The Coffee Show with Kirk Pearson

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This week The Coffee Show and Keys to the Shop are doing a crossover episode in Nashville Tennessee, the closest point that could meet. Kirk and Chris Deferio are both outspoken in the coffee industry. They agree on a lot of things, and disagree on some things as well. This podcast has been months in the making but we both wanted to do it in person and it was great to make that happen. No studio, no amazing production, just two people in a room speaking about what we love. Chris is an amazing advocate for what should be...

Jak Michael Ryan, originally from Australia, is the United States Barista Champion.

Jak is one of the most unique personalities you will find anywhere in life. Jak is a professional dancer, dedicated boxer with ambitions for great things and just casually, the best barista in the USA.

This podcast looks into his journey and discipline and the many years of hard work it took to reach this point.

Jak and Kirk discuss the emerging US coffee scene and what is going on back home...

Davy Ball is the Founder of Draped in Blue and one of the Co-Founders of Now and Then, a now closed coffee bar that provided a fine dining coffee experience.

In this podcast Davy and Kirk are recording in Chef Sean Brock's office in Nashville with all of his cook books, as you can see there are many!

Kirk and Davy discuss how fine dining and coffee can work together and the future of coffee experiences of that nature.

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Kirk has reached the means streets of Calgary, Alberta in Canada.

In Calgary one of the worlds most reputable specialty coffee roasters is there, Rosso Coffee Roasters.

Rosso was started by David Crosby who is a 2x World Barista Championship coach, coaching both Mikael Jaisin and Boram Um to victory in consecutive years.

David and Kirk have been friends for years now and it was great to catch up at the Rosso roastery.

This is a crossover podcast where...

George Howell is the Founder of George Howell Coffee and one of the most influential forces in the coffee industry ever.

Many know him as the man who created the Frappuccino, which he sold the rights of to Starbucks. Such was his influence in the 90’s he sold all of his venues to Starbucks as well, and has devoted his entire life to the betterment of the specialty coffee industry.

In this podcast Kirk and George discuss tech in coffee, what concerns him and what the future holds.

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Nemesis Coffee are based in Vancouver and have multiple venues spanning specialty coffee focused venues and bakeries.

The owners Jes and Albert blew Kirk away with the coffee quality and service throughout the Vancouver leg of the 'Freedom Tour!'

We sat down in their Great Northern Way store and spoke about the origins of Nemesis and the near terminal challenges they faced along the way.

An excellent podcast for all!

Dr Doran Pennington is a former student of someone the coffee industry knows well: Dr Christopher Hendon.

Doran and Chris story has shades of Good Will Hunting, Doran the former student recruited his teacher to form a start up that has the change to change the beverage industry as we know it. It is called Overpotential.

In this episode Kirk visits the ‘Engine Room,’ a start up accelerator within the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the #1 ranked university on the planet by many. While walking through the building Kirk was even...

Last year the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) announced sweeping changes to what is known at the Coffee Value Assessment. Coffee professionals were furious that a seemingly functional system of assessing a coffees quality was being replaced by a system that was far more complex. Craig Simon is Australia's leading coffee trainer who was one of two certified Q Grade instructors in the country. Craig has embraced the new changes and teaches the course at Criteria Coffee, his co roasting and education space. Kirk and Craig discuss the new form and whether or not it is practical. Among other things...

'Breakfast Shirts' or Mark Crotti is a content creator who travels Australia as a touring musician and cafe connoisseur.

Mark has compiled some data from a survey sent out to his followers.

It seeks to find out: Who is Australia's favourite coffee roaster? What is Australia's favourite coffee order? And where is the best breakfast in the country?

Kirk and Mark discuss all this week on The Coffee Show!!

Nic Petrie is the Head of Coffee for Born and Raised, a Melbourne based coffee roasting supplying cafes and sharpening their focus to go direct to consumer.

Nic has been one of the lead agitators with pre batched coffee, something Kirk is very familiar with. Additionally, Nic has been big on Co-Fermentation.

Kirk and Nic discuss the potential problems that Co Ferments could create and also discuss future UFC match ups for those that are interested.

Kirk also delivers a nuclear hot take in...

Ryan Caisley is an ‘Oat Dealer’ from Oatly based in Melbourne Australia.

When working in London, Ryan would often serve some of the biggest name actors and sports stars, leading to him eventually featuring in a Hollywood film!

Kirk and Ryan discuss famous stars like Jimmy Butler and Emma Chamberlain entering the specialty coffee industry with their own brands that are doing very well.

Sustainability also gets a mention as it seems to not be a priority in the context of foreign wars and the...

Think of this podcast as a 100 minute lesson on how to make espresso.

Whether you're a beginner at home or in the cafe, you're going to get something out of this. 2022 World Barista Champion Anthony Douglas sits down with Kirk to go through espresso making.

What is the best equipment to use if you're on a budget? Where should you allocate your money for buying home coffee equipment?

Plus, Anthony makes an exclusive announcement on the podcast that you may just love!

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Kirk is getting international heat, again!

Firstly, Kirk and Jack caught up during the week and sorted out their drama from last week, which ended in a really pleasant reunion.

There are some looming articles to come out soon where journalists have been seeking alternative opinions on pre batched espresso. Potential hit pieces in the works?

What are Kirk's philosophies on coffee service?

Find out on this weeks episode of The Coffee Show With Kirk Pearson.

This morning, World Barista Champion Jack Simpson took to Instagram, rebuking the idea of pre-batched espresso.

The post came as a complete surprise to Kirk. Jack had previously played a role in helping set up the café, yet there was no prior conversation or warning—just a post pontificating on the inferiority of pre-batched espresso.

In this episode, Kirk responds. He revisits why he started pre-batching coffee in the first place, unpacking the practical realities behind the decision. He also contrasts this approach with his earlier experience operating Sub-Zero Cof...

James Coburn is the man behind one of the most hilarious coffee content creations currently going.

You might know him as Human Tobasco, and after nearly a decade living and working in New York, he's taking a brief stint living and working back home in Melbourne Australia.

James is as hilarious in person as he is online, but most of all he is very down to earth. Many of his video ideas arose from seeing things from a perspective of being grateful.

Plus, Kirk and James also talk about things that GRIND THEIR...

Can you imagine going to a coffee shop and getting told to fuck off by the server? Well, that now exists thanks to a whimsical bunch of lads in the United Kingdom.

Tom Noble, Will Sudlow and Charlie Hurst are the three founders of Flat White or Fuck Off, a pop up that came about thanks to British figure Rory Sutherland, who spoke of this idea on another podcast.

Charlie Hurst loved the idea so much he came up with some concept designs, then Tom Noble and Will Sudlow...

Zac Smith is a former Aussie Rules player who played for both the Gold Coast Suns and Geelong Cats.

In the final years of his football career, Zac began to fall in love with coffee, and once he retired decided that he wanted to do this for a living after football.

Zac now owns Tallboy Coffee in Queensland Australia, where the weather is pretty much perfect all year round, he sees opportunity to disrupt the cold brew market into the future, particularly in his neck of the woods.

Project Zero 2.0 has opened which has captured attention globally.

There are really only two camps of people on this, those who are open to new ideas and innovation, and those that think the definition of espresso was written in the Magna Carta era.

Joining Kirk is Hany Ezzat, the man responsible for posting a viral reel that has caused many to have a melt down.

Hany is the founder of Ni Wares, a coffee ceramics brand that make specialist cups for coffee brewing.

Lucia Solis is a fermentation and coffee processing specialist who is now based in Guatemala. Lucia is also hosts an award winning coffee podcast called 'Making Coffee with Lucia Scolis' which recently won Sprudge Podcast of the year.

Lucia's first line of work was as a wine maker. After studying Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis she worked in California's esteemed Napa Valley.

These days Lucia commits her life to teaching others techniques to process their coffee, urging them to see 'processing as an opportunity to add value.' <...

Lucia Solis is a fermentation and coffee processing specialist who is now based in Guatemala. Lucia is also hosts an award winning coffee podcast called 'Making Coffee with Lucia Scolis' which recently won Sprudge Podcast of the year.

Lucia's first line of work was as a wine maker. After studying Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis she worked in California's esteemed Napa Valley.

These days Lucia commits her life to teaching others techniques to process their coffee, urging them to see 'processing as an opportunity to add value.' <...

Christopher Feran is coffees is the author of coffees most detailed and forensic blog.

Chris has many years of experience working as a post harvest and green bean consultant, helping roasters of many different sizes with their sourcing and blend formulation.

Chris also has a brand called Aviary Coffee where he roasts and sells one different coffee monthly, allowing him to develop sutainable partnerships, and roast the coffee really damn well!

In this episode Chris and Kirk talk about sourcing, the Scott Rao wars...

Though he would never own up to it, Andrew Kelly is one of the Four Horseman of Melbourne's specialty coffee industry.

Andrew is the Founder of Small Batch Coffee, a seminal Melbourne roastery and Sharesource, which sources coffee that ensures farmers financial sustainability and aims for better outcomes on farm.

The key contention of this podcast is how do we as an industry better communicate to consumers why buying ethically sourced coffee is a good thing. Have we been selling the message wrong? Have we been to prone to...

Scott Rao is the most recognised coffee roasting expert in the world. Through his consulting work he has helped countless coffee roasters to improve their roasting and day to day operations. The who's who of coffee all look up to him.

Kirk and Scott cater to roasters that are at the beginner, intermediate and advanced level of roasting, so if you roast coffee already or you want to learn, this is the best podcast you can listen to.

Scott and Kirk both tell some horror stories of workplaces they...

WARNING! This podcast has nothing to do with coffee.

Pokemon is the most successful game/movie/merchandising franchise in the world by a long way, and in recent times that has gone to a whole new level.

In the podcast we are joined by Jonathan D'allessando of Card Bot AU, a company that sells cards through vending machines. What started as a hobby for his brother CJ, ended up becoming a thriving business that cannot stock their machines quick enough!

Regular listeners to this...

The World Coffee Championships recently unveiled their new sponsors, with Ceado now being the grinder sponsor for the barista category and Option O for brewers cup.

Coffee competitions have always been costly, but this year they're going to a new level and the frequency at which the sponsors change make it hard for would be competitors to budget accordingly.

Perhaps the most shocking change is that for the Brewers Cup competitors will now be required to use the same grinder for compulsory and open service which is a massive...

On the weekend US President Donald Trump and his administration captured Nicholas Maduro of Venezuela and his wife, sparking international outcry and condemnation.

While the world is still learning more details there is much conjecture on what comes next.

One thing is for sure, if the region were to become unstable and if shipping near one of the worlds busiest shipping routes is disrupted, the outcome for the coffee industry would be dire.

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In our recent tour of Europe, we touched down in Berlin to attend the launch of Oatly's 'Look Book' they formulated to help cafes and home enthusiasts to make better drinks that are better for the planet!

Kirk sat down with Toby Weedon who is the Barista Development Director at Oatly who oversaw the creations in the Look Book.

Along with the launch of the look book Kirk and Toby discuss the 'Future of Taste' report that Oatly developed which looks into upcoming trends within the coffee industry, like:

...

The prophecy foretold that one day Gabrel Tan would become Australian Barista Champion, and alas! Here we are!! Gabrel Tan of Veneziano Coffee Roasters, who has finished second three times to eventual World Champions Anthony Douglas and Jack Simpson, was finally able to break through and earn his first national title! Gabrel overcame a challenge from the legendary Angus Mackie of Ona Coffee using coffee from Finca Janson in Panama and unique microlot from Indonesia! In this episode we discuss Gab's journey where he competed against the very best in Australia's top heavy barista competition and what it took...

Matt Perger and Jeremy Challender run Barista Hustle, an online coffee education provider that make comprehensive courses for people of any skill level in coffee to better their knowledge!

In this episode of The Coffee Show, Matt, Jeremy and Kirk have just concluded a blind tasting that compared milk coffee that was made using freshly made espresso and espresso that had been made a day prior. The results were quite fascinating and might surprise you!

Is the future of coffee pre made?

Also, the...

Alex Moore is the runner up of the Australian Brewers Cup and staff member at Project Zero Coffee. Alex was trained by Kirk and overachieved in his first season as a competitor.

What was special about Alex routine is that he was the only competitor that used a washed coffee in the whole competition. In recent years, natural and experimental fermentations have dominated the Australian competition scene, this year Alex coffee was the highest scoring of the whole weekend despite coming second to the legendary Simon Gautherin!

In this...

Matt Winton a World Brewers Cup Champion now residing in Switzerland. Sierra Yeo is a National Brewers Cup Champion (previously representing the UK) and recently won the Swiss Brewers Cup, meaning she will compete again at the World Brewers Cup in Brussels.

Matt and Sierra are happily married and together run Rose Coffee Roasters, and internationally famed roastery that sells some of the highest quality and unique coffee the world has to offer.

At Host Milan, Kirk, Sierra and Matt all linked up to record a podcast and touched...

Nicole Battcefeld is Germany's most awarded barista with multiple national championships to her name. These days she works as a consultant to Nunc, an AI powered home espresso machine that could potentially reshape coffee brewing at home.

Vladyslav Demonenko is former Doctor from Ukraine who now resides in Berlin and owns Kolo Coffee, a coffee roaster that is gaining praise across europe for its quality and exceptional service at their flagship site in Berlin.

In this podcast we discuss the European coffee scene, why Vlad chose coffee over being...

Paul Ross is a UK barista champion and founder of Special Guests Coffee in London.

On our recent Euro tour, Kirk stopped by Special Guests Coffee and was blown away, calling it the best coffee in the UK and he isn’t alone.

Paul told a really interesting story about how he made coffee for the landlord which blew them away. It was that fateful decision of taking a flask of competition coffee to the pitch that helped him beat out others for a highly coveted space to open a...

If you ask most coffee professionals: What is the most famous specialty coffee place in the world? Most of them will answer Patricia Coffee Brewers in Melbourne. 

Patricia is one of the crown jewels of the City of Melbourne. They make 1200+ coffees per day and people travel from all over the world to experience going there. 

What makes it so special? This is a coffee shop tucked away in an alley of Melbourne. Next to it are some dumpsters and the best seat you can get is a milk cr...

As part of our recent tour or Europe, Kirk stopped by Copenhagen where he discovered that the #1 Restaurant in the world has opened a coffee bar!

Kirk was the first customer and managed to secure an interview with Noma Head of Coffee Carolyne Lane inside the new space.

So why have Noma ventured into coffee? And what are their plans in the future? WIll Noma's world leading expertise on fermentation be part of a broader collaboration in the future? Find out on this episode of the Coffee Show with Kirk Pearson!

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Jose Luttrell (or Don Jose as Kirk likes to call him) is the Patriarch of the Luttrell Family that owns Panamanian coffee farm 'Abu Coffee.'

Sofia Luttrell is his daughter who hasn't finished high school yet, but is keenly interested in the farming life and at the ripe old age of 18, is the Brewers Cup champion of Panama!

Together they make a dream team that is amazing to see, and it is fair to say that the future looks bright for Abu Coffee!

...

Jack Simpson of Australia has won the World Barista Championship. 

About an hour after his victory we sat down with Jack, his roaster Matt Crowley and owner of Axil Coffee Roasters Dave Makin. 

In this podcast we discussed what went into becoming the world barista champion and the methods Jack used. 

Instrumental in his success was his entire team, perhaps most of all was Matt Crowley (Head of Coffee at Axil) who was with him every step of the way. 

As...

Jamison Savage is a Panamanian coffee grower who has produced coffee for multiple World Barista Champions.

Jamison is unique in his approach with his processing as he regularly embraces experimental processes with his coffee fermentations.

In this podcast, recorded at Host Milan, Jamison discusses champion barista Jack Simpson who is using his coffee at this years World Barista Championship.

Jamison also discusses what goes into starting a coffee farm and shares an update on the recovery of Morgan Estate, which was tragically damaged during...

Chris Baca is one of the founders of Cat and Cloud Coffee in Santa Cruz, California.

Chris is also a previous winner of the USA Barista Championships and one of the original specialty coffee content creators, dating back more than ten years.

Chris career journey is one of the most traceable in all of coffee. Nowadays his focus is on Cat and Cloud and one of his biggest focuses is building a nurturing company culture, which he broadly implores the rest of the industry to do.

Chris and Kirk talk about the costs...