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410 : A Conversation w/ 2023 U.S. Barista Champion, Isaiah Sheese of Archetype Coffee! May 15, 2023

Show notes

Tenacity, humility, and curiosity. Whether you are working as a barista, competing, opening your own shop and roastery, these are character traits that are essential for success. Today we are talking with someone whose long career in coffee has been characterized by these values. We are chatting with the new U.S. Barista Champion, Isaiah Sheese!

Isaiah Sheese is the Owner of Archetype Coffee located in Omaha, Nebraska. He has been working in the coffee industry for almost 20 years in various roles from barista, to QC cupper, green buyer, janitor, and now owner. He has competed in the US Barista Championships for 9 years, judged for 2 years, and placed top 6 in 8 of the 9 qualifiers. He finished 5th in 2020 and is now the 2023 US Barista Champion.

In my conversation with Isaiah we get to talk about his beginnings in coffee, the early experiences of competition, starting and running Archetype, and the pursuit of hospitality while also pushing coffee forward.

We Cover:

Entering the coffee industry
Discovering barista competitions
Challenges of taking the next step in career
What moments changed the game in competition
Pursuit of excellence
How judging changed things
Starting a business and meeting customers where they are
The importance of community trust for cafe success
Tenacity in competition and the evolution of Archetype
His winning routine and how they approached it differently

Links:

www.drinkarchetype.com
FOLLOW! @ARCHETYPEROASTERS
Isaiah Sheese on Instagram @isaiahsheese

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Embrace the Fallout May 11, 2023

Show notes

It is not so much the fear of change that keeps us from moving forward in the areas we know are necessary. It is the fear of what will happen when we implement the change. The fall out, we imagine, is too much to handle and so we stay where we are.

On today's Shift Break we will be talking about why you need to embrace the fallout related to needed change and how doing so in a people-first way will, in spite of the inconveniences, lead to a better outcome.

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409 : The Science of Optimizing Your Espresso w/ Samo Smrke May 09, 2023

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One of the hardest things to make consistent in the coffee shop is your espresso. There are so many variables that contribute to the final product, not to mention the number of different baristas tasked with making coffee daily. can be very overwhelming and inevitably we throw in the towel and end up with a let than optimal product. Well good news! Today we get to dive into the science of optimizing your espresso with coffee scientist Samo Smrke!

Samo Smrke is a scientific associate at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) in the group of prof. Yeretzian. He is involved in coffee research projects in collaboration with industry partners and in fundamental research on various topics of coffee chemistry and coffee science. He is leading a module of the Coffee Excellence continuing education course at ZHAW, and various other educational programs with partners of ZHAW.

Samo is actively participating at coffee conferences, is one of the co-authors of the SCA Freshness Handbook and Water Handbook and has contributed to scientific papers and book chapters about coffee.

In this episode we discuss several major factors that need to be considered and optimized in order to always have the consistent and excellent espresso you want to serve on your coffee bar.

We cover:

Samo's journey into coffee
Ideal resting times and CO2
Aroma and taste variance in coffees
What causes crema
Various roast levels and decaf
The grinder's role
Steps to take in addressing problematic coffee
The importance of tracking and systems
The science communities role in tandem with professional baristas

Links:

Samo's Instagram Account @samosmrke
https://www.zhaw.ch/en/about-us/person/smrk/

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Avoid These Cafe Meeting Mistakes May 04, 2023

Show notes

Like you, I have been to and conducted my fair share of cafe meetings. And also like you, I have seriously questioned the effectiveness of these get togethers. In fact, in many cases meetings can hurt more than help. How do we avoid this?

On today's Shift Break I will be taking you through a few big mistakes that contribute to bad or ineffective meetings, and what to do instead to make sure your gatherings are assets to the business and not liabilities to culture.

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408: Coffee Tools, Music, and Serving the Community w/ Anita Tam of Slow Pour Supply Co. May 02, 2023

Show notes

The world of coffee is saturated with suppliers of tools and equipment. Most are seeking the transaction and chasing the opportunity the current market has afforded them. Precious few suppliers are truly passionate about their customers in a meaningful way that results in the love and respect of the barista community. Slow Pour Supply is one such company, because Anita Tam is one such person.

Anita Tam is the owner and founder of Slow Pour Supply Co., a socially driven coffeetools company that is dedicated to serving coffee people and small businesses around the world.

Prior to coffee Anita spent decades in the world of professional music as both a professional classical musician, instructor, and conductor. She discovered a passion and fascination for the craft and science of coffee that set her on a course to not only work in coffee but to establish Slow Pour as a platform to foster the same discovery for baristas globally through quality tools.

Anita is a long time certified AST with the SCA and you can find her and her team at almost any coffee event or competition spreading joy and positivity and serving the community.

Today we are going to be getting to know a bit about Anita's entry into coffee, the passionate and philosophies that drive her, and how she approaches business and relationships in coffee with wholistic generosity.

We cover:

The link between music, art, and coffee
Founding slow pour and guiding principles
Passion for the product and end user
Milk pitchers, brewers, and tools as catalysts
The need for in person connection and community
Creating, serving, and passing on gifts
Peace through the circular flow of experiences
Thoughts on the future of coffee

Links:

www.slowpoursupply.co

@slowpoursupply

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RoR # 21 : Data, Community, and the Art of Roasting w/ U.S. Roasters Champion Andrew Coe of Elevator Coffee Apr 30, 2023

Show notes

On this Rate of Rise episode I am thrilled to get to have a conversation with the new U.S. roasting Champion, Andrew Coe of Elevator Coffee in Portland, OR

Andrew Coe is the owner and roaster at Elevator Coffee in Portland, OR, founded in 2016. Andrew launched his professional roasting career by winning the first Cascadia Cup roasting competition at Buckman Coffee Factory, a co-roasting facility across the street from his cafe, using a Behmor 1600. He currently operates out of another co-roasting facility in NE Portland called Roast, which is home to a fully customized 1938 12kg Probat (probably one of the cooler machines in town). Andrew also private label roasts for Two Stroke Coffee. He has a masters degree in Mathematics from Oregon State University, and worked as a Transportation Planner prior to coffee.

In our conversation we chat about Andrew's entry into coffee, competition, and insights learned over his career

In our conversation we cover:

Community and its role in learning
Key turning points in his understanding of roasting
Methods and disciplines for consistency
Favorite part of the competition
Collecting, curating, and using data
How his career experience helped in roasters competition
Optimizing green and roasted coffee

Links:

www.elevator.coffee
Instagram @elevatorcc + @andrewcoaecoffee

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407 : Founder Friday! Encore Episodes, David Schomer of Espresso Vivace! Apr 28, 2023

Show notes

It's Founder Friday! I just learned of the news that the original sidewalk bar for Espresso Vivace is going to be closing permanently. This is very sad news given the rich history of that cafe and the impact it's had on so many. So today I thought it would be a great idea to re-air a conversation I had with David Schomer back in Feb of 2019!

Since its founding in 1988 Espresso Vivace has been home to David's groundbreaking and paradigm shifting experiments with espresso coffee and drink presentation. His work has been foundational and formative in the lives of countless professionals around the world. In this interview I get to talk with

We discuss:

The early years of Vivace
David's philosophy on service
What he wants customers to experience in his stores
His desire to remain small and impactful
What makes a great espresso
Hiring
The secret to longevity
how he has personally grown over these 3 decades of meticulous pursuit of his espresso ideal

There is a lot to take away and be inspired by here. Enjoy!

Links:

www.espressovivace.com

Instagram

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Coffee, Integrity, and A.I. Apr 27, 2023

Show notes

Today we have an incredible number of options to increase efficiency and outsource everything we do, including the things that people would normally assume come from you as a creator. This presents a problem that I believe is based either upholding or violating a common trust between the consumer and the provider.

Today on Shift Break we will be talking about the use of A.I., white label coffee, authenticity, and what I believe is the necessity for us to fight for the integrity of our communication.

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406: Five Ways to Immediately Improve Your Coffee Quality Apr 25, 2023

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Out of all the reasons that may be contributing to customers either loving or avoiding your shop, the quality of your drink beverages actually ranks pretty high. The trouble is, we all tend to assume that we have pretty much achieved a level of quality that "should" be sufficient to attract and keep customers and in that assumption we are lulled into a place of security and chance down other means to bring in more people are areas to refine, all the while our coffee is literally leaving a bad taste in people's mouths.

On today's episode I am going to be sharing five things that you can do in your cafe that will absolutely level up and improve your coffee quality. When your marketing and word of mouth brings customers in to the store, both you and them will be confident that you can deliver a truly consistent specialty coffee experience worthy of the hype.

Let's lean into the uncomfortable and embrace the refinement of quality as a constant pillar of who we are and how we operate!

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