs her shop and crafts her life.  Today we get to explore her story from buying a business, discovering specialty coffee, and taking on new challenges - to competition, teaching, and advice to other owners from her extensive experience.  I hope you really enjoy this one! We cover:  Beginning coffee as an owner  Buying an existing shop Learning the industry and taking on challenges Changing and refining things at the shop Establishing standards and finding specialty coffee Motivation for Competition   Winning the U.S. Title Scaling to a 2nd location Choosing simplicity Self care and balance    Links: www.lava-java.com   Recommended Episodes: 305 : Founder Friday! w/ Andrew Sinclair of MadLab Coffee, Los Angeles, CA Founder Friday! w/ Adam Obrátil of Industra Coffee, Brno, Czech Republic 252 : Founder Friday w/ Klaus Thompson of the Coffee Collective, Denmark 232 : Founder Friday w/ Blew Kind of Fanny Lou’s Porch   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  

As we set out in our coffee journeys as either entrepreneurs or professionals within a company, we tend to seek out and cultivate groups of people around us who offer affirmation almost exclusively. Not matter what we are doing, the mindset we have and therefore the mindset we want other to have is to only offer positive and encouraging words. Trouble is that sometimes those words can cover up real needs that should be explored which makes some encouragement irresponsible.  In today's Shift Break we are going to talk about this personal echo chamber and the need to pursue reality in the face of our own and others misguided desires to keep us far from it.  Related episodes: Stop Lying Keeping it Real 277: Encore Episode: How to respond to Negative Feedback 283 : 5 Bad Reasons to Open a Coffee Shop Taking Offense to Critique   Visit our Sponsors!!! Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co   The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com  

The smell of coffee is one of the great joys in this life. As professionals we take this important sensory aspect of coffee and build tools and protocols around it so we can fully and accurately assess a coffee's quality and ultimately serve something consistently wonderful to our customers. In order to do this we need to bring balance, calibration, and objectivity to the personal tastes and experiences we all bring to the cupping table.  Today we on the Rate of Rise series from Roast Magazine we will be diving into this subject of scent and calibration with the author of the Jan/Feb 2022 Roast Magazine article "Exploring Scent", Sandra Elisa Loofbourow! Sandra is the Director of Coffee Content for The Crown, a certified Q Grader and Assistant Instructor, and a Q Processing Generalist. She brings with her a depth of experience as a roaster, green buyer, and barista. Sandra is co-host of the bilingual podcast Cafetera Intelectual and chair of the Good Food Awards Coffee Committee. In this conversation we cover: Journey of honing her own sensory skills The role of scent  Passion guiding sensory pursuits  Emotions and scent Why this sense is underdeveloped Consensus and price discovery Bringing objectivity to personal experience  How big does your circle of calibration need to be How we are always calibrating Le Nez Du Cafe Having clear goals First steps and resources to improve your sense of smell Links: https://royalcoffee.com/the-crown/ https://www.cafeteraintelectual.com   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  

Everyone's favorite coffee culture commentator and meme lord, Alan Jarrar is in the house! If you are like me and follow the account "50%Arabica" on Instagram, you know full well that there is more to the funny content than what you see on the surface. There is a world of professional coffee experience and philosophy that fuels not just the great memes at 50%Arabica but now the great coffee being roasted by Alan and his partner Kalliope at Jokes Aside Coffee.  Alan has been in coffee for the last ten years honing his craft as a coffee professional at various coffee bars and roasters in the Czech Republic where he has lead the bar, trained, managed, and roasted at a high level.  He is a past competitor and is currently running Jokes Aside Coffee Roasters with his Partner, Kalliope who also owns Faine Coffee in Brno.  After a successful first year, Alan and Kalli are in the midst of planning to open a new espresso bar in their home of Brno along with a production facility.  In our conversation today we will get to hear how Alan found coffee, developed as a barista, then roaster, competitor, and eventually business owner and an influential voice in the industry. Many different subjects and ideas are covered here as we get under the surface of what it means to have a thriving career in coffee and to have a sense of humor along the way.   We cover: History of coffee in Brno Alan’s entry in to coffee Early impressions of coffee Becoming a professional  Learning to roast Experience in competition vs real cafe work Change of perception of the industry Starting 50%arabica Memes exposing the truth Humor as a tool for openness and self care Customer sophistication Memes overcome our barriers to feedback Starting Jokes Aside Coffee  Lessons in being a business owner Plans for the future Advice for a great coffee career   Links:  www.jokesasidecoffee.eu @50%Arabica on Instagram @JokesAsideCoffee on Instagram   Related episodes: 071: Taking a European Coffee Trip w/ Ales Pospisil 119 : Barista Training Masterclass w/ 2009 WBC Champion, Gwilym Davies Founder Friday! w/ Adam Obrátil of Industra Coffee, Brno, Czech Republic 031 : Essential Advice for New Baristas : Tips to help you successfully navigate and thrive in your new coffee career   Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.prima-coffee.com/keys www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com  

We have to get the shop closed! Fast! Question is, at what cost? For most of us we engage in pre-close with an aggression that lies our stated commitment to hospitality. Customers are frequently put off by how we go about re-closing and we a frequently behind the eight ball with unrealistic expectation fueling our aggressive attitudes towards it.  Pre-closing is crucial part of the day's work that can be done in a way that benefits the cafe the staff, and still allows for customers to enjoy their experience in the cafe when it is open.  Today will be talking about pre-closing and principles related to doing it well.    Related Episodes: 098 : Loving the Closing Shift : Problems, solutions, and philosophy on work 243 : Encore Episode! “The Sleepwalking Barista (Owner)” 259 : Solving Toxic Customer Service Culture Blog: Spiders and Customer Service 019 : 10 Reasons to Love the Customer w/ Chris Deferio   Visit our Sponsors!!! Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co   The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com  

When you have a trainer on staff there are specific responsibilities you have as a leader that will determine their success and how happy you are with their performance. Often we can set someone in a position and let them loose with little to no guidance. Of course this is a recipe for disaster and today we are going to be talking about how to provide structure for trainers hat you lead and also we will be talking to trainers about proper focus and mindsets going into the role. When bosses come along side trainers and give structure, guidance, and leadership everyone has a better chance for satisfying work.  We cover: Job descriptions Admin time Focus on basics Commissioning and following through on projects Due dates and clarity Getting lost in esoteric coffee knowledge Related episodes: 248 : The 5 Elements of Resourcing your Team 261 : The Basics of Managing Managers 313 : Coffee Education and Training w/ Michael Phillips of Blue Bottle Coffee 025 : Mastering the Art of Training w/ Dave Stachowiak : Coaching, Leadership, education , and how to communicate your coffee and barista knowledge so it sticks   Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.prima-coffee.com/keys www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com  

Customers have opinions that we disagree with. This is a forever truth of running a business. They have preferences and sometimes they will be disappointed in their experience and take to Yelp to voice their opinion. That can be very frustrating, especially if you feel you are doing everything "right".  The temptation is to be defensive, fight, and essentially make the reviewer the enemy. Problem is that this approach, as cathartic as it may seem, shows insecurity and shuts down opportunity for growth and connection.  Today on Shift Break we will be talking about how to adjust our perspective on critique and embrace the fact that we are here to serve the customer before ourselves.    Related Episodes: 151 : How to Respond and React to Negative Feedback : 5 Step Process 165 : The Art of Deep Listening w/ Oscar Trimboli 307 : 10 Simple ways to Level Up your Coffee Shop 196 : Understanding Customer Preferences w/ Peter Giuliano 019 : 10 Reasons to Love the Customer w/ Chris Deferio   Visit our Sponsors!!! Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co   The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com  

Community exists all around us. When we start a coffee shop we see the blossoming of community in our customer base, baristas bonding with one another, and then across the industry people of similar interests who are desirous to learn, grow, and connect make an effort to establish friendships. One of the ways these communities thrive is when people step up and organize.  Today on Keys to the Shop we are going to re-listen to a great episode with Javier Alvarez and Joseph Gonzalez of Espresso State of Mind in NYC. They have been tirelessly and selflessly organizing throw downs, events, fundraisers, and all manner of efforts to enrich their community. This episode was recorded pre-COVID and from where I sit, having continued to see and interact with them, they have continued this effort even in spite of a global pandemic.  We get to learn from Javier and Joseph the history of ESOM, the steps of faith required, planning, best practices for organizing, and their philosophy on community.  I love these guys and hope that if you are wanting to organize your community that you will be equipped and encouraged by this encore episode! Links: https://espressostateofmind.com   Related Episodes: How to host a Throwdown w/ Justin Shepard Founder Friday w/ Jason Card Mastering Latte Art: Interviews w/ the Best    Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.prima-coffee.com/keys www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com    

Hiring baristas can bring a lot of uncertainty. It is because of this we tend to go for people who may not make great leaders but default to following. Problems come when it is time to appoint a manager or have people take on. more responsibility and you don't have any candidates that are right for the role.  On today's Shift Break we will be talking about how we should be hiring for future leadership and why it makes sense for your coffee shop. Related Episodes: 301 : Hiring and Training for Excellence 291 : What to do if Your Baristas Wont Listen to You 278 : Making great Hiring Decisions 018: Hiring, Culture, and the Future of your Shop 013 : Leadership & Management Master Class w/ Eva Attia : Leadership | management | hiring | career 314 : The 6 Essential Qualities of Coffee Shop Leaders 232 : Rebuilding your Staff with Excellence w/ Dave Stachowiak Visit our Sponsors!!! Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co   The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com  

Welp, KTTS is now 5 years old! In this time KTTS has aired 560 episodes and is closing in on 2 million downloads around the world and it simply feels surreal. I have been so blessed by the guests on this show, you the audience, and most of all, my biggest supporter, my wife.  SO...on this episode my lovely wife Lynnsy takes to the microphone again to interview me about the journey over the past 5 years as well as getting to know a bit more about me and some of the things that make me tick. She has seen this thing take shape closer than anyone and it was really fun to get to talk with her about all of this. Thanks, babe. You're the best.  You guys are cool too.    We cover: How and why KTTS was started What I have learned How I've changed as a person Favorite/most surprising episode Tenacity and overcoming hardships Dealing with fear and taking risks The importance of story and discovery Why my wife is awesome Vote Keys to the Shop for best Coffee Podcast! https://sprudge.com/vote   Related Episodes: Bonus Valentine's Day Episode aka "My wife made me do it" 305 : Founder Friday! w/ Andrew Sinclair of MadLab Coffee, Los Angeles, CA 081 : Founder Friday w/ David Schomer of Espresso Vivace 315 : Growing and Connecting w/ Stephen Zinnerman of The Coffee Enthusiast! 242 : A Conversation with James Hoffmann   Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.prima-coffee.com/keys www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com      

Chances are good that if you are listening to this podcast, you want to grow in your career or your business. That makes sense especially since that is one of the goals of this show! That said, there are some problems with growth and the expectations we have related to it that create a dissatisfaction, self sabotage, and  rob us of the joy of where we are right now I want take this last Shift Break of 2021 to address all with you all and offer some encouragement on how to balance your pursuit of growth going into this new year.    I would be honored if you would vote for Keys to the Shop in the 13th annual Sprudgie Awards for best coffee podcast! Click here vote!    Visit: www.keystothshop.com/consulting   Related episodes: 224 : Essentialism: Focusing on what truly Matters w/ Greg McKeown 191 : Retraining your Staff on new Standards 181 : Organizational Self-Knowledge Limiting New Things Turning the Ship Slowing down your Response Time Visit our Sponsors!!! Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co   The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com

Relationships are what the coffee industry is built on. The quality of those relationships determines the strength of the supply chain and the success of all involved. One of the most important relationships that is not talked about very often is that between green buyer and the broker.  Today we on the Rate of Rise series from Roast Magazine we will be diving into this subject with the author of the October 2020 Roast Magazine article "What your Broker Wishes you Knew", Scott Merle! Scott has worked in specialty coffee since 1988 and has experience in every aspect of the value chain from Barista to Roastmaster. He has extensive knowledge of green coffee sourcing, purchasing, roasting, and blend development, and is proficient in various types of coffee evaluation. Scott has participated in multiple international cupping panels, was a founding member of the Executive Council of the SCAA’s Roaster’s Guild, serves on the Editorial Board for Roast magazine, and has served on multiple committees and councils within the SCAA, including eight years on the SCAA Sustainability Council where he spent a three year term as chair. Scott has dedicated his career to furthering coffee quality throughout the value chain, and has emphasized and exemplified fair pricing practices to hard-working producers every step of the way. In this conversation we cover: Communication Honesty and follow through Game planning and  Capacity as parallel parking  Setting parameter for your size Brokers and quality control decisions  Reasonable differences in QC/Assessment Getting better at cupping How and why to Pay your bills  Collaboration and problem solving Complexity at origin Impact of our decisions on farmers  Defaulting to generosity and relationship Links: www.laminita.com Subscribe to Roast Magazine! www.roastmagazine.com   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    

Creating a path forward and up in the coffee industry sometimes requires we take matters into our own hands and build the opportunities for ourself and others that we don't see. This is exactly what today's guest, LaNisa Williams did with Barista L.A.  LaNisa Williams has been in coffee over 14 years as a barista, manager, trainer/educator, and all around inspiration. At a critical point in her life and career she decided that coffee was not only her route to a better life, but that she would create a platform to spotlight and give opportunity to the black coffee community.  Barista Life L.A. is a full service coffee brand that provides training, education, and consulting to individuals and companies. Under the Barista Life L.A. banner, LaNisa founded Black the platform "Black in Brew" which highlights black excellence in coffee. In addition LaNisa provides private events, in home brewing demos, and also runs the retail expression of Barista Life L.A., "Hustlers Cup".  In all this her goal is to create a safe space for people of all colors, genders, and backgrounds in hopes to educate, restores, and uplift them in the coffee community.  In today's conversation we will be talking about how LaNisa got her start in coffee, how it provided a path for a new life, and the story of founding Barista Life L.A. and the experiences, lessons, and impact it has provided.  We cover: Developing a love for coffee and the industry The drive of Hospitality and people Getting a second chance on life through coffee Addressing the lack of opportunity for black people in coffee Starting barista life LA  Expanding the view of what a barista is Educating and training and putting yourself out there How the journey has shaped who she is today  Receiving feedback and avoiding self doubt Paying attention to your customers Helping people succeed beyond the bar Advice on overcoming obstacles  Links: www.bristalifela.com IG:  @Baristalifela @hustlerscup   Related Episodes: 233 : A Conversation w/ Anthony Ragler, Black and White 315 : Growing and Connecting w/ Stephen Zinnerman of The Coffee Enthusiast! 116: Understanding Gentrification w/ Dr. Stacey Sutton 183 : Exploring Diversity w/ Phyllis Johnson 159: Addressing Unconscious Bias w/ Lauren Lathrop 139: Founder Friday w/ Phil Sipka, Kusanya Cafe 067: 6 Truths about Power 235 : 4 Tips for Training your Staff   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   The best event for building a successful retail coffee business! www.coffeefest.com  

One of the ways we like to make our mark as leaders is by introducing various ideas, initiatives, items, and changes to the shop that we hope will make an impact. I know I have certainly seen putting new things in place as my main service to those I was tasked with leading. Thing is, instead of creating a positive impact as we hope, it often does the opposite.  On this Shift Break we chat briefly about why it is a good idea to limit new things as a way to avoid burning your staff out and to refine the things you currently have in play.  Related episodes:  080 : Changing things in the Cafe : A workflow for Refinement 074 : The Life Changing Power of Good Authority w/ Jonathan Raymond 267 : The Power of Delegation 181 : Organizational Self-Knowledge Grass Roots Improvement: Tapping into the power of your staffs observations and ideas Source vs Supplement Slowing down your Response Time   Visit our Sponsors!!! Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co   The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com  

How we market our values to potential employees and the consumer is often at odds with what we actually do. In a past episode we called this the “Values - Action Gap”. Question is, what is the result of this gap on the people who sign on with us and believe our marketing only to discover it was insincere at best or an outright lie at worst? For many the result is a condition called “Moral Injury” and it often has deep and long -term consequences on the individual, the company’s and the industry at large.  I first heard the term “Moral Injury” from a short but compelling Instagram post from todays guest, Josh Tarlo. In it he described both term and how this was and unfortunate part of many peoples experience working for specialty coffee businesses. After recording a short video in response I realized it is a much deeper topic and invited Josh to discuss it on the podcast.  Josh Tarlo has been in coffee for over 18 years.Josh has moved from working in cafes in Toronto to heading to Australia to work at places like Seven Seeds and Veneziano, where he got some time behind a roaster to ending up in the UK as a green buyer at Origin and now running the roastery operations and wholesale departments for a coffee company in London called Kiss the Hippo. Josh also came 3rd in the Australian brewers cup before heading home to Canada to take gold and getting third in the world in 2013. After that he roasted coffee for competitors with 7 of the last 9 podium spots in the UK and took the title himself in 2018.  He has spent time in  over a dozen coffee producing countries over dozens of trips. In the travels he judged for Cup of Excellence and had the pleasure of working with many producers directly. On today’s show we take a deep dive into marketing, values, moral injury, and how we can create a more cohesive and consistent reality that backs up our marketing and creates environments of trust and integrity.  We discuss: Meaning and values in coffee Financial success as a value Consolidation and false examples of success  What is moral injury and its results  The impact of belief and passion on consistency Marketing values you don’t live out  Peoples expectations Proactivity and communication Building a business that lets you live you values Living values as a reward unto itself Authenticity and delivering a human experience Being careful of where you place your identity The power dynamic Why, as an owner, you get back what you give   Links: www.joshtarlo.com www.kissthehippo.com https://www.instagram.com/josh.tarlo/   Related Episodes: Bridging the Values-Actions Gap 318 : Why Your Shop is Key to the Success of Coffee Commit Before You Communicate Small steps = Big Impact 244 : Top 10 Ways to Lose Employees   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   The best event for building a successful retail coffee business! www.coffeefest.com  

It's Founder Friday! Today we are going to be exploring the story of a ground breaking and standard setting Italian coffee roaster and cafe. Our guest on this last Founder Friday of 2021 is the founder of Caffe Artigianale, Francesco Sanapo! From learning the classic Italian way of coffee working for his fathers coffee bar at age 14 - to discovering specialty coffee eventually becoming a 3 time Italian Barista Champion and WBC finalist, Francesco wanted to take his knowledge of Italian coffee history and make it beautiful again through a progressive specialty lens. Since founding Ditta Artigianale in 2013 as a roastery the company now has 3 cafes and a 4th coming soon internationally and is regarded as one of the best cafes in all of Italy.   In our conversation with Francesco we will be exploring his ounrey into coffee, the values and philosophy he developed over his career, and the ins and outs of how he founded and grew this wonderful coffee business.  We cover: Working at his fathers cafe Italian coffee culture Respecting history and making it beautiful again Studying daily as key to success Success in competition and beginning the company First steps, challenges, and expansion philosophy Selecting staff, training, and delegating Making it all work between stores and scaling Sticking to your values  How to introduce customers to specialty   Links: http://dittaartigianale.it Francesco IG Ditta Artigianale IG Francesco's 2013 WBC performance    Related Episodes: 205 : Inside Caffe Florian, the World’s Oldest Coffee Shop ! | Venice, Italy 308 : A Conversation w/ Italian Brewers Cup Champion, Alessandro Galtieri 198 : The Evolution of the Coffee Shop w/ Prof. Jonathan Morris 252 : Founder Friday w/ Klaus Thompson of the Coffee Collective, Denmark   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  

We love to train our baristas to up-sell as a way to increase our over all ticket amounts. The way we do this tends to be focused more on getting money in the short term for our benefit than helping customers get things they will like which will benefit everyone in the long term.  Today on shift break we will be talking about how to approach up-selling and the art of using it as toll to serve the needs of the customer rather than making it a rooting and disconnected process.  Related episodes: Exclusivity is a Bad Strategy Are you Excited? 271 : Why the Cash Register Controls Everything 276 : Six Ideas for Increasing your Revenue   Visit our Sponsors!!! Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co   The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com  

This year the World Barista Championship was held in Milan, Italy. The winner of that competition accomplished not only a historic win as the first champion to hail from a producing country, but accomplished a life long dream born from a long history of developing as a person and a professional all to better serve others.  Today we get to talk with the new World Barista Champion, Diego Campos of Colombia! Diego is a 3 time Colombian Barista Champion who has been a coffee professional for 13 years ever since staring work with Colombia's famed Amor Perfecto. Once there he first started working as a roaster, then barista, all the while honing his skills as a competitor and growing as a person who was determined not just to win, but to inspire, and give of himself to his customers, peers, and the world.  On top owns and operates a coffee farm with his family called Diamante Coffee Farm.  In our conversation with Diego we get to hear the story of how he came to coffee, his growth, challenges, accomplishments, and his goals for how he wants to use his influence to help consumers and professionals alike.  We cover: Choosing coffee as a career Beginning as a roaster The difference between a bar barista and competition barista His philosophy on what it means to be a professional Why you need to be a good person Why technical perfection doe not win hearts The value of developing the sensory experience Serving humans and connecting with consumers Goals for the future and advice to other coffee professionals hungry to grow  Links: Diamante Coffee Farm  Amor Perfecto Diego on Instagram Related Episodes: 294 : At Origin Roasting Revolution w/ Luis Fernando, founder of Amor Perfecto! 020 Joe Marrocco : Transparency, Origin Knowledge,and Your Shop : How to approach and apply coffee origin information to enhance, not detract, from the cafe experience Sustainability Series #1 : The Farm 251 : Fermentation and the Future of Farming w/ Lucia Solis 061 : You Don’t Know Beans about Brazil w/ Kelly Stein, Coffea Podcast 288 : The Truth behind Cheap Coffee w/ Karl Weinhold Brazil     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

Are you open minded when it comes to coffee? How open minded do you need to be? What is the difference between being ignorant or dismissive of a type of coffee and simply having a preference?  Choosing the right and best coffees to present to your customers is both easier and harder than it has ever been. As we navigate through a sea of options with limited time and budgets for purchases we need to know that what we decide is fitting for us and those we are serving. On this episode of shift break we will be exploring the balance between exploration, open-mindedness, experimentation, and making decisions for your coffee business and its customers.  Links:  David Train on Instagram: Don't Judge the Process Related episodes: 048 : How to taste coffee w/ U.S. Cup Tasters Champion, Steve Cuevas! ROR #8 How Post-Harvest Processing Impacts Flavor w/ Siva Subramanian and Byron Holcomb of Olam Food Ingredients The Dark Roast Night of the Soul  Taste the Rainbow Curbing their Enthusiasm  Building an Accessible Coffee Menu 196 : Understanding Customer Preferences w/ Peter Giuliano Transcript 078 : Exploring Green Buying and Sensory Analysis w/ Amanda Juris  Visit our Sponsors!!! Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co   The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com

The pressure and business of the daily work can easily blind us to the impact that we have on the greater reality of the "Industry". We often think of the industry as existing outside our own shops but the reality is that our we are the industry and ever decision we make as individual professionals and cafes cultivate wha the industry becomes.  Today we will be talking about the influence our mindsets, focus, and actions have to either steer the industry to a positive or negative ends. The shop truly is the most important link in the supply chain. If we want to change the world for the better then it starts with excellence in what we do right where we are.  We discuss: The roll of the shop in the industry Our attitudes and mindsets The ripple effect of our decisions What areas to always focus on How we guide customers to accept or reject coffee Coffee quality is not enough Why your shop is not from ethioia  Gaslighting the customer Related Episodes: Commit Before You Communicate 308 : A Conversation w/ Italian Brewers Cup Champion, Alessandro Galtieri Small steps = Big Impact Scaling Values Long Game Management Blog: The Customer of Tomorrow 016: Raising the Bar on your Customer Experience w/ Michael Butterworth  019 : 10 Reasons to Love the Customer w/ Chris Deferio RoR #6: Buying Less and Doing More w/ Ever Meister   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  

Small businesses like coffee shops are known for their ability to be resourceful and get things done with what they have. However, when you set out to open a shop or create a new initiative in an existing coffee bar, there can be a tendency to reflexively buy in the things you will serve and to under-explore doing or making some things yourself.   In today's shift break we will talk about some of the benefits of doing it yourself, where to start, what to consider, and if it is for you.  Related episodes: You Can't Automate Quality High Expectations + Low Control 117 : Coffee and Cocktails w/ Amanda Whitt   Custom branded mobile apps for your shop! www.espressly.co   The best espresso machines in the world! www.lamarzoccousa.com

What happens when we allow ourselves to get caught up in comparing ourselves and our businesses to those around us? The simple answer is that we stifle growth and kill off the joy of what we have and who we are doing it all for.  Way back in 2017 we released an episode called "Death by Comparison" that explores this idea and I thought now would be a good time to bring it back. Why? Simple. Our ability to connect with each other has only increased over the last 4-5 years and with that connection comes the increased likelihood to despair that we do not look like or do the same things as our peers instead of being inspired by them or even happy for them.  So today I hope you listen to this blast from the KTTS past and that it has just as much impact and relevancy for where you are today. Enjoy!   Related Episodes: 227 : Connecting with Hearts and Minds 230 : Making room for Community in your Shop 181 : Organizational Self-Knowledge Your peers are not your Customers Priorities and Deep Thankfulness Who do we Serve? The Neighbor's Tree   Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.prima-coffee.com/keys www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com