Valor Coffee Podcast
A podcast and video show hosted by seasoned coffee pros and Valor Coffee founders Ethan Rivers, Ross Walters and Riley Westbrook where we discuss coffee, starting and running a business, and the specialty coffee industry.
Specialty Coffee Expo 2025 Recap ft. THE WHOLE VALOR SQUAD – 04/27/2025

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We’re back from Houston with hearts full, minds buzzing, and feet absolutely destroyed—but it was so worth it. In this special episode, we sat down live from the hotel room to debrief as a squad on our second-ever Specialty Coffee Expo experience. From serving at our Roaster’s Village booth...
The Most Impactful Trip of our Careers: Valor’s Colombia Trip – 04/16/2025

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We just got back from one of the most impactful trips in the history of our company — a sourcing trip to Colombia that’s bound to shape our business for years to come. In this episode, we reflect on everything from getting searched by police on the streets of Jardín to...
SEO for Coffee Companies | Website Changes You Need to Make Today – 04/09/2025

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We had the pleasure of sitting down again with our buddy Kent from LocalEyes, our go-to SEO expert and a wizard behind the curtain when it comes to how coffee companies can actually win on Google. Whether you’re running a cart, a café, or selling beans online, this episode...
How to Make Excellent Coffee Cocktails at Your Coffee Shop – 03/19/2025

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We’re diving deep into the world of seasonal coffee cocktails—how to make them, why they work, and how to actually execute them in a busy café setting. We get into the creative process behind building a solid seasonal menu, from drawing inspiration from craft cocktails to balancing drink arc...
Q&A: Should I Buy a Turn Key Cafe, Scheduling Apps and More! – 03/20/2025

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Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way!
Should you buy a turnkey café? What’s the best way to schedule multiple cafés in one app? We’re tackling your coffee business questions today on the Valor Coffee podcast! We dive into the realities of taking over an existing café, what scheduling software actually works (spoiler: it’s not all good), a...
How Many Hours per Week Do Coffee Shop Owners Work? – 02/26/2025

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How much do coffee shop owners actually work? If you’re thinking about opening a cafe, you might be wondering: Is this a part-time gig? A 9-to-5? Or a full-on, life-consuming endeavor? In this episode, we break down what it really looks like to run a coffee shop, drawing from our own exp...
Douglas Weber of Weber Workshops – 02/19/2024

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29B Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! I (Riley) was stoked to sit down with Douglas Weber, the mastermind behind Weber Workshops, a brand known for designing some of the most beautiful and well-engineered coffee equipment out there. From the EG-1 grinde...
Coffee Prices Just Hit Record Highs Here’s What You Need to Know – 02/12/2025

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29B Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! We’re joined by Lucas Cuadros (Unblended Coffee) and Ricardo Pereira (Purity Coffee, Age of Coffee) to break it all down. We cover: ☕️ Why the coffee market just surpassed a staggering $4/lb 🌍 Historical price spike...
Everything Wrong with Your Business is Your Fault – 02/05/2025

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29B Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! In this episode, we dive deep into the concept of extreme ownership and how it can completely change the way you lead your business. Inspired by the principles from Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin,...
This Coffee Cart Business Booked Over 3,000 Events in 2024 – 01/29/2024

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29B Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! 🔗 Check out Flash Quotes here: https://flashquotes.com/valor Booking over 3,000 coffee catering events in 2024 sounds impossible—until you hear from Justin Goodhart of Goodhart Coffee and Flash Quotes. With 44 coffe...
Software We Use To Run a Coffee Company – 01/15/2025

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29B Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! In this episode, we dive into the nitty-gritty of running a coffee business by breaking down the software and tools we use daily. From managing our books and financials with QuickBooks, automating workflows with Za...
Essential Barista Tools for Your Coffee Shop – 01/08/2025

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29B Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! In this episode, we dive into essential barista tools for coffee shop owners and enthusiasts. From must-have milk pitchers to overlooked items like knock boxes and jiggers, we cover the gear that keeps your bar flo...
Conical vs Flat Burr Grinders for Coffee Shops – 12/18/2024

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29B Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! In this episode, we dive deep into the great debate: conical vs. flat burr grinders. We share our experiences with different grinders, like the Mazzer Robur S and the Mahlkönig E80 Supreme, testing their performanc...
Don’t Start a Coffee Shop, Grow a Coffee Catering Business Instead – 12/11/2024

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29B Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! We’ve all dreamed of starting a cafe, but what if we told you that growing a coffee catering business could be a smarter move in 2025? In this episode, we break down why coffee catering might be the future of speci...
The Most Overlooked Aspect of Specialty Coffee: Water – 11/19/2024

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29B Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! In this episode, we sit down with Taylor and Charles from Third Wave Water to dive deep into one of the most overlooked aspects of specialty coffee—water. They break down how water composition impacts coffee extrac...
We Tier Listed Every Coffee Drink – 11/20/2024

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29B Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! In this oh-so-serious episode, we take on the ultimate challenge: tier-ranking every coffee drink we could think of! From the cappuccino and espresso to Japanese iced pour-over and espresso tonic, no drink is safe ...
Designing a Cafe When You Can’t Afford an Interior Designer – 11/13/2024

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29B Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! Opening a coffee shop likely means sacrificing the option of working with an interior designer. In this episode, we share practical tips and lessons learned from building out two cafes without the help of designers...
Q&A: Competition in Coffee, Steps to Opening a Coffee Shop And More – 11/06/2024

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29B Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! In this episode, we break down the complex dynamics of growing a coffee business, from securing funding for a new cafe to deciding when to add staff as sales increase. We dive into a variety of listener questions f...
We Threw Out Our Core Values... – 10/30/2024

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29B Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! We just had a big moment at Valor Coffee: we changed our core values! In this episode, we talk about how and why we went from five to three core values, breaking down how we landed on these core pillars and what th...
Q&A with Valor’s Cafe GM – 10/23/2024

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29B Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! In this episode, we sit down with Savannah Grace Lyle (aka Savvi), Valor's GM in Dunwoody, for a Q&A filled with honest insights on team culture, leadership, and running a specialty coffee shop. Savvi and the t...
Three Changes That Will Take Your Mobile Coffee Cart to New Heights – 10/16/2024

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29B Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! This ep we dive into carts, sharing lessons learned from years of catering experience. From undercharging and overcharging to dealing with equipment malfunctions, we've seen... a lot. Today we focus on three game-c...
The Story of Valor Part 3: Opening Our Cafes and Roastery – 10/02/2024

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29B Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! In this episode, we dive into the third and final part of the story behind Valor. Join us as we discuss opening our first cafe, launching our roastery, and expanding to a second location, all while navigating chall...
The Story of Valor Part 2: Booking Events, Permanent Pop-up, Going Full Time – 09/25/2024

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29B Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! In this episode, we dive into some of our most memorable early events, like surprising the Church of Scientology with a coffee cart and serving drinks at an unexpected Michael Jackson-themed drag show in Atlanta. W...
The Story of Valor Part 1: Creation, Kickstarter, Cart Buildout – 09/11/2024

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29B Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! In this episode of the Valor Podcast, we dive into Part 1 of The Story of Valor, where it all began. From friendships formed in high school to early coffee experiences that sparked a love for specialty coffee, we w...
Introducing Our Online Platform, The Valor Coffee Community – 08/28/2024

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29B Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! When we started our company, we'd often be faced with problems we'd just have to figure out ourselves, mainly because there wasn't a central online resource that went really deep in helping us with the nitty-gritty...
Splurge on These Things When Building Out Your Coffee Shop – 08/21/2024

JOIN THE VALOR COFFEE COMMUNITY – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://community.valor.coffee/invitation?code=E3A29B Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! In this episode, Riley and Ethan dive into a crucial topic for anyone looking to open or improve their coffee shop: the key investments you should never skimp on. While it’s tempting to save money on certain pieces...
Q&A – How Much Are Coffee Shops WORTH …and More! – 08/07/2024

Sign Up for Alerts About Our Community (coming soon) – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://mailchi.mp/018d9c38a953/valorcafecommunity Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! In this episode, we dive into the nitty-gritty of evaluating a coffee shop acquisition, discussing the hidden costs that can make or break a deal. We also chat about the challenges of maintaining ...
Opening a Coffee Shop for Less Than $100k – 08/01/2024

Sign Up for Alerts About Our Community (coming soon) – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://mailchi.mp/018d9c38a953/valorcafecommunity Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! In this episode, we dive deep with Elijah Knapp, a seasoned coffee professional, former Valor Pit Crew Member, current owner of Elliott Coffee in Dayton, Kentucky, and one of our dear friends. We ...
Keeping Veteran Baristas Invested – 07/24/2024

Sign Up for Alerts About Our Community (coming soon) – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://mailchi.mp/018d9c38a953/valorcafecommunity Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! In this episode, we delve into the heart of staying passionate and committed as a veteran barista. Ethan is joined by our long-time Head Coach, Lillabea Goins, and they explore service philosophie...
Consistency is Everything – 07/17/2024

Sign Up for Alerts About Our Community (coming soon) – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://mailchi.mp/018d9c38a953/valorcafecommunity Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! This week, it’s just Riley and Ethan diving deeper into our service philosophies. We explore the crucial role of consistency in everything we do and how it impacts our decisions and operations. Fr...
Three Service Philosophies That Built Our Business – 07/10/2024

Sign Up for Alerts About Our Community (coming soon) – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://mailchi.mp/018d9c38a953/valorcafecommunity Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! In this episode, we dive into the service philosophies that have shaped our company, discussing how to create memorable customer experiences through empathy and connection. We also recount a rare ...
What Does It Even Mean To Break Even? – 06/28/2024

Sign Up for Alerts About Our Community (coming soon) – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://mailchi.mp/018d9c38a953/valorcafecommunity DOWNLOAD THE CAFE VIABILITY SPREADSHEET: https://mailchi.mp/valor/viability-spreadsheet Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! Ever wondered what “breaking even” really means for a business? In this episode we delve into the concept o...
Running a Business As a Parent – 06/21/2024

Sign Up for Alerts About Our Community (coming soon) – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://mailchi.mp/018d9c38a953/valorcafecommunity Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! When we started Valor, we had all the hours in the world to put towards building our business, but things have changed greatly with our growing families. Today we reflect on this and what our live...
Why Your Coffee Shop SHOULD Start Roasting – 06/12/2024

Sign Up for Alerts About Our Community (coming soon) – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://mailchi.mp/018d9c38a953/valorcafecommunity Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! The boys sit down and have a continuation of last episode's topic of why you shouldn't start a coffee shop, this time explaining why it might be a good idea. We also discuss Ethan's trip to J...
Why Your Coffee Shop SHOULD NOT Start Roasting – 06/05/2024

Sign Up for Alerts About Our Community (coming soon) – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://mailchi.mp/018d9c38a953/valorcafecommunity Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! This week Riley and Ross chop up something we here from sooooo many wholesale partners: "Yeah, we'll probably eventually start roasting..." As a company who has taken this path, we feel it's our d...
Cat & Cloud x Valor Coffee: Burn Out, Human Dignity, Tacos & Dunking – 05/28/2024

Sign Up for Alerts About Our Community (coming soon) – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://mailchi.mp/018d9c38a953/valorcafecommunity Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! We credit a lot of our success to the Cat and Cloud Podcast, where we learned so many things about the industry, extraction, running a coffee business and more when we were just getting started. I...
This Episode Has No Topic – 05/22/2024

Sign Up for Alerts About Our Community (coming soon) – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://mailchi.mp/018d9c38a953/valorcafecommunity Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! Well...Ross sat down with Jared Truby for this week's planned episode and was met with technical issues. But we REFUSE to let a week go by with no progrum, so we sat down and just caught up on qui...
Tips to Prevent Employee Turnover at Your Coffee Shop – 05/15/2024

Sign Up for Alerts About Our Community (coming soon) – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://mailchi.mp/018d9c38a953/valorcafecommunity Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! This episode is a continuation of our previous episodes of the epidemic of high turnover within the coffee industry. We dive into a few practical ways coffee shops can pivot to make their establis...
Why Coffee Shops Have Terrible Turnover – 05/08/2024

Sign Up for Alerts About Our Community (coming soon) – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://mailchi.mp/018d9c38a953/valorcafecommunity Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! The coffee industry is one of notoriously heavy turnover, something we've experienced at our business and heard from many other cafe owners. On this specific progrum, we dive in to the reasons thi...
Q&A: Barista vs Roasting Job + Should Baristas Have to Work Weekends? – 05/01/2024

Sign Up for Alerts About Our Community (coming soon) – Courses, Exclusive Videos, PDFs, Spreadsheets and more: https://mailchi.mp/018d9c38a953/valorcafecommunity Thanks for listening, following/subscribing, giving us a good review, and sharing with your friends on social media. It goes a long way! This week we field a few questions, including helping one listener choose between stepping forward as a barista or making a move to roasting operations and answering another listener's question ab...