Best Coffee Podcasts (2025)

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SHIFT BREAK! New Managers: Learning Before Changing 10:45

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3h ago10:45

10:45

When a new manager is placed in a cafe, they often will try to change a lot of things in a bid to justify their role and/or create what they believe is the positive change they have long wanted to see as a barista. While both are understandable, neither one should be the first thing a manager takes on as they become established. Today on Shift Brea…

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RoR #37 : Tariffs, Relationships, and Resiliency for Roasters | A Conversation w/ Steve Green of Mill City Roasters 48:40

2d ago48:40

48:40

These are challenging times for roasters. With the topics of green prices and tariffs dominating the airwaves and minds of owners, everyone is looking for the best way to respond to what seems like an existential threat to their business if left unaddressed. The truth is that the businesses that do the best in these times not only respond well in t…

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553: Career Success, Hospitality, and Cafe Culture w/ Akaash Saini, La Marzocco 57:57

3d ago57:57

57:57

How we grow in the coffee industry will determine how we lead and how we influence those around us. Our guest today has developed a career that has allowed him to not only grow himself into one with a broad and practical perspective on the industry, but to also help others grow their cafes and themselves. I am thrilled to get to chat with, Akaash S…

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Do As You Say – Making the promise match the experience 38:40

4d ago38:40

38:40

This episode is a full-on field trip as we recap our visit to the Big Face Coffee pop-up in San Francisco. The coffee was solid, the energy was high, and the whole experience sparked a bigger conversation about the promise a brand makes, pop-ups, and the fine line between vibes and substance — and what it really means to create something that’s tru…

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552: Founder Friday w/ Kristen Redfield and Jenna Currier of Goldie's Coffee Roasters in Anchorage, Alaska! 47:01

8d ago47:01

47:01

It's Founder Friday! I am very happy to welcome to the show the founders of Goldies Coffee Roasters Kristen Redfield and Jenna Currier! Kristen Redfield is a life-long Alaskan growing up in North Kenai, Alaska. In 2010 she began her coffee career as a barista just before graduating from the University of Alaska Anchorage with a Bachelors of Art in …

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SHIFT BREAK! Should You Remodel or Renew Your Cafe? 8:52

7d ago8:52

8:52

If we change anything in the cafe, it will more likely be something related to the optics, branding, or remodeling the physical cafe in order to get that feeling like we have become different and this will usher in more motivation, excitement, better quality and hospitality etc. Sadly, no amount of paint, gear,, or remodeling can address the core i…

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SPECIAL! Live from Portland Coffee Fest 2025! w/ Laila Ghambari, Ryan Jie Jaing, Emily Smith, and Sebastián Villamizar 1:20:29

8d ago1:20:29

1:20:29

Hey everyone and welcome to another Coffee Fest live series. this time from Portland, OR 2025! We get to talk with four wonderful professionals on a host of topics from business operations, green coffee sourcing - to coffee farming and roasting at origin, as well as crafting great signature drinks! In order of appearance we have Laila Ghambari of G…

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551: Encore: Designing the Guest Experience w/ Doctor Lisa Waxman! 53:38

11d ago53:38

53:38

Designing the experience is pretty much all we focus on. From the colors, textures, sounds, layouts - to the drinks themselves, people's experience is something that is born from design. If we want it to be a good one, we need to put in specific effort across many different areas. One of the areas today' encore episode guest focuses on is the build…

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COE Auction Extravaganza – Bidding, Bets, and a busy morning in the roastery 40:43

11d ago40:43

40:43

Come along with us on a ride in this episode as we experience the world of Cup of Excellence coffee auctions for the first time. We were chasing a special lot from our Best Friends Club producer, Nelín Guzman, as his coffee took 5th place in his category for all of Honduras. We talk through how these auctions work, why countries like Honduras now u…

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SHIFT BREAK! Better Than Bad is Not Good 9:53

16d ago9:53

9:53

Your decisions in the business related to hiring, quality, operations etc need to be based on what is actually good for the business and the people you work with and for now. Trouble is that we often are stuck at a low level of expectation and accept less than appropriate and right fits because we are defining everything against bad examples from t…

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Purist.Coffee 16:09

17d ago16:09

16:09

Mark is OOO and Amanda has stepped in for her podcast debut. In an abbreviated episode, get caught up on the status of The Coffee Purist, a teaser on something definitely NOT puristic from the coffee purist himself, and an opportunity to listen to a chapter of the book with a certain AA Cafe-inspired slant. Most everything besides the coffee is ava…

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What Is It Good For – When is a certification required or just extra. 42:37

18d ago42:37

42:37

This week we talk about the shifting landscape of coffee certifications — particularly the recent changes to the Q grader system. With the program moving under CQI, many coffee professionals are now being told their existing certifications no longer count, and that they’ll need to retest under a new system. This sparks a conversation about what cer…

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550: Replace These Distractions and Watch Your Cafe Grow! 43:27

19d ago43:27

43:27

I don't think there has been a time in the history of coffee shops where we have been so distracted by things that promise to bring value but turn out to be simply distractions. Noise vs signal, image vs substance, and so forth. In my year of coffee I have seen plenty of cafes burn out from pursuing and building their businesses according to these …

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549: The Power of Great Consistent Work Over Time 29:17

25d ago29:17

29:17

How do you know if you are doing a good job? Who are you looking to serve and how do you measure success? For many of us the proof of our doing great work lies in the validation of our industry before it we are happy with the praise and fulfillment of those we serve through the shop. Truth is, great work, done in secret or anonymity, makes a big di…

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Guest Who – Chatting with Benjamin Richardson 1:13:35

25d ago1:13:35

1:13:35

This week, we hang out with Ben Richardson of Sydney’s Made of Many roastery and Brighter cafe, and get into what it really means to build culture in coffee. Ben shares how his journey started not just from wanting to roast great coffee, but from seeing a lack of genuine culture and career paths in many roasteries. He explains how focusing on real …

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SHIFT BREAK! What Should Coffee Cost a Customer? 12:16

27d ago12:16

12:16

Investment is what creates value. There are many other investments beyond the financial that customer must make in the coffee experience that make the act of going to get coffee worth it. In today's Shift Break we will be talking about the necessary costs customers must bear and why they are not inconveniences we should be trying to get rid of, but…

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SHIFT BREAK! Seasonal Staff 15:17

30d ago15:17

15:17

I have talked to many clients as well as Key Holder Coaching Group members who employ seasonal staff. There is a big challenge when looking to hire, train, and manage them since the term of their employment is short and they are either new, or they have had 6 months or more off from the cafe. In today's Shift Break we will be talking about some str…

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Morning Brew: The Grateful Dead And Verve Coffee On The Coffee Sprudgecast 44:37

1M ago44:37

44:37

On this episode, we're taking you on a wild trip, man. Inspired by Verve Coffee's recent collaboration with Grateful Deadand their delicious Morning Brew Blend, hosts Zachary Carlsen and Jordan Michelman weird out on Grateful Dead lore. From favorite eras to favorite albums to tales from the golden road, things get a little heady in an extremely ch…

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Just Say No – Telling guests what they don't want to hear 33:40

1M ago33:40

33:40

Just Say No – Telling guests what they don't want to hear by Cat & CloudBy Cat & Cloud

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548: Cool Ideas For Customer Engagement 28:43

1M ago28:43

28:43

The landscape of retail is cluttered with messages, distractions, gimmicks, and desperate bids for scraps of customers attention. After a while, it all starts to look, sound, and feel the same. How do you stand out for the right reasons and engage with your customers and future customers in ways that provide something sustainable and unique? In tod…

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547: Founder Friday! w/ Jake Heenan, Founder of Burra Bristol in the UK! 57:16

1M ago57:16

57:16

It's Founder Friday! Today we are chatting with the professional Rugby player turned specialty cafe owner, Jake Heenan of Burra Bristol! Jake has played professional rugby for over 13 years and started Burra, an antipodean café in Bristol, while still playing full-time. It’s grown to three sites and won multiple awards - shaped by the same principl…

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SHIFT BREAK! Time Management For Managers and Owners 13:16

1M ago13:16

13:16

If you are a manager or leader on shift, or the owner of the cafe, how you spend your time really matters. You have been given authority as a tool to help those you serve and they are counting on you to be organized and purposeful in the use of your time, energy, and focus. Today on Shift Break we are going to be covering some advice for how you ca…

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546: Tools That Every Coffee Shop Should Have 34:21

1M ago34:21

34:21

In this ever cluttered world of tips, tricks, methods, eqipment, and tools it can be hard to know what to employ in the cafe to really make a difference. I am of the opiniion that the best tools are not necessarily physical, but are frameworks and ideas that help guide our presence, work, and relationships in the work. In today's episode we are goi…

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Questions Quick Fire – So much info in not a lot of time 38:16

1M ago38:16

38:16

Questions Quick Fire – So much info in not a lot of time by Cat & CloudBy Cat & Cloud

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The Hottest New Cafes Of 2025 On The Coffee Sprudgecast 27:09

1M ago27:09

27:09

It’s that time of the year again, where the days are long, the coffees are flash chilled, and cafes show up and build-out! On the latest episode the show we explore new cafe build-outs from Bradley Beach, New Jersey, down to Springdale, Arkansas and all the way to Ventura, California. It’s all part of our annual Build-Outs of Coffee series, a humdi…

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SHIFT BREAK! The Entrepreneurial Case For Stopping 12:03

1M ago12:03

12:03

"If you're not growing, your dying", phrases like this tend to drive us pursue a path of growth that often prevents us from slowing down or finding margin in which we can see that something, or even we ourselves, need to stop. Today on Shift Break we are going to be talking about how to see entrepreneurship as not just a one time thing, but as a cy…

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545: Breathing Life Into Your Coffee Shop 30:25

2M ago30:25

30:25

Have you ever walked into a shop and noticed right away, this place is different. The hospitality, the quality, the feel, the energy, and the comfort and confidence you and the staff feel together is a synergy born from purposeful work behind the scenes. It is a work not just to assemble people and equipment under one roof and call it done, but wor…

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Identifying What You Want – Growing your beliefs as your company grows 35:23

2M ago35:23

35:23

Identifying What You Want – Growing your beliefs as your company grows by Cat & CloudBy Cat & Cloud

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SHIFT BREAK! Tips For Signature Drink Success 14:23

2M ago14:23

14:23

Signature beverages and seasonal drinks are a huge part of what rounds out the cafe menu and, if done well, can make you stand out for all the right reason. Of course, it stands to reason, that if they are done not so well, you stand out for the wrong reasons. How can you go beyond TikTok trends and the latest viral sensations and create something …

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Source – Audience Q&A from 2025 SCA Expo 1:05:04

2M ago1:05:04

1:05:04

This week on the podcast is part 2 of the event we hosted with Cafe Imports at the 2025 Specialty Coffee Association Expo.In this episode the audience asks the panelist questions that most impact their day to day interaction with the coffee supply chain. Covering topics like communicating the cost of coffee to guest, how roasters come to the prices…

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544: Love Coffee, Control Caffeine w/ 2013 WBC Champ Pete Licata of Caffeine Control Coffee 1:05:34

2M ago1:05:34

1:05:34

Coffee. We love it so much! However, in spite of our love for coffee, we have all been burned by taking in just a little too much caffeine as we sip, cup, and enjoy. As technology and methods around decaf coffee have improved and evolved, so too has the demand for having more control over the stimulating effects of the beverage. This is where Caffe…

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The Coffee Sprudgecast With An Unnatural Kopi Luwak 29:13

2M ago29:13

29:13

Welcome to the Coffee Sprudgecast. It's not just a coffee podcast, it's a taste experience, where only the strongest endure. Zachary Carlsen returns from World of Coffee Jakarta on the Coffee Sprudgecast and brings with him delicious coffees, interesting coffees, and coffees he didn't dare dream existed. This includes a Space Roastery coffee that m…

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SHIFT BREAK! Don't Rush Your Customers 11:49

2M ago11:49

11:49

In the busy cafe we tend to want to power through the work and in the process we rush the customer. The average cafe guest can feel as though they are simply being handled or herded instead of welcomed and served. Today on Shift Break we are talking about how and why we need to fight against the urge to rush the customer and what it looks like to h…

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543: A Philosophy On Employee Turn-over 30:26

2M ago30:26

30:26

Everybody leaves. That is the constant of working in coffee shops. How they leave and how you respond to their absence for their good, the team that remains and for your business is a question of how much intentionality you bring to the inevitable departure of staff. Today we are going to explain how we can view turn-over and use it to better our l…

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Source – A green buying panel from 2025 SCA Expo 51:15

2M ago51:15

51:15

This week on the podcast, we’re sharing the event we hosted with Cafe Imports at the 2025 Specialty Coffee Association Expo.The event brought together panelists from across the green buying side of the coffee industry to explore the complexities of this essential part of the supply chain.This portion of the conversation focuses on the C market, tar…

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542: Founder Friday! w/ Nori and Tin Burmudez of Corridor Flow, Lomita, CA 1:06:34

2M ago1:06:34

1:06:34

It's Founder Friday! And this one is quite special. Nori and Tin Burmudez founded Corridor Flow in the Fall of 2019 with community and relationship as their central mission. I was lucky enough to work with them in their beginning stages and for the last almost six years, their commitment to their vision have shown itself in their deeply rooted and …

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RoR #36: Community and Continual Learning w/ Alex Jacob of Vital Coffee Roasters w/ Alex Jacob 42:37

2M ago42:37

42:37

Great things happen when we plug into community and open ourselves up to the learning process. This is especially true when you begin your own business and apply those things you have learned from your experiences. It opens up entirely new levels. Today on this 36th episode of Rate of Rise, brought to you by our friends at Mill City Roasters, we ar…

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SHIFT BREAK! You Need to Avoid This HUGE Training Mistake! 10:47

2M ago10:47

10:47

Training employees remains one of the central tasks of cafe ownership and management. Rather than training from a central standard and source that has been thoughtfully crafted to onboard and develop the skills of the barista to meet specific standards, there is a temptation to want to lean on training by osmosis or by committee where the new hire …

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541: Repetition, Reminders, and Guidance 25:30

2M ago25:30

25:30

If you are like a lot of owners or managers you might find the idea of reminding and repeating yourself to be at the top of the "most annoying things I should not have to do" list. To a degree you are right. But only partly. It really depends on how those tools are used and how you approach your own role in the cafe Today we are going to explore ho…

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Road to Owner – Chucks journey to help start Cat & Cloud 55:05

2M ago55:05

55:05

Road to Owner – Chucks journey to help start Cat & Cloud by Cat & CloudBy Cat & Cloud

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SHIFT BREAK! Why The Best Hospitality Starts With The Transactional! 10:47

2M ago10:47

10:47

We talk about how we want to provide an experience for the guest, to connect with them, to make a positive impact. The way to get there though is through embracing what may seem like the opposite of what we want, the transactional. Gasp! Today on Shift Break we will be talking about why the transaction between you and the customer, the ordinary exc…

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540: The Good and Bad of Job Descriptions 32:03

2M ago32:03

32:03

On average, when I look into a cafe's operational materials and systems, one of the main things that is either not developed well, developed but not updated, or just not there at all, are job descriptions. For many coffee businesses, there is a default to describing their growth and thus operation as "organic" and as a result, while some progress i…

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What to Sell When You're Selling – How to think about wholesale 42:07

2M ago42:07

42:07

What to Sell When You're Selling – How to think about wholesale by Cat & CloudBy Cat & Cloud

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The One With World Coffee Roasting Champion Mikaël Portannier 12:33

3M ago12:33

12:33

We've got a special bite-sized episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast this week, featuring an interview with 2025 World Roasting Champion Mikaël Portannier. Liz Chai caught Portannier on stage moments after announcements to learn more about his epic win. Host Zachary Carlsen sips Passenger Coffee's India Bhadra while thumbing through a copy of their 202…

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SHIFT BREAK! Vendor Hospitality 11:36

3M ago11:36

11:36

Who we are when nobody s looking is really who we are. There are variations of this phrase and for most it is convicting and motivates us to increase the integrity of how we move in life and work. In the cafe, we talk a lot about hospitality regarding guests and more recently we have talked about hospitality for the staff. But what about the people…

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Spaces Make Places – Chatting about how a space looks and why it draws people in 55:04

3M ago55:04

55:04

Spaces Make Places – Chatting about how a space looks and why it draws people in by Cat & CloudBy Cat & Cloud

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539: Helping Regular People Enjoy Coffee w/ Matthew Bryce, Seven Sleepers Coffee Lab 43:32

3M ago43:32

43:32

"Customers are already dialed in." This is one of my favorite quotes from the interview I had with today's guest. The industry has largely been focused on educating customers about coffee but not very good about educating themselves about the customer, and even less concerned about meeting people where they are or even celebrating their tastes. How…

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The One With The 16th Annual Sprudgie Award Winners 24:44

3M ago24:44

24:44

On this special episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast, hosts Jordan Michelman and Zachary Carlsen talk about the winners of the 16th Annual Sprudgie Awards. This episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast is sponsored by TerraCycle, Ceado, Pacific Barista Series, La Marzocco, Ghirardelli, and DONA.By Sprudge Media

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SHIFT BREAK! Explaining the Manager's Landscape | A Framework For Leading Staff 10:13

3M ago10:13

10:13

Being a manager in a coffee shop is not just about extra administrative tasks, its about leading and guiding people well through the work of the cafe. Many managers in bars around the world are kept buried in tasks and don't have a clear view of the landscape in front of them. This leads to avoiding essential conversations and a lack of growth in b…

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Eyes On the Prize – How showing up today helps you tomorrow 38:46

3M ago38:46

38:46

Eyes On the Prize – How showing up today helps you tomorrow by Cat & CloudBy Cat & Cloud