Filter Stories - Coffee Documentaries

This episode explores what a trade show actually feels like for a farmer who flew in on money his community pooled together, why a sausage dog opened a door that hundreds of cold emails couldn't, and why learning English may be a better investment for a farmer than a longer fermentation.
Part of The Coffee Producer Toolkit, a series made in collaboration with Lucia Solis, it will help you understand coffee farming better than most professionals you'll meet at a trade show.
Each episode takes one part of the farming business — agronomy, processing, fermentation, storage, quality, sales — and lays out what the best farms are actually doing.
 
Related podcast episodes:
Lucia:
#54: Visiting Producers, Advanced Tourism & The Coffee Hunter (farm visits, the buyer relationship)
#56: Pranoy Thipaia (finding export markets, expo advice)
#65: To Blend or Not to Blend? Wine Vintages, and Harvest Update (sales strategy, consistency over novelty)
Cabal Cafe Podcast en Espanol
James:
Filter Stories: The Hard Business of Selling Beautiful Coffee
 
Follow us through our newsletters and Social media:
 
Lucia’s Newsletter
James’s Newsletter
 
Lucia Instagram
James’ Filter Stories Instagram
 
People mentioned in the episode:
Diego Robelo — Aquiares Estate, Turrialba, Costa Rica
Cristian Reyes — Finca El Rodeo, Santander, Colombia
Cristian Reyes — Personal Instagram
Catherine Bedoya — Eje Cafetero, Colombia
Hamsini Appadurai — Sangameshwar Coffee Estates, Chikmagalur, India
Melissa de Gasperín — Rancho San Felipe, Veracruz, Mexico
Edilberto Tovar — Finca La Esmeralda, Huila, Colombia
Desnudo Coffee (Austin) — Austin, Texas, USA
Alejandro Rodríguez Delgado — Hacienda San Pedrito, Puerto Rico
César Marín — Chacra D'Dago, Peru
 
Resources: 
Algrano — Producer Sign Up
The list of 144 international trade shows
Clases Gratis de Inglés en linea - USA Learns
Clases Gratis de Inglés en linea - Voa News
English Accent Training
The SCA Coffee Value Assessment, Extrinsic Criteria List
PDFs of CVA Form in 7 languages
 
The Coffee Producer Toolkit is made possible by these leading coffee organisations:
 
The Coffee Quest | BWT | Descamex | InterAmerican | Pinhalense | Novonesis | GrainPro
 
Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here.Use ProfilePrint to find the coffee your customers loved last year (without a week of cupping!). Use promo code "FILTER" to get 10% off your first year of a Mini Beluga subscription. Click here to discover ProfilePrint's many uses. Support hundreds of thousands of coffee farmers with Fairtrade. Discover how here. Office coffee = easy recurring revenue. WMF’s Elevation 10 and Peak 50 do the work for you. Learn more here.  What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off. 

This episode explores why specialty coffee is a luxury business that runs on story more than flavour.
Part of The Coffee Producer Toolkit, a series made in collaboration with Lucia Solis, it will help you understand coffee farming better than most professionals you'll meet at a trade show.
Each episode takes one part of the farming business — agronomy, processing, fermentation, storage, quality, sales — and lays out what the best farms are actually doing.
 
Related podcast episodes:
Lucia:
#54: Visiting Producers, Advanced Tourism & The Coffee Hunter (farm visits, the buyer relationship)
#56: Pranoy Thipaia (finding export markets, expo advice)
#65: To Blend or Not to Blend? Wine Vintages, and Harvest Update (sales strategy, consistency over novelty)
Cabal Cafe Podcast en Espanol
James:
Filter Stories: The Hard Business of Selling Beautiful Coffee
 
Follow us through our newsletters and Social media:
 
Lucia’s Newsletter
James’s Newsletter
 
Lucia Instagram
James’ Filter Stories Instagram
 
People mentioned in the episode:
Diego Robelo — Aquiares Estate, Turrialba, Costa Rica
Cristian Reyes — Finca El Rodeo, Santander, Colombia
Cristian Reyes — Personal Instagram
Catherine Bedoya — Eje Cafetero, Colombia
Hamsini Appadurai — Sangameshwar Coffee Estates, Chikmagalur, India
Melissa de Gasperín — Rancho San Felipe, Veracruz, Mexico
Edilberto Tovar — Finca La Esmeralda, Huila, Colombia
Desnudo Coffee (Austin) — Austin, Texas, USA
Alejandro Rodríguez Delgado — Hacienda San Pedrito, Puerto Rico
César Marín — Chacra D'Dago, Peru
 
Resources: 
Algrano — Producer Sign Up
The list of 144 international trade shows
Clases Gratis de Inglés en linea - USA Learns
Clases Gratis de Inglés en linea - Voa News
English Accent Training
The SCA Coffee Value Assessment, Extrinsic Criteria List
PDFs of CVA Form in 7 languages
 
The Coffee Producer Toolkit is made possible by these leading coffee organisations:
 
The Coffee Quest | BWT | Descamex | InterAmerican | Pinhalense | Novonesis | GrainPro
 
Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here.Use ProfilePrint to find the coffee your customers loved last year (without a week of cupping!). Use promo code "FILTER" to get 10% off your first year of a Mini Beluga subscription. Click here to discover ProfilePrint's many uses. Support hundreds of thousands of coffee farmers with Fairtrade. Discover how here. Office coffee = easy recurring revenue. WMF’s Elevation 10 and Peak 50 do the work for you. Learn more here.  What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off. 

This episode explores why 30 cents a kilo is trivial for a large farm and unaffordable for a small one, the strange power imbalance that lets roasters define quality when nobody asks a winemaker what yeast they used, and how producers can talk to buyers who think starter cultures are cheating.
Part of The Coffee Producer Toolkit, a series made in collaboration with Lucia Solis, it will help you understand coffee farming better than most professionals you'll meet at a trade show.
Each episode takes one part of the farming business — agronomy, processing, fermentation, storage, quality, sales — and lays out what the best farms are actually doing. 
 
Please spread the word about Filter Stories!
 
Follow us on Instagram - James (@filterstoriespodcast)  and Lucia (@lluciasolis) - and tag us in an Instagram story. 
 
Discover how I make these Filter Stories episodes by subscribing to my Substack newsletter
Stay up to date with Lucia through her newsletter
 
Write a review on Apple Podcasts
 
Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify
 
Support James’ work directly by buying him a coffee at Ko-fi.com/FilterStories
Related podcast episodes:
Lucia:
#72: Planning Your First Coffee Fermentation Trials? Start Here. 
#76: How Commercial Microbes Threaten The Coffee Industry
#80: How Microbiology Can Explain Beginner's Luck
James:
Filter Stories - Coffee Quality, Part 1: The birth of specialty coffee flavours
 
People mentioned in the episode:
Lester Lerner, Old Willow Coffee, Colombia 
Victor Chala, Palma Rosa, Colombia 
Fridolin Stocker— Mount Sunzu, Zambia
Shyira washing station, Rwanda
Evangelos Filippatos, La Cabra
La Cabra, Copenhagen
Helen Riley — Novonesis
Gunne Øregaard — Novonesis
Franz Zeimetz — Lost Origin Coffee Labs, Panama
Alejandra Rodríguez Delgado — Hacienda San Pedrito, Puerto Rico
Gustavo Arroyo — Rancho Contento, Puerto Rico
 
Resources: 
pH meter & buffer
Thermometer
Novonesis Pichia yeast
Novonesis Lactobacillus bacteria
Pressure washer
Fermentation Log Sheet
Yeast’s impact on the environment in research on vineyards
Sprudge Best Of Panama coverage
Lucia’s Fermentation Training Camp
Coffee Wet Mill Sanitize
Opciones para la desinfección del beneficio
 
Cabal Cafe Podcast en Espanol
 
Lucia's Favorite Tools:
Temperature Gun
Ambient Temperature Sensor
Temperature Gun
pH meter & buffer solution
 
The Coffee Producer Toolkit is made possible by these leading coffee organisations:
 
The Coffee Quest | BWT | Descamex | InterAmerican | Pinhalense | Novonesis | GrainPro
 
Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here.Use ProfilePrint to find the coffee your customers loved last year (without a week of cupping!). Use promo code "FILTER" to get 10% off your first year of a Mini Beluga subscription. Click here to discover ProfilePrint's many uses. Support hundreds of thousands of coffee farmers with Fairtrade. Discover how here. Office coffee = easy recurring revenue. WMF’s Elevation 10 and Peak 50 do the work for you. Learn more here.  What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off. 

This episode explores why the specialty industry's obsession with exotic processing is a dangerous signal for farmers, five ways commercial microbes can make a farm more money, and what a well-run fermentation looks like on farms of very different sizes.
Part of The Coffee Producer Toolkit, a series made in collaboration with Lucia Solis, it will help you understand coffee farming better than most professionals you'll meet at a trade show.
Each episode takes one part of the farming business — agronomy, processing, fermentation, storage, quality, sales — and lays out what the best farms are actually doing. 
 
Please spread the word about Filter Stories!
 
Follow us on Instagram - James (@filterstoriespodcast)  and Lucia (@lluciasolis) - and tag us in an Instagram story. 
 
Discover how I make these Filter Stories episodes by subscribing to my Substack newsletter
Stay up to date with Lucia through her newsletter
 
Write a review on Apple Podcasts
 
Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify
 
Support James’ work directly by buying him a coffee at Ko-fi.com/FilterStories
Related podcast episodes:
Lucia:
#72: Planning Your First Coffee Fermentation Trials? Start Here. 
#76: How Commercial Microbes Threaten The Coffee Industry
#80: How Microbiology Can Explain Beginner's Luck
James:
Filter Stories - Coffee Quality, Part 1: The birth of specialty coffee flavours
 
People mentioned in the episode:
Lester Lerner, Old Willow Coffee, Colombia 
Victor Chala, Palma Rosa, Colombia 
Fridolin Stocker— Mount Sunzu, Zambia
Shyira washing station, Rwanda
Evangelos Filippatos, La Cabra
La Cabra, Copenhagen
Helen Riley — Novonesis
Gunne Øregaard — Novonesis
Franz Zeimetz — Lost Origin Coffee Labs, Panama
Alejandra Rodríguez Delgado — Hacienda San Pedrito, Puerto Rico
Gustavo Arroyo — Rancho Contento, Puerto Rico
 
Resources: 
pH meter & buffer
Thermometer
Novonesis Pichia yeast
Novonesis Lactobacillus bacteria
Pressure washer
Fermentation Log Sheet
Yeast’s impact on the environment in research on vineyards
Sprudge Best Of Panama coverage
Lucia’s Fermentation Training Camp
Coffee Wet Mill Sanitize
Opciones para la desinfección del beneficio
 
Cabal Cafe Podcast en Espanol
 
Lucia's Favorite Tools:
Temperature Gun
Ambient Temperature Sensor
Temperature Gun
pH meter & buffer solution
 
The Coffee Producer Toolkit is made possible by these leading coffee organisations:
 
The Coffee Quest | BWT | Descamex | InterAmerican | Pinhalense | Novonesis | GrainPro
 
Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here.Use ProfilePrint to find the coffee your customers loved last year (without a week of cupping!). Use promo code "FILTER" to get 10% off your first year of a Mini Beluga subscription. Click here to discover ProfilePrint's many uses. Support hundreds of thousands of coffee farmers with Fairtrade. Discover how here. Office coffee = easy recurring revenue. WMF’s Elevation 10 and Peak 50 do the work for you. Learn more here.  What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off. 

This episode explores why coffee is only fifteen years into a fermentation revolution that wine and bread went through millennia ago, what's actually happening inside the tank when microbes multiply into billions on their own, and why farmers who used to ferment as fast as possible are now trying to do the opposite. 
Part of The Coffee Producer Toolkit, a series made in collaboration with Lucia Solis, it will help you understand coffee farming better than most professionals you'll meet at a trade show.
Each episode takes one part of the farming business — agronomy, processing, fermentation, storage, quality, sales — and lays out what the best farms are actually doing. 
 
Please spread the word about Filter Stories!
 
Follow us on Instagram - James (@filterstoriespodcast)  and Lucia (@lluciasolis) - and tag us in an Instagram story. 
 
Discover how I make these Filter Stories episodes by subscribing to my Substack newsletter
Stay up to date with Lucia through her newsletter
 
Write a review on Apple Podcasts
 
Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify
 
Support James’ work directly by buying him a coffee at Ko-fi.com/FilterStories
Related podcast episodes:
Lucia:
#72: Planning Your First Coffee Fermentation Trials? Start Here. 
#76: How Commercial Microbes Threaten The Coffee Industry
#80: How Microbiology Can Explain Beginner's Luck
James:
Filter Stories - Coffee Quality, Part 1: The birth of specialty coffee flavours
 
People mentioned in the episode:
Lester Lerner, Old Willow Coffee, Colombia 
Victor Chala, Palma Rosa, Colombia 
Fridolin Stocker— Mount Sunzu, Zambia
Shyira washing station, Rwanda
Evangelos Filippatos, La Cabra
La Cabra, Copenhagen
Helen Riley — Novonesis
Gunne Øregaard — Novonesis
Franz Zeimetz — Lost Origin Coffee Labs, Panama
Alejandra Rodríguez Delgado — Hacienda San Pedrito, Puerto Rico
Gustavo Arroyo — Rancho Contento, Puerto Rico
 
Resources: 
pH meter & buffer
Thermometer
Novonesis Pichia yeast
Novonesis Lactobacillus bacteria
Pressure washer
Fermentation Log Sheet
Yeast’s impact on the environment in research on vineyards
Sprudge Best Of Panama coverage
Lucia’s Fermentation Training Camp
Coffee Wet Mill Sanitize
Opciones para la desinfección del beneficio
 
Cabal Cafe Podcast en Espanol
 
Lucia's Favorite Tools:
Temperature Gun
Ambient Temperature Sensor
Temperature Gun
pH meter & buffer solution
 
The Coffee Producer Toolkit is made possible by these leading coffee organisations:
 
The Coffee Quest | BWT | Descamex | InterAmerican | Pinhalense | Novonesis | GrainPro
 
Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here.Use ProfilePrint to find the coffee your customers loved last year (without a week of cupping!). Use promo code "FILTER" to get 10% off your first year of a Mini Beluga subscription. Click here to discover ProfilePrint's many uses. Support hundreds of thousands of coffee farmers with Fairtrade. Discover how here. Office coffee = easy recurring revenue. WMF’s Elevation 10 and Peak 50 do the work for you. Learn more here.  What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off. 

This episode explores how just a handful of cheap instruments can ensure quality is reproducible year-on-year, and the wastewater crisis poisoning rivers behind picture-perfect coffee farms.
Part of The Coffee Producer Toolkit, a series made in collaboration with Lucia Solis, it will help you understand coffee farming better than most professionals you'll meet at a trade show.
Each episode takes one part of the farming business — agronomy, processing, fermentation, storage, quality, sales — and lays out what the best farms are actually doing. 
 
Please spread the word about Filter Stories!
 
Follow us on Instagram - James (@filterstoriespodcast)  and Lucia (@lluciasolis) - and tag us in an Instagram story. 
 
Discover how I make these Filter Stories episodes by subscribing to my Substack newsletter
Stay up to date with Lucia through her newsletter
 
Write a review on Apple Podcasts
 
Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify
 
Support James’ work directly by buying him a coffee at Ko-fi.com/FilterStories
 
Related podcast episodes:
Lucia:
Making Coffee with Lucia Solis — How to De-Funkify your Naturals
Making Coffee with Lucia Solis — Germination: A Close Look at Coffee Drying
James:
Filter Stories: Why One Colombian Farmer Chose Specialty, and the Other Walked Away
 
People mentioned in the episode:
Lester Lerner, Old Willow Coffee, Colombia
Orlando Osorio, La Primavera, Colombia
Astrid Medina, Tolima, Colombia
David Velásquez, Los Naranjos, El Salvador
Jesús Antonio Chala, Finca El Silencio, Colombia
Victor Chala, Palma Rosa, Colombia 
Melissa de Gasperín, Rancho San Felipe, Córdoba, Mexico
Norberto Suárez, Boquete, Panama
César Marín, Chacra D'Dago, Peru
Manuel Matta, Santa Maria, Colombia
 
Resources:
Innovakit: canguaro (picking sleeves)
Pinhalense Cherry Floater
Pinhalense Vertical Pulper
Pinhalense Mechanical Dryers
Tolva — Plastic Vertical Hopper
Moisture Meter (Mid Tier)
Moisture Meter (High End)
Cenicafé Low-Water Wet Milling (Ecomill-type systems)
Flávio Borém Drying Research
DIY Moisture Maths (weight + fixed volume)
 
Lucia's Favorite Tools:
Temperature Gun
Ambient Temperature Sensor
Temperature Probe
pH meter & buffer solution
 
The Coffee Producer Toolkit is made possible by these leading coffee organisations:
 
The Coffee Quest | BWT | Descamex | InterAmerican | Pinhalense | Novonesis | GrainPro
 
 
Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here.Use ProfilePrint to find the coffee your customers loved last year (without a week of cupping!). Use promo code "FILTER" to get 10% off your first year of a Mini Beluga subscription. Click here to discover ProfilePrint's many uses. Support hundreds of thousands of coffee farmers with Fairtrade. Discover how here. Office coffee = easy recurring revenue. WMF’s Elevation 10 and Peak 50 do the work for you. Learn more here.  What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off. 
Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here.Use ProfilePrint to find the coffee your customers loved last year (without a week of cupping!). Use promo code "FILTER" to get 10% off your first year of a Mini Beluga subscription. Click here to discover ProfilePrint's many uses. Support hundreds of thousands of coffee farmers with Fairtrade. Discover how here. Office coffee = easy recurring revenue. WMF’s Elevation 10 and Peak 50 do the work for you. Learn more here.  What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off. 

This episode explores the simple drying mistakes that compromise months of careful work, and the low-cost fixes that protect a coffee's shelf life and flavour.
Part of The Coffee Producer Toolkit, a series made in collaboration with Lucia Solis, it will help you understand coffee farming better than most professionals you'll meet at a trade show.
Each episode takes one part of the farming business — agronomy, processing, fermentation, storage, quality, sales — and lays out what the best farms are actually doing. 
 
Please spread the word about Filter Stories!
 
Follow us on Instagram - James (@filterstoriespodcast)  and Lucia (@lluciasolis) - and tag us in an Instagram story. 
 
Discover how I make these Filter Stories episodes by subscribing to my Substack newsletter
Stay up to date with Lucia through her newsletter
 
Write a review on Apple Podcasts
 
Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify
 
Support James’ work directly by buying him a coffee at Ko-fi.com/FilterStories
 
Related podcast episodes:
Lucia:
Making Coffee with Lucia Solis — How to De-Funkify your Naturals
Making Coffee with Lucia Solis — Germination: A Close Look at Coffee Drying
James:
Filter Stories: Why One Colombian Farmer Chose Specialty, and the Other Walked Away
 
People mentioned in the episode:
Lester Lerner, Old Willow Coffee, Colombia
Orlando Osorio, La Primavera, Colombia
Astrid Medina, Tolima, Colombia
David Velásquez, Los Naranjos, El Salvador
Jesús Antonio Chala, Finca El Silencio, Colombia
Victor Chala, Palma Rosa, Colombia 
Melissa de Gasperín, Rancho San Felipe, Córdoba, Mexico
Norberto Suárez, Boquete, Panama
César Marín, Chacra D'Dago, Peru
Manuel Matta, Santa Maria, Colombia
 
Resources:
Innovakit: canguaro (picking sleeves)
Pinhalense Cherry Floater
Pinhalense Vertical Pulper
Pinhalense Mechanical Dryers
Tolva — Plastic Vertical Hopper
Moisture Meter (Mid Tier)
Moisture Meter (High End)
Cenicafé Low-Water Wet Milling (Ecomill-type systems)
Flávio Borém Drying Research
DIY Moisture Maths (weight + fixed volume)
 
Lucia's Favorite Tools:
Temperature Gun
Ambient Temperature Sensor
Temperature Probe
pH meter & buffer solution
 
The Coffee Producer Toolkit is made possible by these leading coffee organisations:
 
The Coffee Quest | BWT | Descamex | InterAmerican | Pinhalense | Novonesis | GrainPro
 
 
Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here.Use ProfilePrint to find the coffee your customers loved last year (without a week of cupping!). Use promo code "FILTER" to get 10% off your first year of a Mini Beluga subscription. Click here to discover ProfilePrint's many uses. Support hundreds of thousands of coffee farmers with Fairtrade. Discover how here. Office coffee = easy recurring revenue. WMF’s Elevation 10 and Peak 50 do the work for you. Learn more here.  What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off. 
Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here.Use ProfilePrint to find the coffee your customers loved last year (without a week of cupping!). Use promo code "FILTER" to get 10% off your first year of a Mini Beluga subscription. Click here to discover ProfilePrint's many uses. Support hundreds of thousands of coffee farmers with Fairtrade. Discover how here. Office coffee = easy recurring revenue. WMF’s Elevation 10 and Peak 50 do the work for you. Learn more here.  What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off. 

This episode explores why chasing avant-garde processing before nailing the basics is a trap for most producers, the brutal economics behind selectively picking and ways to sort coffee cherries in the wet mill. 
Part of The Coffee Producer Toolkit, a series made in collaboration with Lucia Solis, it will help you understand coffee farming better than most professionals you'll meet at a trade show.
Each episode takes one part of the farming business — agronomy, processing, fermentation, storage, quality, sales — and lays out what the best farms are actually doing. 
 
Please spread the word about Filter Stories!
 
Follow us on Instagram - James (@filterstoriespodcast)  and Lucia (@lluciasolis) - and tag us in an Instagram story. 
 
Discover how I make these Filter Stories episodes by subscribing to my Substack newsletter
Stay up to date with Lucia through her newsletter
 
Write a review on Apple Podcasts
 
Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify
 
Support James’ work directly by buying him a coffee at Ko-fi.com/FilterStories
 
Related podcast episodes:
Lucia:
Making Coffee with Lucia Solis — How to De-Funkify your Naturals
Making Coffee with Lucia Solis — Germination: A Close Look at Coffee Drying
James:
Filter Stories: Why One Colombian Farmer Chose Specialty, and the Other Walked Away
 
People mentioned in the episode:
Lester Lerner, Old Willow Coffee, Colombia
Orlando Osorio, La Primavera, Colombia
Astrid Medina, Tolima, Colombia
David Velásquez, Los Naranjos, El Salvador
Jesús Antonio Chala, Finca El Silencio, Colombia
Victor Chala, Palma Rosa, Colombia 
Melissa de Gasperín, Rancho San Felipe, Córdoba, Mexico
Norberto Suárez, Boquete, Panama
César Marín, Chacra D'Dago, Peru
Manuel Matta, Santa Maria, Colombia
 
Resources:
Innovakit: canguaro (picking sleeves)
Pinhalense Cherry Floater
Pinhalense Vertical Pulper
Pinhalense Mechanical Dryers
Tolva — Plastic Vertical Hopper
Moisture Meter (Mid Tier)
Moisture Meter (High End)
Cenicafé Low-Water Wet Milling (Ecomill-type systems)
Flávio Borém Drying Research
DIY Moisture Maths (weight + fixed volume)
 
Lucia's Favorite Tools:
Temperature Gun
Ambient Temperature Sensor
Temperature Probe
pH meter & buffer solution
 
The Coffee Producer Toolkit is made possible by these leading coffee organisations:
 
The Coffee Quest | BWT | Descamex | InterAmerican | Pinhalense | Novonesis | GrainPro
 
Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here.Use ProfilePrint to find the coffee your customers loved last year (without a week of cupping!). Use promo code "FILTER" to get 10% off your first year of a Mini Beluga subscription. Click here to discover ProfilePrint's many uses. Support hundreds of thousands of coffee farmers with Fairtrade. Discover how here. Office coffee = easy recurring revenue. WMF’s Elevation 10 and Peak 50 do the work for you. Learn more here.  What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off. 
Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here.Use ProfilePrint to find the coffee your customers loved last year (without a week of cupping!). Use promo code "FILTER" to get 10% off your first year of a Mini Beluga subscription. Click here to discover ProfilePrint's many uses. Support hundreds of thousands of coffee farmers with Fairtrade. Discover how here. Office coffee = easy recurring revenue. WMF’s Elevation 10 and Peak 50 do the work for you. Learn more here.  What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off. 

This episode explores what plants really need from the soil beneath them, and the labour shortage forcing farms to rethink how the work gets done.
Part of The Coffee Producer Toolkit, a series made in collaboration with Lucia Solis, it will help you understand coffee farming better than most professionals you'll meet at a trade show.
Each episode takes one part of the farming business — agronomy, processing, fermentation, storage, quality, sales — and lays out what the best farms are actually doing. 
 
Please spread the word about Filter Stories!
 
Follow us on Instagram - James (@filterstoriespodcast)  and Lucia (@lluciasolis) - and tag us in an Instagram story. 
 
Discover how I make these Filter Stories episodes by subscribing to my Substack newsletter
Stay up to date with Lucia through her newsletter
 
Write a review on Apple Podcasts
 
Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify
 
Support James’ work directly by buying him a coffee at Ko-fi.com/FilterStories
 
Related podcast episodes:
Lucia:
#79: Farm First: Lalo Perez on Long-Term Coffee Health
 
James:
The Science of Coffee: The Magic of Soils
The Science of Coffee: Plant Genetics
 
People mentioned in the episode:
Fernando Castillo Guatemala
Paulino Quintero, Colombia
Orlando Osoria, Colombia
Julia Ortega, Mexico
Sergio de la Vequia, Mexico
Hugo Lopez, Innovakit
Manuel Mata, Colombia
Sam Knowlton, Soil Symbiotics
Lalo Perez, Biofilia 
 
Resources:
Anacafe technical management 
Coffee Cascara Compost Guidelines (English) 
Compostaje de la pulpa/cáscara de café (Espanol)
Netafim Drip Irrigation manual
Innovakit: abonador (fertiliser applicator) 
Innovakit: aroplateo (tree guard for weed whacking) 
Innovakit: selector de arvenses (low-drift sprayer)
Innovakit: canguaro (sleeves) 
World Coffee Research variety catalogue
Recommended varieties: Centroamericano, H1, H16, Mundo Maya
Coffee&Climate Toolbox
Access Agriculture
World Coffee Research Resources
Barista Hustle’s Coffee Farm Management series
 
The Coffee Producer Toolkit is made possible by these leading coffee organisations:
 
The Coffee Quest | BWT | Descamex | InterAmerican | Pinhalense | Novonesis | GrainPro
 
Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here.Use ProfilePrint to find the coffee your customers loved last year (without a week of cupping!). Use promo code "FILTER" to get 10% off your first year of a Mini Beluga subscription. Click here to discover ProfilePrint's many uses. Support hundreds of thousands of coffee farmers with Fairtrade. Discover how here. Office coffee = easy recurring revenue. WMF’s Elevation 10 and Peak 50 do the work for you. Learn more here.  What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off. 
Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here.Use ProfilePrint to find the coffee your customers loved last year (without a week of cupping!). Use promo code "FILTER" to get 10% off your first year of a Mini Beluga subscription. Click here to discover ProfilePrint's many uses. Support hundreds of thousands of coffee farmers with Fairtrade. Discover how here. Office coffee = easy recurring revenue. WMF’s Elevation 10 and Peak 50 do the work for you. Learn more here.  What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off. 

This episode explores the growing water crisis in coffee farming, why farmers are drawn to risky coffee varieties and coffee farming's hidden cashflow traps.
Part of The Coffee Producer Toolkit, a series made in collaboration with Lucia Solis, this series will help you understand coffee farming better than most professionals you'll meet at a trade show.
Each episode takes one part of the farming business — agronomy, processing, fermentation, storage, quality, sales — and lays out what the best farms are actually doing. 
 
 
Please spread the word about Filter Stories!
 
Follow us on Instagram - James (@filterstoriespodcast)  and Lucia (@lluciasolis) - and tag us in an Instagram story. 
 
Discover how I make these Filter Stories episodes by subscribing to my Substack newsletter
Stay up to date with Lucia through her newsletter
 
Write a review on Apple Podcasts
 
Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify
 
Support James’ work directly by buying him a coffee at Ko-fi.com/FilterStories
 
Related podcast episodes:
Lucia:
#79: Farm First: Lalo Perez on Long-Term Coffee Health
 
James:
The Science of Coffee: The Magic of Soils
The Science of Coffee: Plant Genetics
 
People mentioned in the episode:
Fernando Castillo Guatemala
Paulino Quintero, Colombia
Orlando Osoria, Colombia
Julia Ortega, Mexico
Sergio de la Vequia, Mexico
Hugo Lopez, Innovakit
Manuel Mata, Colombia
Sam Knowlton, Soil Symbiotics
Lalo Perez, Biofilia 
 
Resources:
Anacafe technical management 
Coffee Cascara Compost Guidelines (English) 
Compostaje de la pulpa/cáscara de café (Espanol)
Netafim Drip Irrigation manual
Innovakit: abonador (fertiliser applicator) 
Innovakit: aroplateo (tree guard for weed whacking) 
Innovakit: selector de arvenses (low-drift sprayer)
Innovakit: canguaro (sleeves) 
World Coffee Research variety catalogue
Recommended varieties: Centroamericano, H1, H16, Mundo Maya
Coffee&Climate Toolbox
Access Agriculture
World Coffee Research Resources
Barista Hustle’s Coffee Farm Management series
 
The Coffee Producer Toolkit is made possible by these leading coffee organisations:
 
The Coffee Quest | BWT | Descamex | InterAmerican | Pinhalense | Novonesis | GrainPro
Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here.Use ProfilePrint to find the coffee your customers loved last year (without a week of cupping!). Use promo code "FILTER" to get 10% off your first year of a Mini Beluga subscription. Click here to discover ProfilePrint's many uses. Support hundreds of thousands of coffee farmers with Fairtrade. Discover how here. Office coffee = easy recurring revenue. WMF’s Elevation 10 and Peak 50 do the work for you. Learn more here.  What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off. 
Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here.Use ProfilePrint to find the coffee your customers loved last year (without a week of cupping!). Use promo code "FILTER" to get 10% off your first year of a Mini Beluga subscription. Click here to discover ProfilePrint's many uses. Support hundreds of thousands of coffee farmers with Fairtrade. Discover how here. Office coffee = easy recurring revenue. WMF’s Elevation 10 and Peak 50 do the work for you. Learn more here.  What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off.