Episode 41: Coffee in Kenya - A conversation with Stephen Vick
In this episode, I sit down with my good friend Stephen Vick during my recent visit to Kenya. Stephen shares his journey in the coffee industry, which began in Oregon, USA, and has since brought him to Kenya. Together, we reflect on how the industry has evolved over the more than twenty years we have both been a part of it.
Stephen works for the Danish Coop, a grocery store chain in Scandinavia. He oversees their roasting and export of roasted coffee from Kenya to Scandinavia. He explains how his work in Kenya operates and the impact of exporting roasted coffee as opposed to unroasted coffee makes locally.
We talk about the supportive barista community in Nairobi, where sharing knowledge has become more common and important for growth. We also discuss robusta coffee and the increasing interest in experimenting with new cultivars.
Additionally, we talk about the rise of organically certified coffees in Kenya, which is still relatively rare but showing promising growth. Finally, Stephen shares what excites him most about the future of Kenyan coffee and the local coffee community.
Music by my uncle Jens Wendelboe.
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Episode 40: 2024 - A Coffee Year in Review
In this episode, I sit down with Ben Symes, our wholesale manager, to reflect on the highlights of 2024.
We discuss our favourite coffees of the year, including the washed coffee from Tatmara and the Java from Finca Tamana, as well as developments on the farms we work with. Tim also shares insights from the farmer symposium he held in Honduras and our plans to help convert all the farms we work with to biological farming practices.
This year brought many memorable experiences, such as time spent in Kenya with Klaus Thomsen, our pop-up at the Coffee Collective in Denmark, the Ljubljana Coffee Festival with James Hoffmann, and a special dinner at Noma to mark the close of our chapter with them.
Being recognised as the best roastery by Roastful was a standout moment, made possible by the dedication of our team across every aspect of the business, from roasting and packaging to serving in the espresso bar and managing orders. But we would not be where we are without the hard work and dedication that all the coffee producers we buy from put in every year.
Finally, we reflect on what it means to be the "Best Roaster" and look ahead to 2025 with new harvests and plans.
Join us for a review of 2024 and a look at what is to come.
Music by my uncle Jens Wendelboe.
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Episode 39 - Q&A Part 2 - We answer questions from our followers. With Ben Symes & Tim.
In this episode, I am joined by our Wholesale Manager, Ben Symes, to answer your questions.
This is the second part of our Q&A podcast episode, where we answer questions sent in by our followers. In this episode, we focus on your questions about brewing, as well as other topics such as coffee buying and origin.
Music by my uncle Jens Wendelboe.
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Episode 38 - Q&A Part 1 - We answer questions from our followers. With Ben Symes & Tim.
In this episode, I am joined by our Wholesale Manager, Ben Symes, to answer your questions.
Earlier in October, we invited you to send in any questions you had for us. We received such a great response that we had to split the podcast into two parts. In this episode, Ben and I will be focusing on your questions about roasting and tasting.
Music by my uncle Jens Wendelboe.
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Episode 37 - Coffee in Ethiopia - A conversation with Mats Fredheim Vidby
In this episode, I’m joined by Mats Fredheim Vidby, our roastery team leader and one of our dedicated coffee roasters, who has been with us since 2021.
Our conversation this time takes a deep dive into Ethiopian coffee, focusing on how we select and buy coffees from the birthplace of coffee. We will be discussing the farms we work with, Echemo and Tatmara, and go in to details about the fresh harvest that has just arrived at our roastery.
We will also provide updates on the latest developments at these farms over the past few years.
Mats has come prepared with some interesting questions about Ethiopian coffees, and we have also gathered a selection of questions from our Instagram followers, which we will be answering at the end of the episode.
Tune in to hear Mats and me talk about Ethiopian coffee and learn more about why these coffees are so special to us.
Music by my uncle Jens Wendelboe.
New Zealand