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  • Producer Toolkit: Quality Assurance, Pt 2 - The basics of good water for coffee

    Producer Toolkit: Quality Assurance, Pt 2 - The basics of good water for coffee
    2026/10/12
    This episode takes you through the basics of good water for coffee.To objectively assess a coffee's quality, both producer and buyer need to taste it using the same water. But whose water standards should you choose? Why do roasters often get to define what the "right" water is? What would the coffee world look like if producers set quality standards instead of roasters?Part of The Coffee Producer Toolkit, a series made in collaboration with Lucia Solis, it will help you understand coffee farming better than most professionals you'll meet at a trade show.Each episode takes one part of the farming business — agronomy, processing, fermentation, storage, quality, sales — and lays out what the best farms are actually doing. Related podcast episodes:James:Filter Stories: How Heat Transforms Coffee BeansFilter Stories: How to Be a Better TasterFilter Stories: Getting Great Water, Step by StepFollow us through our newsletters and Social media:Lucia's NewsletterJames's NewsletterLucia InstagramJames' Filter Stories InstagramPeople mentioned in the episode:Karla Boza — Jacinta Y Su Cafe, San Benito, El SalvadorPaulino Quintero — Huila, ColombiaJesús Antonio Chala — Finca El Silencio, ColombiaThompson Owen — Sweet Maria's Coffee, USALahari Balireddi — ASG Coffee, KenyaManuel Barsallo — Agrícola Geisha, PanamaLorenz Haschka — BWT water+moreResources:Video: How to Make Cold BrewPhysical Coffee DiaryDigital App: Coffee Brew LogDigital App: Tasting NotesSweet Maria's guide to roasting in a pan or popper, with videoSweet Maria's roasting on a pan or popper tip sheetSweet Maria's air popper resources and videoFilter Stories guide: Roasting your own coffee (English)Guía de Filter Stories: Cómo tostar tu propio café (en español)Guide to getting a good sample roastVideo: How to Cup Coffee at HomeSCA Cupping WorkshopVideo: How to use an Alkalinity Dropper KitBuy a water test kitSCA Water Control ChartWater calculator to adjust alkalinityMake your Own Water for CoffeeVideo: Make your own water for coffeeBWT bestmax PREMIUM (under-sink option)BWT bestbarista ROC COFFEEPDFs of CVA Form in 7 languagesThe SCA Coffee Value Assessment, Extrinsic Criteria ListDigital App: CatadorDigital: CVA in your web browserCover art: Nick HafnerThe Coffee Producer Toolkit is made possible by these leading coffee organisations:The Coffee Quest | BWT water+more | Descamex | InterAmerican | Pinhalense | Novonesis | GrainPro Use ProfilePrint to find the coffee your customers loved last year (without a week of cupping!). Use promo code "FILTER" to get 10% off your first year of a Mini Beluga subscription. Click here to discover ProfilePrint's many uses.Support hundreds of thousands of coffee farmers with Fairtrade. Discover how here.What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off.
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    42 分
  • Producer Toolkit: Quality Assurance, Pt 1 - A practical guide to tasting and roasting coffee

    Producer Toolkit: Quality Assurance, Pt 1 - A practical guide to tasting and roasting coffee
    2026/10/12
    This episode is a practical guide to tasting coffee, sample roasting and judging quality, built for small producers on a tight budget. That makes it just as useful if you’re early in your coffee journey and want to learn the basics without spending thousands on equipment, starting with a frying pan or a $30 popcorn popper. If you work in coffee, it reveals the obstacles producers face when they try to discuss quality on equal terms with buyers in the global north. Part of The Coffee Producer Toolkit, a series made in collaboration with Lucia Solis, it will help you understand coffee farming better than most professionals you'll meet at a trade show. Each episode takes one part of the farming business — agronomy, processing, fermentation, storage, quality, sales — and lays out what the best farms are actually doing. Related podcast episodes: James: Filter Stories: How Heat Transforms Coffee BeansFilter Stories: How to Be a Better TasterFilter Stories: Getting Great Water, Step by Step Follow us through our newsletters and Social media: Lucia's Newsletter James's Newsletter Lucia Instagram James' Filter Stories Instagram People mentioned in the episode: Karla Boza — Jacinta Y Su Cafe, San Benito, El SalvadorPaulino Quintero — Huila, ColombiaJesús Antonio Chala — Finca El Silencio, ColombiaThompson Owen — Sweet Maria's Coffee, USALahari Balireddi — ASG Coffee, KenyaManuel Barsallo — Agrícola Geisha, PanamaLorenz Haschka — BWT water+more Resources: Video: How to Make Cold BrewPhysical Coffee DiaryDigital App: Coffee Brew LogDigital App: Tasting NotesSweet Maria's guide to roasting in a pan or popper, with videoSweet Maria's roasting on a pan or popper tip sheetSweet Maria's air popper resources and videoFilter Stories guide: Roasting your own coffee (English)Guía de Filter Stories: Cómo tostar tu propio café (en español)Guide to getting a good sample roastVideo: How to Cup Coffee at HomeSCA Cupping WorkshopVideo: How to use an Alkalinity Dropper KitBuy a water test kitSCA Water Control ChartWater calculator to adjust alkalinityMake your Own Water for CoffeeVideo: Make your own water for coffeeBWT bestmax PREMIUM (under-sink option)BWT bestbarista ROC COFFEEPDFs of CVA Form in 7 languagesThe SCA Coffee Value Assessment, Extrinsic Criteria ListDigital App: CatadorDigital: CVA in your web browser Cover art: Nick Hafner The Coffee Producer Toolkit is made possible by these leading coffee organisations: The Coffee Quest | BWT water+more | Descamex | InterAmerican | Pinhalense | Novonesis | GrainPro
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    30 分
  • Producer Toolkit: Price, Pt 2 - Discovering the true value of coffee

    Producer Toolkit: Price, Pt 2 - Discovering the true value of coffee
    2026/09/28
    What is the right price for coffee? This episode shows what the journey of price discovery looks like from the perspective of a coffee farmer. Part of The Coffee Producer Toolkit, a series made in collaboration with Lucia Solis, it will help you understand coffee farming better than most professionals you'll meet at a trade show. Each episode takes one part of the farming business - agronomy, processing, fermentation, storage, quality, sales - and lays out what the best farms are actually doing. Related podcast episodes: Lucia: #64: "What Kind of Coffee Lover am I? How Much am I Willing to Pay for a Cup of Coffee?" James: Filter Stories: The Hard Business of Selling Beautiful Coffee Follow us through our newsletters and Social media: Lucia’s Newsletter James’s Newsletter Lucia Instagram James’ Filter Stories Instagram People mentioned in the episode: Karla Boza — Jacinta Y Su Cafe, San Benito, El SalvadorJulia Ortega, Finca Los Pinos, Puebla MexicoEdilberto Tovar — Finca La Esmeralda, Huila, ColombiaMelissa de Gasperín — Rancho San Felipe, Veracruz, MexicoDiego Robelo — Aquiares Estate, Turrialba, Costa RicaCristian Reyes — Finca El Rodeo, Santander, ColombiaCésar Marín — Chacra D'Dago, PeruGilberto Baraona — Los Pirineos, Usulutan, El SalvadorLalo Perez, BiofiliaASOPEP, Planadas, Tolima, ColombiaPiedras Azules cooperative, El Salvador Resources: Record keeping and profitability analysisV-Hub (formerly Cropster Hub)Coffee Yield CalculatorCost-of-production calculatorFairtrade Verified Living Income reference pricesSpecialty Coffee Transaction GuideChad Trewick interview on Bellwether podcastHeifer / ASOPEP / Fairtrade Tolima living income studyBook: The Culture Map by Erin Meyer Cover art: Nick Hafner The Coffee Producer Toolkit is made possible by these leading coffee organisations: The Coffee Quest | BWT | Descamex | InterAmerican | Pinhalense | Novonesis | GrainPro Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here. Use ProfilePrint to find the coffee your customers loved last year (without a week of cupping!). Use promo code "FILTER" to get 10% off your first year of a Mini Beluga subscription. Click here to discover ProfilePrint's many uses. Support hundreds of thousands of coffee farmers with Fairtrade. Discover how here. Office coffee = easy recurring revenue. WMF’s Elevation 10 and Peak 50 do the work for you. Learn more here. What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off.
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    49 分
  • Producer Toolkit: Price, Pt 1 - How the C market works

    Producer Toolkit: Price, Pt 1 - How the C market works
    2026/09/28
    This episode explores the strange world of the C market, where movements in the Brazilian currency or rebels boarding a random container ship decide the worth of a Colombian farmer's coffee. Yet specialty coffee still uses this number to price the coffees it says are anything but a commodity. Part of The Coffee Producer Toolkit, a series made in collaboration with Lucia Solis, it will help you understand coffee farming better than most professionals you'll meet at a trade show. Each episode takes one part of the farming business - agronomy, processing, fermentation, storage, quality, sales - and lays out what the best farms are actually doing. Related podcast episodes: Lucia: #64: "What Kind of Coffee Lover am I? How Much am I Willing to Pay for a Cup of Coffee?" James: Filter Stories: The Hard Business of Selling Beautiful Coffee Follow us through our newsletters and Social media: Lucia’s Newsletter James’s Newsletter Lucia Instagram James’ Filter Stories Instagram People mentioned in the episode: Karla Boza — Jacinta Y Su Cafe, San Benito, El SalvadorJulia Ortega, Finca Los Pinos, Puebla MexicoEdilberto Tovar — Finca La Esmeralda, Huila, ColombiaMelissa de Gasperín — Rancho San Felipe, Veracruz, MexicoDiego Robelo — Aquiares Estate, Turrialba, Costa RicaCristian Reyes — Finca El Rodeo, Santander, ColombiaCésar Marín — Chacra D'Dago, PeruGilberto Baraona — Los Pirineos, Usulutan, El SalvadorLalo Perez, BiofiliaASOPEP, Planadas, Tolima, ColombiaPiedras Azules cooperative, El Salvador Resources: Record keeping and profitability analysisV-Hub (formerly Cropster Hub)Coffee Yield CalculatorCost-of-production calculatorFairtrade Verified Living Income reference pricesSpecialty Coffee Transaction GuideChad Trewick interview on Bellwether podcastHeifer / ASOPEP / Fairtrade Tolima living income studyBook: The Culture Map by Erin Meyer Cover art: Nick Hafner The Coffee Producer Toolkit is made possible by these leading coffee organisations: The Coffee Quest | BWT | Descamex | InterAmerican | Pinhalense | Novonesis | GrainPro Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here. Use ProfilePrint to find the coffee your customers loved last year (without a week of cupping!). Use promo code "FILTER" to get 10% off your first year of a Mini Beluga subscription. Click here to discover ProfilePrint's many uses. Support hundreds of thousands of coffee farmers with Fairtrade. Discover how here. Office coffee = easy recurring revenue. WMF’s Elevation 10 and Peak 50 do the work for you. Learn more here. What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off.
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    41 分
  • Producer Toolkit: Marketing & Sales, Pt 2 - Navigating trade shows

    Producer Toolkit: Marketing & Sales, Pt 2 - Navigating trade shows
    2026/09/14
    This episode explores what a trade show actually feels like for a farmer who flew in on money his community pooled together, why a sausage dog opened a door that hundreds of cold emails couldn't, and why learning English may be a better investment for a farmer than a longer fermentation.Part of The Coffee Producer Toolkit, a series made in collaboration with Lucia Solis, it will help you understand coffee farming better than most professionals you'll meet at a trade show.Each episode takes one part of the farming business — agronomy, processing, fermentation, storage, quality, sales — and lays out what the best farms are actually doing.Related podcast episodes:Lucia:#54: Visiting Producers, Advanced Tourism & The Coffee Hunter (farm visits, the buyer relationship)#56: Pranoy Thipaia (finding export markets, expo advice)#65: To Blend or Not to Blend? Wine Vintages, and Harvest Update (sales strategy, consistency over novelty)Cabal Cafe Podcast en EspanolJames:Filter Stories: The Hard Business of Selling Beautiful CoffeeFollow us through our newsletters and Social media:Lucia’s NewsletterJames’s NewsletterLucia InstagramJames’ Filter Stories InstagramPeople mentioned in the episode:Diego Robelo — Aquiares Estate, Turrialba, Costa RicaCristian Reyes — Finca El Rodeo, Santander, ColombiaCristian Reyes — Personal InstagramCatherine Bedoya — Eje Cafetero, ColombiaHamsini Appadurai — Sangameshwar Coffee Estates, Chikmagalur, IndiaMelissa de Gasperín — Rancho San Felipe, Veracruz, MexicoEdilberto Tovar — Finca La Esmeralda, Huila, ColombiaDesnudo Coffee (Austin) — Austin, Texas, USAAlejandro Rodríguez Delgado — Hacienda San Pedrito, Puerto RicoCésar Marín — Chacra D'Dago, PeruKarla Boza — Jacinta Y Su Cafe, San Benito, El SalvadorResources: Algrano — Producer Sign UpThe list of 144 international trade showsClases Gratis de Inglés en linea - USA LearnsClases Gratis de Inglés en linea - Voa NewsEnglish Accent TrainingThe SCA Coffee Value Assessment, Extrinsic Criteria ListPDFs of CVA Form in 7 languagesThe Coffee Producer Toolkit is made possible by these leading coffee organisations:The Coffee Quest | BWT | Descamex | InterAmerican | Pinhalense | Novonesis | GrainPro Use ProfilePrint to find the coffee your customers loved last year (without a week of cupping!). Use promo code "FILTER" to get 10% off your first year of a Mini Beluga subscription. Click here to discover ProfilePrint's many uses.Support hundreds of thousands of coffee farmers with Fairtrade. Discover how here.What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off.
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    43 分
  • Producer Toolkit: Marketing & Sales, Pt 1 - The power of story

    Producer Toolkit: Marketing & Sales, Pt 1 - The power of story
    2026/09/14
    This episode explores why specialty coffee is a luxury business that runs on story more than flavour.Part of The Coffee Producer Toolkit, a series made in collaboration with Lucia Solis, it will help you understand coffee farming better than most professionals you'll meet at a trade show.Each episode takes one part of the farming business — agronomy, processing, fermentation, storage, quality, sales — and lays out what the best farms are actually doing.Related podcast episodes:Lucia:#54: Visiting Producers, Advanced Tourism & The Coffee Hunter (farm visits, the buyer relationship)#56: Pranoy Thipaia (finding export markets, expo advice)#65: To Blend or Not to Blend? Wine Vintages, and Harvest Update (sales strategy, consistency over novelty)Cabal Cafe Podcast en EspanolJames:Filter Stories: The Hard Business of Selling Beautiful CoffeeFollow us through our newsletters and Social media:Lucia’s NewsletterJames’s NewsletterLucia InstagramJames’ Filter Stories InstagramPeople mentioned in the episode:Diego Robelo — Aquiares Estate, Turrialba, Costa RicaCristian Reyes — Finca El Rodeo, Santander, ColombiaCristian Reyes — Personal InstagramCatherine Bedoya — Eje Cafetero, ColombiaHamsini Appadurai — Sangameshwar Coffee Estates, Chikmagalur, IndiaMelissa de Gasperín — Rancho San Felipe, Veracruz, MexicoEdilberto Tovar — Finca La Esmeralda, Huila, ColombiaDesnudo Coffee (Austin) — Austin, Texas, USAAlejandro Rodríguez Delgado — Hacienda San Pedrito, Puerto RicoCésar Marín — Chacra D'Dago, PeruKarla Boza — Jacinta Y Su Cafe, San Benito, El SalvadorResources: Algrano — Producer Sign UpThe list of 144 international trade showsClases Gratis de Inglés en linea - USA LearnsClases Gratis de Inglés en linea - Voa NewsEnglish Accent TrainingThe SCA Coffee Value Assessment, Extrinsic Criteria ListPDFs of CVA Form in 7 languagesThe Coffee Producer Toolkit is made possible by these leading coffee organisations:The Coffee Quest | BWT | Descamex | InterAmerican | Pinhalense | Novonesis | GrainPro Use ProfilePrint to find the coffee your customers loved last year (without a week of cupping!). Use promo code "FILTER" to get 10% off your first year of a Mini Beluga subscription. Click here to discover ProfilePrint's many uses.Support hundreds of thousands of coffee farmers with Fairtrade. Discover how here.What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off.
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    37 分
  • Producer Toolkit: Fermentation, Pt 3 - Is using yeast cheating? And who decides?

    Producer Toolkit: Fermentation, Pt 3 - Is using yeast cheating? And who decides?
    2026/08/24
    This episode explores why 30 cents a kilo is trivial for a large farm and unaffordable for a small one, the strange power imbalance that lets roasters define quality when nobody asks a winemaker what yeast they used, and how producers can talk to buyers who think starter cultures are cheating. Part of The Coffee Producer Toolkit, a series made in collaboration with Lucia Solis, it will help you understand coffee farming better than most professionals you'll meet at a trade show. Each episode takes one part of the farming business — agronomy, processing, fermentation, storage, quality, sales — and lays out what the best farms are actually doing. Please spread the word about Filter Stories! Follow us on Instagram - James (@filterstoriespodcast) and Lucia (@lluciasolis) - and tag us in an Instagram story. Discover how I make these Filter Stories episodes by subscribing to my Substack newsletter Stay up to date with Lucia through her newsletter Write a review on Apple Podcasts Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify Support James’ work directly by buying him a coffee at Ko-fi.com/FilterStories Related podcast episodes: Lucia: #72: Planning Your First Coffee Fermentation Trials? Start Here. #76: How Commercial Microbes Threaten The Coffee Industry#80: How Microbiology Can Explain Beginner's Luck James: Filter Stories - Coffee Quality, Part 1: The birth of specialty coffee flavours People mentioned in the episode: Lester Lerner, Old Willow Coffee, Colombia Victor Chala, Palma Rosa, Colombia Fridolin Stocker— Mount Sunzu, ZambiaShyira washing station, RwandaEvangelos Filippatos, La CabraLa Cabra, CopenhagenHelen Riley — NovonesisGunne Øregaard — NovonesisFranz Zeimetz — Lost Origin Coffee Labs, PanamaAlejandra Rodríguez Delgado — Hacienda San Pedrito, Puerto RicoGustavo Arroyo — Rancho Contento, Puerto Rico Resources: pH meter & bufferThermometerNovonesis Pichia yeastNovonesis Lactobacillus bacteriaPressure washerFermentation Log SheetYeast’s impact on the environment in research on vineyardsSprudge Best Of Panama coverageLucia’s Fermentation Training CampCoffee Wet Mill SanitizeOpciones para la desinfección del beneficio Cabal Cafe Podcast en Espanol Lucia's Favorite Tools: Temperature GunAmbient Temperature SensorTemperature GunpH meter & buffer solution The Coffee Producer Toolkit is made possible by these leading coffee organisations: The Coffee Quest | BWT | Descamex | InterAmerican | Pinhalense | Novonesis | GrainPro Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here. Use ProfilePrint to find the coffee your customers loved last year (without a week of cupping!). Use promo code "FILTER" to get 10% off your first year of a Mini Beluga subscription. Click here to discover ProfilePrint's many uses. Support hundreds of thousands of coffee farmers with Fairtrade. Discover how here. Office coffee = easy recurring revenue. WMF’s Elevation 10 and Peak 50 do the work for you. Learn more here. What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off.
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    33 分
  • Producer Toolkit: Fermentation, Pt 2 - The case for avoiding exciting fermentations

    Producer Toolkit: Fermentation, Pt 2 - The case for avoiding exciting fermentations
    2026/08/24
    This episode explores why the specialty industry's obsession with exotic processing is a dangerous signal for farmers, five ways commercial microbes can make a farm more money, and what a well-run fermentation looks like on farms of very different sizes. Part of The Coffee Producer Toolkit, a series made in collaboration with Lucia Solis, it will help you understand coffee farming better than most professionals you'll meet at a trade show. Each episode takes one part of the farming business — agronomy, processing, fermentation, storage, quality, sales — and lays out what the best farms are actually doing. Please spread the word about Filter Stories! Follow us on Instagram - James (@filterstoriespodcast) and Lucia (@lluciasolis) - and tag us in an Instagram story. Discover how I make these Filter Stories episodes by subscribing to my Substack newsletter Stay up to date with Lucia through her newsletter Write a review on Apple Podcasts Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify Support James’ work directly by buying him a coffee at Ko-fi.com/FilterStories Related podcast episodes: Lucia: #72: Planning Your First Coffee Fermentation Trials? Start Here. #76: How Commercial Microbes Threaten The Coffee Industry#80: How Microbiology Can Explain Beginner's Luck James: Filter Stories - Coffee Quality, Part 1: The birth of specialty coffee flavours People mentioned in the episode: Lester Lerner, Old Willow Coffee, Colombia Victor Chala, Palma Rosa, Colombia Fridolin Stocker— Mount Sunzu, ZambiaShyira washing station, RwandaEvangelos Filippatos, La CabraLa Cabra, CopenhagenHelen Riley — NovonesisGunne Øregaard — NovonesisFranz Zeimetz — Lost Origin Coffee Labs, PanamaAlejandra Rodríguez Delgado — Hacienda San Pedrito, Puerto RicoGustavo Arroyo — Rancho Contento, Puerto Rico Resources: pH meter & bufferThermometerNovonesis Pichia yeastNovonesis Lactobacillus bacteriaPressure washerFermentation Log SheetYeast’s impact on the environment in research on vineyardsSprudge Best Of Panama coverageLucia’s Fermentation Training CampCoffee Wet Mill SanitizeOpciones para la desinfección del beneficio Cabal Cafe Podcast en Espanol Lucia's Favorite Tools: Temperature GunAmbient Temperature SensorTemperature GunpH meter & buffer solution The Coffee Producer Toolkit is made possible by these leading coffee organisations: The Coffee Quest | BWT | Descamex | InterAmerican | Pinhalense | Novonesis | GrainPro Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here. Use ProfilePrint to find the coffee your customers loved last year (without a week of cupping!). Use promo code "FILTER" to get 10% off your first year of a Mini Beluga subscription. Click here to discover ProfilePrint's many uses. Support hundreds of thousands of coffee farmers with Fairtrade. Discover how here. Office coffee = easy recurring revenue. WMF’s Elevation 10 and Peak 50 do the work for you. Learn more here. What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off.
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    36 分