Filament Coffee Podcast

Coffee is our favourite thing. But, sometimes we overdo it.  If you've ever had one too many cups and felt anxious or wired at your desk, an inability to focus (scrolling instead of working), yawning all afternoon and then lying wide awake at night—you might be over your caffeine tolerance. As daily life get busier, more people are drinking more coffee than ever before to power through their...

Unlike other brewing methods, cold brew coffee lacks a 'kill-step' (like boiling water), so careful sanitation and storage are critical to ensuring a delicious (and safe) cold brew experience. Poor taste and a short shelf life are one thing, but there are very real, very nasty pathogens that love to multiply in cold brew coffee if left unchecked. We're joined on the podcast this wee...

This week we're joined once again by our dear friend and resident coffee expert, Matt Muhl of Brightside Coffee, to discuss the art and science of turning green beans brown. The roaster's transformation of the fibrous, grassy, green seed of a coffee cherry into the rich, complex and aromatic marvel that is the coffee bean we all know and love is a simple theory that is quite complex in p...

The history of coffee cannot be told without its famous stories of smuggling, so this week Chris and Aaron select their favourite historically significant coffee bad boys and share their tales with us. Without these brave, unlawful and selfish acts, coffee cultivation across the globe would not be where it is today—these are big smuggles! ☕️ So pour your morning coffee and settle in to hear the s...

How do they make coffee on planes? How much coffee does a pilot drink during a long flight, and what happens when they fall asleep in the cockpit? This week’s guest is our dear friend, on the line from Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific pilot, first officer Andrew McLean.  Borders are about to open for the good people of Perth, so we get reacquainted with air travel and find out where to fly as Andrew shar...

It's the lifestyle job we've all thought about doing.  As we line up to order our morning cup before the day begins, we wonder, "what if this was my day? I love coffee. I love people. I could run my own cafe!" Is it that simple?  This week on the podcast, we speak our dear pal, Hadley Swan of Dropinz Coffee, who did just that. Three short years ago, he started a coffee shop fro...

We're back for 2022! 🎙✌️ Let's kick off 2022 (a month in) by talking about what's happening in the world of coffee. Where are we now—where will we be in 12 months—and how much is a cup of coffee going to cost you in 2022?  ​ ​We're joined by our good friend, Matt Muhl of Brightside Coffee who tells us what's up for 2022 (hint: it's the price of coffee), and why. ​ ​Al...

See ya, 2021!  This week, we celebrate the new year with two brand new coffee cocktails! Aaron shows us how to make a paired back version of the classic martini,  while Chris introduces his cocktail for the man who celebrates in the morning. While responsibly sampling, we take a look back through 2021 to discuss our highlights from the year and put our mind to a 2022 resolution we'd like to s...

Tis the season (Chris is back from harvest) and to celebrate we recorded our Filament Coffee Podcast Christmas Special! We discuss our favourite Christmas traditions and exchange gifts while sampling a Perth beer and Perth whiskey made with coffee in this festive episode. Christmas is a time for family and friends and this week we're joined by our second guest ever on the podcast, our dear fr...

We missed last week, so we're back with a treat - we recorded this week's episode as a video podcast! You can check it out here . Everyone has a coffee habit they're not proud of,  so we each fessed up. This week's episode was a fun one, as we each step into the circle of trust and open up about coffee moments we thought we'd never share. Listen in to discover Chris'...

Coffee Houses in Vienna have hosted some of history's most significant people: Leon Trotsky,  Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hilter, Beethoven, Mozart and Sigmund Freud all started their day in a Viennese Coffee House. More remarkable than this, though, is how coffee came to Vienna in the first place. The Battle of Vienna in 1683 saw the right man, in the right place, at the right time not only playing...

Australia has a world famous cafe culture, but did you know we grow coffee here too? Approximately 600 tonnes of Australian grown coffee was produced in 2020, but the majority of Australians have never tried it. This week we're joined on the podcast by our great friend, coffee roaster and coffee expert, Matt Muhl to discuss Australia's coffee farming industry. Where in Australia do we gr...

Focus, memory and reaction time - does my morning cup of coffee help me get my work done? Will coffee before taking my exam help or hinder me? What about if I'm up late gaming - will coffee help my reaction times? And which jobs could benefit the most from regular caffeine dosing? Two weeks ago we had a look at caffeine's impact on physical performance and this week Brendan, Aaron and Ch...

Have you ever wondered where our name came from? How did we meet? Why did we start a cold brew business in the first place, and how did we do it? This week Brendan and Aaron sit down to take a trip down memory lane and discuss the story (so far) of Filament Coffee. From the days of using hand grinders in a kitchen to now operating out of our custom-built coffee brewery and everything in between. W...

In 1984 the International Olympic Committee added caffeine to its controlled substance list, BUT in 2004 both the IOC and the World Anti-Doping Agency removed caffeine from being banned. Since then, professional and Olympics athletes are allowed to use caffeine when competing,  So can caffeine really be helping you run longer or lift more in the gym? This week Brendan, Aaron and Chris take a look...

Surely Not!? Everyone knows that an excessive amount of caffeine isn't good for you, but what about the coffee itself? This week we look at three common concerns of the coffee lover and how they can go about avoiding their potential pitfalls! Did you know that coffee could raise your cholesterol? Did you know that coffee (as well as other crops including cereals and nuts) may contain toxins r...

If you drink one large flat white a day, you're drinking as much as 110 litres of milk with your morning coffee every year. If you only drink one a day. In 2021 we're more health and environmentally conscious than ever before. Drinking black coffee is a great way to take control of your calorie intake or your carbon footprint but the problem with drinking black coffee is that it just doe...

Shortly after the Ottoman Empire took Constantinople in the mid-fifteenth century, the world's first coffee shops arrived. A brand new concept, they became a place where locals could meet outside the home, work or place of worship. The Turkish coffee house became the place where men visited to discuss politics, to socialise and to learn. In this week's episode of the Filament Coffee Podc...

Do you drink coffee with your milk in the morning?   9 out of 10 Australians start their day with milk in their coffee cup, but have you ever wondered why we started putting milk in our coffee? When did people start drinking animal milk?  What is milk doing for the taste of your morning coffee and why do people who can't have dairy opt for alternative milk instead of a cup of black coffee? Br...

We pick up the story of the history of coffee this week, with Coffee in the Middle East.  After first leaving Ethiopia, around 1000 AD, coffee was cultivated, brewed and enjoyed as part of religious ceremonies and in coffee houses in Yemen and then throughout the Middle East. For centuries this was the only place in the world you could order your morning coffee at a cafe, as coffee was closely con...

Not only is it the drink of fashionable society, but it is also a favourite beverage of the men and women who do the world’s work, whether they toil with brain or brawn. It has been acclaimed the most grateful lubricant known to the human machine, and the most delightful taste in all nature - William H. Ukers (All About Coffee, 1921). More than 2 billion cups of coffee are consumed every day by pe...

A lot of people really, REALLY don't like decaf coffee. But most of those people don't drink it - so why are they so bothered by it? Decaf is largely misunderstood and has possibly been left behind in 2021 with the rise of specialty coffee. Brendan, Aaron and Chris discuss the history of decaf, how coffee is decaffeinated and try to get to the bottom of why people feel so strongly about...

Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee. Almost all the coffee grown worldwide today can be traced back to the coffee trees of ancient Abyssinia. The high altitudes, perfect climate conditions, centuries-old farming techniques and the many thousands of local varietals create complex and unique tasting coffees rarely seen outside Ethiopia. In this episode, Brendan, Aaron and Chris explore the social a...

Perhaps this should have been our first episode as this week we go back to the beginning to ask the question, "Where is coffee from?" Today, more than 2 billion cups of coffee are consumed daily.  Coffee is grown worldwide along the coffee bean belt between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, in countries including Brazil, Kenya, Colombia, Vietnam, Indonesia, East Timor, India and Mexic...

A different style of episode from us this week. Brendan and Chris tell Aaron the story of Luckin Coffee - the Chinese answer to Starbucks, with a twist. We talk about its rapid rise as Luckin Coffee exploded onto the Chinese market to have more stores than Starbucks in only two years before a fraud exposure brought them crashing back down to earth. Chris tells us of his experience in a Luckin Coff...