Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders

In order to have a profitable and consistent coffee shop you need to track and keep your data in order. Whether is labor, expenses, or COGs- spreadsheets are an essential tools to help you build a stable business.  On today's episode we sit down with frequent guest of the KTTS podcast, Maxwell Mooney of Narrative Coffee to talk about his top pieces of advice for using making and using spreadsheets...

It feels like we need to constantly be growing and producing something new or else we risk looking like a failure, or that we lack ambition. The idea that we always need to be expanding and taking on new things is a flawed one that often submarines our chance at finding fulfill ent fro what we do.  Today on Shift Break we will be talking about how sometimes we need to sacrifice productivity for th...

Brewing a great cup of coffee is what we all strive to do daily. Over the years, our own understanding of how to do this well has grown as the body of literature and content regarding brewing science has increased. Most recently one such resource has been published from someone who has applied their expertise and scientific rigor to the subject of brewing coffee, thus creating one of the most thor...

How do we get customers to buy coffees they will like? This is more or less the question I was asked by a client recently in regards to bean purchases and I feel it also speaks to other decisions the coffee shop customer will make in beverage, food, etc.  Today on Shift Break I will give you the answer I gave my client on how to help customers find beans they will like. From there we will talk abo...

How specialty coffee has evolved, understood, and enjoyed has changed greatly over the past 50 years. Today get to talk someone whose career has not developed in parallel with the coffee industry but has been instrumental in advancing some of the best aspects of it. I'm thrilled to have bene able to sit down with the great Kenneth Davids! Kenneth has been involved with coffee since the early 1970s...

Management absolutely means you have the opportunity to affect change in the coffee shop. It also mean you have a responsibility to make sure the current operation is running smoothly and that the basics are taken care of. Often we favor the change over the stewardship and that is where we can get in trouble.  Today on shift break we are going to be chasing about the difference between what you wa...

It's Founder Friday! We are traveling to Panama to learn about one of the greatest cafes and roasters, Cafe Unido through a wonderful conversation with its founder, Benito Burmudez.  Inspired by the idea that Panama has some to of the world's best coffees, the first Café Unido opens its doors in 2014 in the city of Panama with a clear goal: provide a space for Panamanians to learn and appreciate c...

Welcome to the 10th episode of the Rate of Rise Live Series! In this interview we are talking with Green Coffee Buyer and Director of Coffee at Huckleberry Coffee Roasters, winner of the Roast Magazine Macro Roaster of the year award. The RoR Live Series is a project in partnership with Roast Magazine taking the popular RoR series on Keys to the Shop and to the SCA 2022 Global EXPO in Boston where...

Welcome to the 9th episode of the Rate of Rise Live Series! In this interview we are talking with specialty coffee and roasting luminary, Scott Rao!   The RoR Live Series is a project in partnership with Roast Magazine taking the popular RoR series on Keys to the Shop and to the SCA 2022 Global EXPO in Boston where we have some live face-to-face interviews with 10 of the coffee industry's brightes...

Welcome to the 8th episode of the Rate of Rise Live Series! In this interview we are having a great talk with Kat Nolte-Ferguson of Sucafina Specialty! The RoR Live Series is a project in partnership with Roast Magazine taking the popular RoR series on Keys to the Shop and to the SCA 2022 Global EXPO in Boston where we have some live face-to-face interviews with 10 of the coffee industry's brighte...

In the wake of tragedy and heartbreak we find ourselves looking for ways to heal and make sense of the chaos around us. The recent violence, racism, and evil that took place in the U.S. took place in spaces where people should not need to worry about their  safety. Spaces similar to the coffee shops we run and work in everyday.  As we wrestle with the incomprehensible pain and senselessness of the...

Brewing a great cup of coffee is like crafting a career in coffee, it take intentionality, consistency, and a humility that keeps in mind the end goal of all your efforts. These are some of the qualities that make today's guest, Elika Liftee, not just a brewing champion, but an example of professionalism we can all be inspired by.  Elika is the Director of Education at Onyx Coffee Lab, where he le...

Welcome to the 7th episode of the Rate of Rise Live Series!  The RoR Live Series is a project in partnership with Roast Magazine taking the popular RoR series on Keys to the Shop and to the SCA 2022 Global EXPO in Boston where we have some live face-to-face interviews with 10 of the coffee industry's brightest minds In this interview we are having a wonderful chat with Will Frith all about the cur...

Welcome to the 6th episode of the Rate of Rise Live Series! In this interview we are talking with industry veteran, green coffee expert, and author of the new book "Green Coffee",  Chris Kornman! The RoR Live Series is a project in partnership with Roast Magazine taking the popular RoR series on Keys to the Shop and to the SCA 2022 Global EXPO in Boston where we have some live face-to-face intervi...

Hey! It is the 5th episode of the Rate of Rise Live Series! In today's conversation we sit down with the Roastmaster of Caffe Amouri Nicki Amouri to talk about really getting a grip on roast curves!  The RoR Live Series is a project in partnership with Roast Magazine taking the popular RoR series on Keys to the Shop and to the SCA 2022 Global EXPO in Boston where we have some live face-to-face int...

For this 4th episode of the Rate of Rise Live Series! This time we sit down with one of my favorite roasters, Anne Cooper of Equilibrium Master Roasters to learn how to teach others to roast! The RoR Live Series is a project in partnership with Roast Magazine taking the popular RoR series on Keys to the Shop and to the SCA 2022 Global EXPO in Boston where we have some live face-to-face interviews...

For some reason we tend to think people can read our minds. When we communicate generally but expect specific results we are setting ourselves and everyone else up for a  lot of tension and confusion.  On today's Shift Break we will dive into the idea of communicating and resourcing your baristas and managers to fulfill specific expectations and using due dates to help give structure to directives...

We take for granted the kinds of interactions and connections we make in the course of our daily professional barista lives. An incredible variety of people with unique and interesting stories and perspectives pass through our doors daily. Coupled with the story of coffee itself, this business is a rich and fascinating one. Those are the motivations that led today's guest, Celeste Wong into the co...

For this 3rd episode of the Rate of Rise Live Series! We are talking with the always thought provoking, Karl Wienhold, Author of the book, Cheap Coffee! The RoR Live Series is a project in partnership with Roast Magazine taking the popular RoR series on Keys to the Shop and to the SCA 2022 Global EXPO in Boston where we have some live face-to-face interviews with 10 of the coffee industry's bright...

Welcome to Rate of Rise Live! Episode #2 brought to you by Roast Magazine!  I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to partner with Roast during the SCA 2022 Global EXPO in Boston to have some live face-to-face interviews with 10 of the coffee industry's brightest minds. In this episode we are sitting down with Owner of Little Waves Coffee, Durham, NC, Areli Barerra Grodski!  Areli Barrera Grods...

Welcome to Rate of Rise Live brought to you by Roast Magazine!  I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to partner with Roast during the SCA 2022 Global EXPO in Boston to have some live face-to-face interviews with 10 of the coffee industry's brightest minds all about specialty coffee, roasting, risk management, teaching roasting, roast curve, inspiring stories of entrepreneurship and much more!...

After a rush, an event, or any situation where there is tension and the need to perform well as a team (pretty much any time) there are always a lot of thoughts and emotions that people have. Unfortunately we tend to simply carry on as though it never happened and thus lose out on a lot of positive growth and development that can result from debriefing.  On today's Shift Break we will be talking a...

Accurately tasting coffee can be a daunting task. Add to that the pressure of competition or just the daily work of the bar, and being focused, confident, and at ease while dialing in or making flavor determinations seems all but impossible. These are all however attributes that today's guest possesses and has honed over their career to be able to remain cool and taste coffees like a champion. Tod...

Some of the reasons we do not take the next step to delegate management or take the next step in our business is because we feel we are not ready. It seems embarrassing to not have it all together when you've over authority to someone like a manager and you want to wait till you have a perfect system and suite of resources to hand them. Problem is that you will likely never truly be "ready". On to...

Our industry is one focused on creating memorable experiences for guests of our shops. Being detail oriented is part of our hospitality to people because we know that when all those little things come together, they deliver a real impact.  This is what driven today's guest throughout his illustrious career working for some of the worlds most prestigious hotels and Restaurants to deliver these expe...