Boss Barista

This bonus episode features Ravani Grace, an Intelligentsia barista who's helping to organize one of specialty coffee's most pivotal unions. A full transcript of this episode is available at bossbarista.substack.com

The creator of the Not Caffeinated Enough platform connects community, curiosity, and coffee. It's all a circle.  A full transcript of this episode is available at bossbarista.substack.com

Scholar and incoming graduate student at Purdue University David Tortolini talks about the importance of digital connection, and all the ways that communities are built through the internet. A full transcript of this episode is available at bossbarista.substack.com

The founder of Couplet Coffee eschews traditional ideas to make delicious coffee available to all. A full transcript of this episode is available at bossbarista.substack.com

Julien Langevin is a production worker for Coffee by Design and the 2022 United States Cup Tasters Champion , going on to represent the United States at the World Cup Tasters Competition in June.  A full transcript of this episode can be found at bossbarista.substack.com

When COVID-19 laid off a substantial number of coffee workers, Valorie Clark helped start a nonprofit called GoFundBean to provide essential services and financial support. A full transcript of this episode is available at bossbarista.substack.com

The 2022 United States Barista Champion and TikTok star subverts expectations through humor and silliness.  You can find a full transcript at bossbarista.substack.com

The co-founders of Cute Coffee urge you to keep it cute or put it on mute—or you're gonna get slimed. You can find a full transcript of this episode at bossbarista.substack.com

Go Get Em Tiger's very first employee wants you to praise your friends, your coworkers—everyone! A full transcript of this episode is available here . 

Revisiting our February 2020 episode with the members of the Tartine Union in the Bay Area.  For a full transcript, go to bossbarista.substack.com

The owner of Café con Jiribilla talks about Mexico's unique coffee scene and why you should discover its roasters. You can find a full transcript of this episode here . 

My guest is Sonam Parikh, one of the co-founders of Mina’s World , a coffee shop in West Philadelphia. Sonam and their partner, Kate, opened Mina’s World 18 days before COVID-19 forced the majority of hospitality businesses to close or completely revamp how they serve food and drinks to customers. You can find a full transcript of this episode here . 

How Eric Grimm of Glitter Cat Barista and Ghost Town Oats has approached building more accessible spaces through the lens of human resources. A full transcript of this episode can be found here . 

The lead roaster at Modern Times helps navigate the San Diego roastery's next phase while advocating for herself. A full transcript of this episode can be found here . 

The co-founder of Three Keys Coffee in Houston talks jazz riffs, trumpet keys, and I ask him some weird questions.  A full transcript of this episode can be found here .

What it means to want to do things differently—and actually do them. With David Lalonde, co-founder of Rabbit Hole Roasters in Montreal, Quebec.  A full transcript of this episode can be found here . 

In the last episode of our December Rewind series, Rachel Northrop digs into the coffee commodities market, and asks who this antiquated system serves. Spoiler alert: You probably know the answer.  A full transcript of this episode can be found here . 

The commodities market, or c-market, is how most coffee is bought and sold. It's a complicated, antiquated system that's persisted for years. Rachel Northrop explains how this system came to be.  A full transcript of this episode can be found here . 

Today, we're re-releasing our episode with Maggy Nyamumbo. Maggy is the founder of Kahawa 1893 , a social enterprise aimed at connecting farmers directly to consumers in an attempt to get more money back to farmers. There is so much money in coffee — with farmers making less money than it costs to produce coffee, Maggy tells us where all that money goes.  This episode was originally rele...

In 2018, the internet lit up with debates about plastic straw bans. Disabled activist Alice Wong talks about how these kinds of conversations silence the voices of disabled people.  This episode was originally released in August 2018. 

At 13 years old, Frankie Volkema became the world's youngest Q grader. While she received her certification, she also learned that the average coffee farmer is in their mid-50s, and if we don’t make farming viable for young people to pursue, the future of coffee is in jeopardy. So she decided to take action. Learn more about Joven Coffee here .  This episode is brought to you by Urnex . 

Today, I’m chatting with Jose Uechi, co-founder of Compadre , a coffee brand based in Peru. Jose—or Pepe, as he goes by—is an industrial designer by trade, and got into coffee because of his friend, Juan Pablo. Juan Pablo invented a solar roaster, a machine that could roast coffee without electricity. Initially, Compadre’s founders worked to get these roasters into the hands of farmers. A few year...

Neichelle Guidry is a storyteller. Neichelle is a college administrator and the founder of Black Girl Black Coffee . The brand began as an Instagram account, as a way for Neichelle to document her journey through coffee, and her passion for the subject, during the upheaval of the pandemic. Since then, it’s evolved into a coffee brand that reclaims the Black history of coffee. We about staying insp...

If you've ever asked yourself, “Is this real? Or am I imagining it? Did I take something the wrong way on purpose? Did my boss really do that thing that I now feel so angry about?” then this is the episode for you.  Sierra Yeo of The Kore Directive and Alpro UK get real vulnerable. This episode is brought to you by Urnex . 

Rachel Faller is one of the co-founders of tonlé , a zero-waste clothing company that believes in promoting equal value across the supply chain. Like coffee, most of the clothing we wear goes through hundreds of hands and relies on a system of manufacture and exchange that is a relic of colonialism. In this episode, Rachel explains some of the parallels between how coffee is bought and sold and ho...