Scott Rao truly needs no introduction. Well regraded across the entire specialty coffee industry as the leading thinker in the roasting space, Scott is a revered name amongst coffee pros and consumers.

Scott has 30 years of experience in the industry, as a roastery owner, cafe owner, consultant, author and leader. Dario and Scott chat air roasters vs drum roasters, is specialty coffee undergoing loss of human touch or improvement in quality?, all things motivation and drive, and the inner workings of the specialty coffee industry and owning a specialty coffee roastery.

Markus unpacks what business ownership looks like, 7 years later. How his passions have changed and how his life has changed (they're called Sophia and Lucas ☺️) since he started Sweet Spot. He and Dario also do a deep dive into water in the cafe, and how to use water to get the best tasting coffee. Listen now on all podcast streaming platforms!

Louis-Philippe and Veronique founded Dak Coffee Roasters in Amsterdam in 2019. Since then they have become one of the leading specialty coffee roasteries in the world. Now, 7 years on, Louis is able to lean in to his financial engineering skillset and Veronique is able to focus on her expertise in branding and marketing. Dak is a fascinating company, from their meteoric rise to their uncompromising approach to quality. Dario breaks all of it down with Louis in this episode of Coffee Made Me Do It.

Why are we leaving barista competitions in the past? After 5 years on the competition stage, we've decided it's not for us. Find out why in this episode of Coffee Made Me Do It. Dario opens the new season of with Luhle, Bluebird's Wholesale Manager. Luhle just finished 5th at the South African National Barista Champs. In this episode, he breaks down his preparation, his approach to competition and they discuss Bluebird's role in competition in the future.

It’s 2025! Welcome back to the coffee and business podcast, Coffee Made Me Do It. We’re starting the year with a sit down chat with the Bluebird team. Join Dario as he reflects on 2024 with Fanie, Luhle and Katie, as well as talk about intentions for 2025. They talk barista competition, rebranding, staying motivated, hobbies and training in 2025. Catch up with the Bluebird team in this episode of Coffee Made Me Do It.

Max, from BlueWater Group, dives into the advanced conversations being had about water for coffee. Questions around minerals, TDS, Reverse Osmosis and BlueWater’s answers to these questions. Water makes up about 95% of your brewed coffee, that makes it an extremely important ingredient in your recipe. Water quality is inseparable from the ultimate quality of your brewed coffee.
Dario and Max talk water, skiing, his background as a chef, sustainability focused food and what makes the BlueWater systems revolutionary.
Give it a listen on any podcast streaming platform. Live now.

Ian Kissick is the owner of Formative Coffee and 6th Place World Barista Champion 2024. In this episode, Dario and Ian dive into coffee culture, changing perceptions around coffee, putting flavour before brand name, preparing for competition and how he approached the 2024 World Barista Championships.

Ian owns and operates Formative Coffee in London, a cafe serving some of the world's best coffee, but with a creative twist. Ian has brought his competition expertise into the cafe to create an experience that puts flavour in the foreground, and prompts some subtle questions about how his customers perceive the role of coffee in their lives.

It's a long, casual chat that thoroughly explains Ian's mindset, approach and philosophies. Grab a coffee and put your headphones on, this is a good one!

In this episode of Coffee Made Me Do It, Dario talks to founder and creative director of Dark Arts Coffee, Brad Morrison. They talk about building a brand that is a reflection of ourselves, catering for an audience of one, community and the “why” behind Dark Arts. This is one we are so stoked to share, and we’re big fans of Brad and his team.

Brad moved to London to be a muralist and got a starting job as a barista. Fast forward to today and his roastery has a huge, cult-like, following and is bringing better coffee to the cups of Londoners (and beyond).

Listen to Dario’s casual conversation with Brad as they drink a beer (or two 🍻) and talk about the why. It’s a good one! Available on all podcast streaming platforms now.

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