Buy the Drip - Coffee and Business

The Reality of Coffee Media, Competitions, and the Industry | Kirk Pearson
Coffee competitions, coffee media, and the online coffee world often look polished from the outside. But behind the scenes, the reality is far more complicated.
In this episode of Buy The Drip, we sit down with Kirk Pearson to talk about the evolution of specialty coffee media, the role competitions play in shaping the industry, and what it actually takes to build platforms that help push coffee forward.
Kirk shares his journey through coffee from competing and working in cafes to helping create some of the most widely followed coffee content and discussions online.
We talk about what works, what doesn’t, and how conversations around coffee are changing as more voices enter the industry.
The discussion also dives into the tension between education, entertainment, and authenticity in coffee media, and why storytelling matters just as much as technical knowledge.
Along the way we explore:
• How coffee media and YouTube changed the industry
• The role competitions play in shaping careers and ideas
• Why transparency and honest conversation matter in coffee
• What it takes to build platforms that people actually trust
• The future of specialty coffee storytelling
This episode is a look behind the curtain of coffee culture — from competitions and cafés to the media that connects the whole industry.
If you enjoy conversations about the people shaping coffee, subscribe and follow Buy The Drip for more episodes.

Coffee competitions are what the industry sees. The lights. The routines. The trophies.
But the real work happens long before anyone steps on stage.
In this episode, Cole sits down with Andrea Tan the first Singapore Brewers Cup Champion, green coffee buyer, judge, and World Coffee Events Representative. They unpack what it actually takes to run fair, meaningful competitions around the world.

Andrea shares her path from waiting tables to standing on the world stage, and how competition shaped her perspective not just as a competitor, but as a judge and now a WCE Rep.
We talk about responsibility, empathy, and the weight of writing a full scoresheet when someone’s poured months of work into 15 minutes.

Beyond competitions, the conversation expands into green coffee buying, trust, and what she learned from recent time spent in Ethiopia from shifting cup profiles to infrastructure changes and the evolution of transparency in origin markets.

This episode isn’t just about competition rules.
It’s about:
• What fairness actually looks like in practice
• The role of feedback in shaping careers
• How reps support national bodies around the world
• The changing landscape of Ethiopian coffee
• Why empathy and people skills matter as much as technical knowledge
It’s a conversation about contributing to coffee beyond the spotlight and about building systems people can trust.
If you care about competitions, green buying, or the long game of this industry, this one goes deeper than the stage.
Subscribe and follow along for more conversations like this on Buy The Drip.

Most of us obsess over beans, brew methods, and grinders… but ignore the one thing that actually touches our lips.

The cup.

In this episode, we sit down with Johnny Loh, the engineer and founder behind ICOSA Brewhouse, to talk about how vessel design can completely change the way coffee tastes.

Johnny didn’t start in coffee. In fact, he didn’t even drink it when he began designing cups. His background in engineering and sensory design led him to ask a simple question: if wine and whiskey have purpose-built glassware, why doesn’t specialty coffee?

We break down how shape, surface area, aeration, and geometry influence aroma release, temperature retention, and flavor perception. Johnny shares the experiments, the skepticism, and the real-world results from cafés, competitions, and high-end hospitality environments.

We also explore:
• Why traditional mugs might be limiting premium coffee
• How “pattern interrupts” elevate the customer experience
• The psychology of value and perception in hospitality
• Whether certain coffees deserve their own dedicated vessel shapes
• What the future of coffee service could look like

This conversation isn’t about gimmicks. It’s about intentional design, sensory science, and creating experiences that match the quality of the coffee itself.

We sit down with the two-time Filipino National Barista Champion and the mind behind the Better Vessel. Michael’s journey started in his family’s rope business and evolved into building one of the Philippines’ most respected coffee operations, working with brands like McDonald’s and 7-Eleven along the way.

We talk about the risk that changed everything.... importing just two containers of coffee when most people thought it was crazy.
How that decision helped shape one of the country’s most iconic roasteries.
Michael shares how experimenting with Liberica and hybrid varieties pushed flavor in new directions, and how competition sharpened both his palate and his business instincts.
We also get into
• The evolution of Filipino coffee production
• Why local storytelling matters more than ever
• How competition fuels innovation
• Regenerative farming techniques changing coffee at origin
• The thinking behind the Better Vessel and improving espresso consistency
Michael has represented the Philippines on the world stage, reaching two World Barista Championship semi-finals and earning Best Espresso in the first round of the 2026 WBC using the Better Vessel.

We sit down with 2024 World Barista Champion Mikael Jasin and writer Tigger Chaturabul to talk about Mikael’s first book, Bloom.
The conversation covers how the book came together, why Mikael chose to tell his story now, and what it was like working with a writer to put years of competition, pressure, and personal growth into words.
They talk openly about burnout, expectations, money, food, and what life actually looks like behind the scenes of a world title.
Bloom isn’t a traditional coffee book. It’s a reflection on process, identity, and learning how to live alongside ambition rather than constantly chasing the next result.
If you’re interested in competition coffee, creative work, or the realities that come after winning, this episode offers an honest look at all of it.