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5 of 47

Episode 47 - Connecting Farmers with Roasters – A Conversation with Benjamin Paz
In this episode, I sit down with Benjamin Paz, a coffee producer from Santa Bárbara, Honduras, and one of the key people behind San Vicente, a coffee exporting company working with over 600 producers in Honduras. His role is to connect producers with buyers, helping to build lasting and healthy relationships that allow both farmers and roasters to grow together. Benjamin’s family has been in coffee since the 1950s, but it was through the Cup of Excellence that they became closely tied to the specialty coffee world. He has since won the competition twice himself, in 2022 and 2024, and continues to inspire producers with his belief that hard work makes anything possible. In our conversation, Benjamin talks about the challenges producers are facing today, from unpredictable weather to pests appearing in new areas, and the importance of keeping workers in the country to secure the future of coffee production. He explains the role of the “middleman” in specialty coffee – helping farmers improve their processing, define a strategy for their farms, and find long-term buyers. Benjamin also shares his personal reasons for buying his own farm, running a coffee shop, and starting a roastery – to truly understand the producers’ perspective and to bring the benefits back to the community. Looking ahead, Benjamin is also part of our TW Biological Project and our ten-year plan to transition all the farms we work with towards regenerative agriculture. His farm is one of the pilot sites where we are already seeing promising results: reduced costs, renewed excitement among workers, and a clearer picture of what the land needs in terms of shade trees and biodiversity. With Benjamin’s involvement, we hope this knowledge can spread further in Santa Bárbara, creating a stronger and more sustainable coffee community. Music by my uncle Jens Wendelboe.
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Episode 46 - The Next Generation of Coffee - A Conversation with Yurany Roa Sanchez
In this episode, I sit down with Yurany Roa Sanchez, the daughter of Elias Roa and Bellanid Sanchez, the owners of Finca Tamana in Colombia. She grew up surrounded by coffee, first on her parents’ original farm in Acevedo and later at Finca Tamana in Pital, Huila. Now 26 years old, Yurany has a degree in International Business and although her original plan was not to work with coffee, she eventually changed her mind. Today, she manages her own farm while also helping her parents at Finca Tamana and assisting me with my farm, Finca el Suelo, which is located right next to theirs. To manage Finca el Suelo, Yurany works closely with Lalo Perez Varona and Ana Tejedo from Biofilia, who has been supporting us with knowhow since March this year. In this episode, we talk about what Yurani have done so far, the challenges she has faced in coffee production this year – such as finding enough workers during harvest – and her ambitions for the future. Yurany also shares her pride in her parents and their constant drive to improve and develop, as well as her own plans for her farm, Finca Tamana, and Finca el Suelo. Music by my uncle Jens Wendelboe.
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Episode 45 - Behind the Camera - A Conversation with Håkon Rydningen from Rammelaus
In this episode, I talk with Håkon Rydningen, filmmaker and founder of Rammelaus. We have had the pleasure of working with Håkon for the past five years – he is the person behind many of our videos, including the subscription videos. In 2023, Håkon travelled with me to Finca Tamana in Colombia to film the daily life on the farm and document all the work we have done with Elias and Bellanid over the years. Earlier this year, he also joined me on my annual trip to Honduras and El Salvador, where he filmed at Los Pirineos, Finca el Puente and Finca Nacimiento. In this episode we talk about Håkon’s background in film and photography, his relationship with coffee. Håkon has been a coffee enthusiast for quite some time which opens up for a conversation about what he knew about coffee before we started working together, and what his experience with coffee is today after seeing how coffee is produced. Håkon shares his thoughts on what it was like to be a “fly on the wall” during our trips to origin and how spending time on coffee farms changed his perspective on what quality coffee really means. We also talk about the similarities between filmmaking and coffee production, what Håkon has learned along the way, and how he now views the work we do at origin. If you have not yet seen the videos from Finca Tamana or Los Pirineos, you can find them on our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@TimWendelboeCoffee Music by my uncle Jens Wendelboe.
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Episode 44 - Norwegian Cup Taster Champion: A Conversation with Damian Bialek
In this episode, I sit down with Damian from our team, who became the Norwegian Cup Tasters Champion in March this year. Damian works both as a barista in our espresso bar and as a roaster in our roastery, and he has been part of the team since 2023. We talk about his journey into coffee, how he ended up working with us, and what it is like to work in Norway compared to his previous jobs. We also discuss how he brews coffee at home, what motivates him to keep learning, and how he approaches tasting and quality control in his daily work. As part of his prize for winning the national championship, Damian travelled to Honduras to take part as a judge in the Cup of Excellence – a competition for high-quality coffees. He shares his impressions from visiting coffee farms for the first time, what he learned from producers like Jobneel, and how seeing the production side of coffee has shaped his perspective. This week, Damian will represent Norway in the World Cup Tasters Championship in Geneva. We talk about his goals for the competition, how he has been preparing, and what he has learned about himself through the process. Music by my uncle, Jens Wendelboe.
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Episode 43 - Why is regenerative coffee farming the future? A conversation with Lalo Perez from Biofilia
In this episode, I sit down with Lalo Perez to talk about biological agriculture and how it differs from conventional coffee farming. Lalo begins by sharing his background in coffee, and how a frustrating remark, that there is no good coffee from Mexico, sparked his journey into biological agriculture and led to the founding of his company, Biofilia. We discuss what biological agriculture actually means, why it is needed, and how coffee farming must evolve in response to climate change. Lalo explains how farmers can make the shift in a practical and meaningful way, with a strong focus on bringing life back into the soil. We also speak about the commitment I have made to the farmers we work with: within ten years, all the coffee I purchase must be grown biologically without the use of harmful fertilizers and agrochemicals. All of them have agreed to take part in this transition, and we have launched pilot trials on six farms as part of what we call the "TW Biological Project". In these trials, we compare biological and conventional farming practices side by side in order to assess their impact over a three-year period. Lalo and his team at Biofilia are key partners in this project, and we are working closely with them to implement trials on all the farms we collaborate with. We talk about the changes we hope to see, and how we are working together to reach our long-term goals. Music by my uncle, Jens Wendelboe.
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