Coffee Roaster Warm Up Sessions

Baristas do a lot more than just make coffee at a coffee shop. They're the ones cleaning up spills, washing floors during closing, and communicating with customers from all backgrounds. In addition to serving an excellent cup of coffee that is dialed and brewed with precision, there's so much more that's happening in the background that isn't talked about. In this episode of the Coffee Roaster War...

Koji Process. You may have heard of it, and we wouldn't be surprised if you haven't. it's a fairly new experimental coffee processing method, and it's innovative. Over the last decade, we've seen experimental processing become more and more popular yielding some very interesting flavor profiles in coffee that previously were not possible. Koji takes it up a notch, but have these processing methods...

Home baristas are changing the coffee industry. From gear becoming more and more affordable with the access to information and education only increasing over time, it's given room for this niche crowd to grow exponentially. If you could pull an incredible shot of espresso from any roaster in the world at home, then why would you go to a cafe? In this episode, we talk about the ever growing popular...

From the beginning, starting a coffee roasting company was never just about coffee. There's always been an underlying purpose and vision beyond the coffee bean, and layering that on top of our passions and interests outside of the coffee industry has given roasting coffee fresh life. In this episode, we talk about the community that has helped us reach 10,000 streams on podcast platforms and the o...

Being a small business let alone a coffee roasting business is not easy. On the other hand, it is not much easier running a larger coffee roasting operation. There are trade offs and difficulties in both, however, we're all facing some very unique challenges as global tensions rise, c-market is reaching new highs, and coffee yields are fluctuating around the world.

Sergei just got back from competing in Coffee Fest New York in their latte art competition. He placed in the top 16! We cover a wide range of topics from travel, his preparation for competition, and what made competing for him such a great experience.

Buying and roasting new coffee is always such an exciting process. From tasting the samples to packaging and selling it for folks to enjoy at home, it comes with its fair share of discovery, nuance, and of course challenges. These challenges can come from green coffee quality, logistical issues, and so much more. One of the tasks we need to maneuver is roasting a coffee for the first time. In this...

In this industry of craftsmanship, we're always looking for ways to boost our understanding of coffee. Over the years, we've seen huge advancements in great resources for learning more about coffee, however, this tried and true method will take your understanding to the next level.   In this episode, we talk about the one thing that will take your coffee knowledge to the next level!

We launched Mirror Coffee Roasters in Bellingham, WA in December of 2019, and since then we've had the opportunity to source, roast, and serve really incredible coffees. Our job as a coffee roasting company is to source, roast, and share these delicious coffees, but what does a podcast have anything to do with it? As we hit our 50th podcast episode, we want to reflect back on how this has become o...

Maxwell Mooney has been in the coffee industry for nearly a decade now, and in the next few weeks he will be opening up the second location of Narrative Coffee here in Bellingham, WA. His expertise in the industry and experience starting two coffee shops made for a powerful conversation. We were so excited to chat with him, and listen to what he had to say about the coffee industry. In this episod...

Competing in specialty coffee is exciting for many of us in the industry. For us, coffee competitions go beyond just receiving a shiny award. Whether you're competing in the barista championships, coffee roasting competitions, or any of the many other categories, there's something more about these events that resonates with us. In today's episode on the Coffee Roaster Warm Up Sessions, we break do...

Our small town, Bellingham, WA, has become quite the coffee hub over the years with several big plans of expansion in the near future. If we're being honest, we did not see this huge explosion of specialty coffee in Bellingham coming. To see it unravel before our eyes with popularity in the last five years has been extraordinary. In this episode, we talk about the history and journey of our small...

Starting a coffee roasting company has become a very popular thing to do. We regularly hear of a new roastery starting from scratch which is very exciting. We're all for more talent, variety, and delicious coffee brands in the industry. On other hand, we also think running a coffee roasting company has been over glorified with a handful of misconceptions. In this episode, we break down a couple re...

Working in the coffee industry as a roasting company, it's often easy to get caught up over details, business logistics, quality control, sourcing coffee, and the many things that come with running a coffee business. When we came across these coffee consumption statistics, it was helpful in many ways as we move forward not only as an industry, home coffee brewers, but also as a roasting company. I...

Before we knew it, 2021 came to an end. With our 2021 Spotify Wrapped reminding us of all the good tunes we've been listening to this year, we're also thinking back to the learning experiences we've had as a coffee roasting business but also as people. There's a lot of unknown ahead of us in 2022, but we are excited and hopeful for what's coming in this new. In this episode, we cover some of the l...

You wake up, and it's Christmas morning. What does your day look like? Where are you? For us, a cup of coffee is essential whether that's made with a Ratio drip coffee maker, an Aeropress, or a delicious chemex. We also have a couple annual Christmas traditions that are a little different than most. In this episode, we wish you a happy holidays, chat about this eventful morning, and give a you a s...

Coffee brewing at home is becoming more and more popular with time. Equipment, knowledge, and other helpful resources are becoming accessible which in return is elevating the quality of coffee you could produce at home. That being said, how can you up your coffee brewing game in 2022? In this episode, we break down helpful literature, online resources, and other helpful tips on how you can elevate...

Over the last two years, we've received many emails from folks around the world asking about starting a coffee roasting company. Most of the time, they are questions that deal with the same general uncertainties and unknowns. That being said, we decided to revisit some of these topics and hope to help those searching for answers about roasting coffee. In this episode, we unpack several different q...

Taking the first steps towards your goals can be just as exciting as it is intimidating. Whether that's what others will think of you, your personal insecurities, or the long road ahead to get to where you want to be, there are barriers that need to be overcome.   In this episode of the Coffee Roaster Warm Up Sessions podcast, we talk about some of the difficulties of taking those first...

It's that time of year when we're doing our holiday gift shopping. Many of us will be searching for those couple people in our lives who would die without coffee. We thought it might be helpful to break down the best Christmas gift ideas for coffee enthusiasts from a coffee fanatic's perspective. Any of these gifts will surely make the coffee lover in your life overjoyed and potentially brewing yo...

Is that really blueberries you're tasting or did the coffee bag trick you into tasting that? Often times, flavor notes, branding, origin, and our preconceived ideas get in the way of tasting coffee objectively for what it has to offer. Chances are, that's not only happening more often than we'd like, but we're also not developing our pallet when that's the case. It actually ends up hurting our gro...

Coffee hand grinders have grown not only in popularity, but also in quality and accessibility. Grinders like the Commandante C40 have changed how we look at these tools and what they're capable of. Although they can be inconvenient at times, there are definitely a couple reasons why we think you need one. In this episode, we break down our experience with coffee hand grinders, the Commandante C40,...

Coffee sustainability at origin has been a huge conversation amongst the specialty coffee community. It's really refreshing to see the industry have these conversations. On the other hand, from our conversations with producers, farmers, importers, and scientists, it's a much bigger issue to take on. One thing is for sure, we have still have a lot to learn. In this episode, we reflect back on some...

Our first in-person podcast guest is Edwin Martinez, the CEO of Onyx Coffee and third generation Guatemalan coffee producer at Finca Vista Hermosa. They import spectacular Guatemalan coffees for roasters to add to their menu. Edwin has an inspiring story that starts in Guatemala at origin and navigates through starting a coffee shop, owning a coffee roasting business, and now importing coffee. On...

We're doing our first Q&A on the Coffee Roaster Warm Up Sessions podcast! On our Instagram this week, we asked folks to submit your questions, and we were pretty excited to see what we got. We got questions anywhere from V60 questions to pour over recipes, coffee grinders, and small business life.