Rachel Peterson is one of the family members that own Hacienda La Esmeralda in Panama, which has a claim to being the most recognisable coffee farm in the entire world.
Recently as the Best of Panama auction they didn't just break the record, the totally annihilated it, winning every category and setting a new world record of $30,000 USD per kg.
This is the first podcast Rachel who represents Esmeralda has done since the infamous auction, which will go down forever in the coffee history books.
Record prices like this haven't always been the story of Esmeralda. Kirk and Rachel discuss the early years, how they operated at a loss and how they built the brand of Esmeralda and Panama coffee collectively.
Kirk asks Rachel all about the competition, what the days following were like and together they addressed the industries reaction, most of which was positive, though there was some criticism.
This was one of the most logistically challenging podcasts we have done, so please enjoy!
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Todays guests Bruno, Jennifer and Emiline of the Australian Specialty Coffee Association discuss with Kirk their new change in approach to competition in Australia and how effective it was.
The organisation themselves identified that their own competitions has become 'elitist' and wanted to do something to change that and make competitions more accessible, to develop community!
This is something that should be viewed from around the world so we can ensure money and status are not a barrier to entry for coffee competitions.
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Yesterdays auction shattered every record possible and was predicted almost to the dollar by Kirk. This is our reaction to what went down at the Best of Panama Auction!
This week the Best Of Panama Auction will take place and it is the most anticipated auction ever.
Since the competition took place, the industry has been abuzz about Hacienda La Esmeralda winning all three categories.
Their Washed Geisha entry scored an unprecedented 98 points, which may be the best coffee on record!
Many are speculating that this coffee will exceed $20,000 USD per kilogram, and Kirk sees a possibility that it could reach as high as $30,000.
Kirk explains all in this short podcast!
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Lance Hedrick is a respected coffee content creator with a massive Youtube and Instagram following.
Lance is known for his long form breakdowns of equipment, brewing methods and many other advanced subjects in the coffee industry.
In this podcast Lance and Kirk discuss Lance' introduction to the coffee industry, how he made bank winning latte art smackdowns, golf and health.
Perhaps the most interesting topic discussed though is whether home baristas now make better coffee than most cafes!
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Sam Keck is a co-founder of Commonfolk Coffee in Australia and helped build Zukukubora, a social enterprise in Uganda that's purpose is to empower coffee farming communities to making farming sustainable and regenerative.
David Flood until recently was a little known brewer from St David's Dairy in Melbourne. He competed in his first Brewers Cup competition using coffee from Zukukubora and wiped the floor with all of competitors on the day, with a performance that had people in tears.
People are now describing what David accomplished as bringing 'a knife to a gun fight.' Most brewers cup competitions are won using high end coffee from Panama or Colombia, and David flipped that narrative on its head using coffee from Uganda.
In this podcast you will learn that David's words are powerful, meaningful and impactful. David emphasis coffee as a 'tool for social innovation' and he explains in perfect words why our purchasing choices can mean so much to so many!
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Kirk answers listeners questions sent in.
What is the best cafe in the world?
Who is in his Pokemon party at the moment?
How to watch the UFC when you have a family?
Tips to opening a cafe?
Kirk answers all in this podcast.
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Mason Salisbury is the founder of Luminous Coffee operating out of Las Vegas Nevada.
In this podcast Mason outlines the uncertainty of trade policy in the US right now and how it is impact US coffee roasteries.
Mason above all, is a quality focused coffee roaster with an enormous amount of experience operating on almost type of coffee roaster. We discuss his recent transition to roasting on a Typhoon roaster, a completely electric and convection based roaster.
Plus, does drinking only washed coffee mean you're lame? Find out our answer!
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Jack Simpson has won the Australian Barista Championship for the past three years. At the world level he has placed 3rd and 2nd in consecutive years and this year he looks to do one better in what might be his final campaign.
Jack has evolved over the years, and this year Kirk thinks he is looking better than ever.
Kirk and Jack discuss competition at length and Kirk also tells a story about Strawberry Matcha you might not believe!
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Are you thinking of opening a cafe or wanting improve your current one? Then this podcast is an excellent resource for you.
Kirk is joined by Rhys Woods of Ona Coffee and together they distill some 10 great points on what you should consider before opening a cafe, some of the tips will save you a lot of pain!
Rhys Woods works as an Account Manager for Ona Coffee, who are a successful and quality focused coffee wholesaler in Australia, while Kirk Pearson is a cafe owner himself. Together their information formed these ten 'commandments' that you should consider.
Plus, Rhys and Kirk discuss the recent Best of Panama results, some competition news and UFC!
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Aston Utan is one of the founders of Common Grounds in Jakarta Indonesia.
Common Grounds are hugely responsible for the development of the Indonesian specialty coffee scene and Aston is their CEO.
In this episode Kirk and Aston discuss how the Indonesian coffee scene has grown to be one of the most vibrant in the world.
Aston and Kirk also discuss how technology will influence coffee service in the future and why customers prefer buying coffee from people rather than robots.
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Kai Janson is a world leading coffee producer from Panama operating Janson Family Estates.
Coffee from the Janson family is internationally applauded and used in competitions all over the world. In 2023 Janson Geisha was used by Boram Um to win the World Barista Championship, a first for the Janson family.
In this episode Kirk and Kai discuss what it is that makes coffee from Panama so special! Kai also spills the beans on what some call 'pana-drama,' a term that describes the friendly rivalry between coffee producers in Panama who many believe produce the worlds best coffee.
Securing this interview was a win for us at the Coffee Show and offers insight into some of the unspoken tales of Panamanian coffee. The highs, the lows, the beginning and the pana-drama!
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Mikael Jasin is the reigning World Barista Champion, cafe owner and coffee exporter.
Mikael took the world by storm winning the World Barista Championship prioritising mindfulness and recounting the challenges he had to overcome to finally win, a great metaphor for life in general.
Above everything, Mikael is a proud Indonesian. Since winning the WBC he has been a powerful ambassador for his own country and greater Asia .
In this podcast Mikael and Kirk discuss how competition could improve, what Indonesian coffee farmers need to grow and a vision for the coffee industry in the future.
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Boram Um is the 2023 World Barista Champion, a coffee producer and contender for worlds most handsome barista!
In this podcast Kirk and Boram discuss the challenges of preparing for a world title run, how Boram prepared and how life changed for him after the win.
Boram and his family own Fazenda Um in Brazil from which he produced one of his world championship coffees.
Interestingly, Boram is an advocate for the new changes to the coffee scoring system under the Coffee Value Assessment, which is contrast of a lot of coffee personalties based in consuming countries. Do coffee farmers actually see this as a good thing?
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Daryanto Witarsa is a well known coffee entrepreneur in Indonesia who now works as high ranking government official overseeing food security.
Hosting the World of Coffee is now a competitive process and Yanto lobbied for years to make it happen. This year that dream was achieved with unprecedented success. The show was bustling and set a new standard.
In Yanto's new role, he oversees a project of national importance working in the government of newly elected Prabowo Subianto, as a director of food security. Prabowo as he is known to Indonesians, has prioritised nutrition for Indonesians as a key pillar for their economic goals which are ambitious.
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Jay Kim is the co-founder of the UFO dripper and growing personality in the specialty coffee space.
Jay's public profile has grown enormously in recent times for his inspiring social media posts and videos emphasising the importance of hospitality in coffee.
In this podcast Jay and Kirk talk at length about inequality in coffee and how drinking coffee is a privilege, not a right.
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Savina Giachgia is a runner up in the World Brewers Cup competition of 2023 and passionate advocate for sustainability in coffee.
In this discussion Kirk and Savina discuss why everyone should be more concerned about sustainability and what we risk if we don't pay attention.
Kirk also reflects on a recent farm visit in Indonesia and highlights why investing in farms is essential for the future of coffee production and maintaining financial viability of coffee farms.
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Jakarta's specialty coffee industry is booming! With more cafes opening than anyone can keep track of, Ombe Kofie has remained adored in a hyper competitive market.
Ombe coffee serve some of the best coffee in all of Indonesia (we can confirm that). We were lucky enough to record this podcast inside one of their venues.
Two of Ombe's leaders, Jordy and Herru join us to explain the origins of Ombe Coffee (founded by Jordie's father Jason). Why did they decide to open a cafe? How challenging was it? What is the coffee scene like in one of Asia's most populated cities? Jordie and Haru answer all in this podcast.
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Yoshua Tanu is an icon in the Indonesian Coffee Industry. A former Indonesian Barista Champion and co founder of Common Grounds Coffee, he has founded a new venture that changes the game.
Jago Coffee is a mobile cafe that operates using karts. Mobile karts are very common in Indonesia for selling food and other goods. Jago Coffee have for the first time introduced mobile cafes to Jakarta using refrigerated smart bikes that take coffee to where customers are.
Using both nimble bikes that can weave through Jakarta's notoriously congested roads and combining them with smart technology that can alert an operator where customers are, Jago has been able to rapidly expand and now have 1500 carts operating in Jakarta (a city of 28 million people). Jago Coffee is also very affordable, offering coffee for under $1 USD.
Yoshua explains the challenges of entrepreneurship in coffee as well as his vision for Jago in the future.
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Recently it was announced that the system coffee quality graders (Q graders) have been using to score coffees for decades will radically change, causing fury throughout the industry.
In this podcast Kirk questions the CEO of the Specialty Coffee Association on how the new system works, why it is changing and how it will be implemented.
The scale of the change has been hard to comprehend for Q graders and many coffee producers. Some have said they won't recognise the new system, while others have welcomed the change as it reflects a changing coffee industry.
Which pages of the new system should cuppers use? Should cuppings be managed on an app from now on? Kirk and Yannis discuss this at the World of Coffee in Jakarta.
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