Making Coffee with Lucia Solis – Details, episodes & analysis

I was going to create a new episode about Infused vs Inoculated Coffees, but much of what we established back in Episode #39 is still relevant. So I am pulling a Taylor Swift and going to re-release a new version of episode 39, keeping what still works and adding some new perspectives from the last 3 years.

In this episode I talk about:

• The sugar and acid additions that French and California winemakers use
• How adding mango to a fermentation tank is completely different from adding passion fruit or citrus
• How to tell when a coffee is infused with a flavor
• Cinnamon flavor in a coffee
• Inoculation vs Infusion vs Co-Fermentation
• The role of enzymes in removing mucilage
• Gravity!

Inquiries about coffee samples or future Fermentation Training Camps: [email protected]

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Cover Art by: Nick Hafner
Into song: Elijah Bisbee

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On today's episode I will be updating you on the coffee we made this harvest season and speaking of the importance of blends.

If you’ve listened to even 1 other episode of this podcast, you’ll know that I'm usually trying to discourage the coffee industry from blindly adopting wine culture. Usually I share my thoughts that adopting a wine model benefits consumers more than producers and further accentuates inequality between the coffee buyers and coffee producers. Usually I believe the wine mode does more harm than good.

But here is a rare occasion where I think coffee could truly benefit from the wine model.

In this episode I talk about:

• Identity shift from a wine person to a coffee person
• Why coffee could benefit from adopting the wine vintage model
• How I approach blending coffee lots in the season
• Is Coffee Hunter an outdated term?
• My risky coffee sales strategy

Inquiries about coffee samples or future Fermentation Training Camps: [email protected]

Support the show on Patreon  to join our live Discord hangouts, and get access to research papers, transcripts and videos.

And if you don't want to commit, show your support here with a one time contribution: PayPal

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Cover Art by: Nick Hafner
Into song: Elijah Bisbee

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Today I bring you a long overdue second conversation with Pranoy from Kerehaklu in India. His first appearance on the podcast was EP#34 in May 2021

I have been wanting to catch up with Pranoy for more than 2 years, and after spending a week together processing coffee and learning we were able to sit down in Jakarta after the intense week of FTC and talk. 

In this new episode we talk about:

• How he has found new markets to export his coffee
• Advice for producers attending coffee Expos like SCA and MICE
• The impact of climate change on his farm, including the changing monsoon season.
• His approach to biodiversity.
• How Covid revived an interest in Indian farm life
• The lingering prejudices of the Indian caste system
• How Australian culture has influenced his life philosophy

RESOURCES
Inquiries about coffee samples or future Fermentation Training Camps: [email protected]

Support the show on Patreon  to join our live Discord hangouts, and get access to research papers, transcripts and videos.

And if you don't want to commit, show your support here with a one time contribution: PayPal

Sign up for the newsletter for behind the scenes pictures.

To connect with Pranoy:
Pranoy's Instagram
Kerehaklu Instagram
Website

Cover Art by: Nick Hafner
Into song: Elijah Bisbee

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Today I bring you a conversation with an extraordinary producer: Rani from Java Halu in Indonesia. I do not use this word lightly. Rani is a truly exceptional person and my new coffee crush.

I met her because she was the only woman who attended FTC Indonesia in June. Each previous FTC has been minimum 50% female, this is very important to me because so many coffee spaces are still very male dominated. 

During our plan for FTC Indonesia, I handed over many of the logistics to the Bandung Coffee Exchange team. It was only after 23 tickets were sold that I looked at the roaster and saw 22 males and 1 female. 

I thought this might make Rani a bit shy but I couldn’t have been more wrong.

In this episode we talk about:

• How her past influences her present
• how she developed her business acumen
• turning waste into new money
• civet coffee without civets
• the contradiction of “specialty wet-hulled” coffee
• why women are important to the sucess of her business
• the importance of getting research out of the lab and into the farms

RESOURCES
Inquiries about coffee samples or future Fermentation Training Camps: [email protected]

Support the show on Patreon  to join our live Discord hangouts, and get access to research papers, transcripts and videos.

And if you don't want to commit, show your support here with a one time contribution: PayPal

Sign up for the newsletter for behind the scenes pictures.

To connect with Rani:
Rani's Instagram
Java Halu Instagram
Website

Leo and Lisa 

Cover Art by: Nick Hafner
Into song: Elijah Bisbee

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The conversation with Tom Owen is wide ranging, but one main theme we talk about is coffee travel and tourism. How the host and guest dynamics play out including the unintentional burden we may be placing on coffee producers when we visit them.

Its an interesting time to be reflecting on the role of travel in coffee, since I just had a major trip to teach coffee fermentation. You’ll hear Tom bring this up when he asks me about FTC being a form of advanced tourism. 

Sweet Maria’s is an incredible resource for curious coffee nerds who want to learn about home roasting basics, green coffee quality, roast profiles and cupping. The website has an extensive coffee library and resource page, so I highly recommend you check it out if these topics interest you. 

In this episode we talk about:

• why he keeps traveling to coffee farms after 26 years
• what is the role of travel in coffee 
• when can we use Zoom & WhatsApp instead of hopping on a plane
• what is his approach to sourcing coffee
• how he is like a personal shopper
• etiquette when visiting a producer, what questions to ask ourselves before we visit
• the coffee hunter trope and caricatures of our industry

RESOURCES
Sweet Maria's Podcast episode #38-#39

Inquiries about coffee samples or future Fermentation Training Camps: [email protected]

Support the show on Patreon  to join our live Discord hangouts, and get access to research papers, transcripts and videos.

And if you don't want to commit, show your support here with a one time contribution: PayPal

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To connect with Tom:
Instagram
[email protected]

Cover Art by: Nick Hafner
Into song: Elijah Bisbee

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In this conversation I got to ask him how he feels differently about the coffee industry since our last conversation.

I highly recommend you listen to Ep #27 first, or as a refresher because we refer to that conversation frequently in this episode

In this episode I follow up with him on his thoughts on:

• coffee certifications and competitions
• his relationship with social media and sharing on reddit
• re-investing in the farm
• labor availability, what a coffee picker makes in a day in his region, 
• opening new markets with microlots 
• coffee tourism 
• beer yeast fermentations
• reforesting his farm and waste water treatment

Inquiries about coffee samples or future Fermentation Training Camps: [email protected]

Support the show on Patreon  to join our live Discord hangouts, and get access to research papers, transcripts and videos.

And if you don't want to commit, show your support here with a one time contribution: PayPal

Sign up for the newsletter for behind the scenes pictures.

To connect with Mark:
fincarosenheim.com
Instagram
Email: [email protected]

Cover Art by: Nick Hafner
Into song: Elijah Bisbee

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In this episode we talk about:

• Carbonic Maceration in winemaking
• Carbonic Maceration in coffee and best guidelines to follow
• How to process Robusta differently than Arabica
• Benefits of fermentation in coffee fruit vs green seed modification

Support the show on Patreon to join our live Discord hangouts.

And if you don't want to commit, show your support here with a one time contribution: PayPal

Sign up for the newsletter for behind the scenes pictures.

Resources

Modifying Robusta coffee aroma by green bean chemical pre-treatment. Published Food Chemistry volume 272 in January 2019.

Changes in the chemical and sensory profile of coffea canephora var. Conilon promoted by carbonic maceration. Published in agronomy in September 2022.

Cover Art by: Nick Hafner
Intro song: Elijah Bisbee

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Vava
Instagram
Website
Coffee Milk Blood Book

Paula
Instagram
Website

Lowell
Instagram
Website

Frankie
Instagram

Christopher Feran
Blog

Resources:
Sign up for the newsletter for behind the scenes pictures.
Support the show on Patreon to join our live Discord hangouts.

And if you don't want to commit, you can show your support here with a one time contribution: PayPal

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  Some of the questions I cover on today's episode involve:

-how do fruit added fermentations differ from microbe inoculation?

-my stance on the usefulness/benefits of probiotics

-can we taste yeast in the cup?

-what is the future of fermentation for the specialty coffee industry?

-we typically ferment cherries or wet parchment but what about fermenting green coffee?

-what is honey osmotic dehydration

-how can consumers navigate coffee labels when "fermented" coffee produces a wide range of flavors.

Resources:
 
Sign up for the newsletter for behind the scenes pictures.

Support the show on Patreon to join our live Discord hangouts.

And if you don't want to commit, you can show your support here with a one time contribution: PayPal

If you're interesting in joining me in Colombia in January
Fermentation Training Camp 3

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In this episode we talk about:

• Coffee production in Kenya
• The similarities between latin and african coffee production
• How we consumers perceive coffee producers vs how coffee producers would like to be seen
• The success paradox, when too much financial success can turn off some buyers 

Resources:

Support the show on Patreon to join our live Discord hangouts.

And if you don't want to commit, show your support here with a one time contribution: PayPal

Sign up for the newsletter for behind the scenes pictures.

If you're interesting in joining me in Colombia in January
Fermentation Training Camp 3

Vava Coffee Inc

A bit about Vava Angwenyi...
In 2009, Vava Angwenyi started VAVA COFFEE – a Benefit Corporation (B-corp) with a Social enterprise model that exports, roasts and consults on coffee value chains, the organization aims to contribute to better future prospects for coffee communities and the industry as a whole. The company ensures sustainable livelihoods for the people and communities in which it works. 

Vava is also the co-founder and director of business development & fundraising at GENTE DEL FUTURO (People of the Future). GDF formed in 2017 is an organization born out of a partnership between African Plantations Kilimanjaro, Vava Coffee and Oro Molido three private sector players within the coffee sector to tackle two of the main problems we face as an industry - Producer profitability and Next generation involvement. Gente Del Futuro’s focus is to amplify the voices of youth by creating economic empowerment, choices and sustainability for the coffee industry. The organization offers young people a unique and one of a kind learning opportunity by fusing coffee cultures and knowledge from three different growing origins : Tanzania, Kenya and Colombia.

Vava holds a Masters degree-Msc in International Finance and Management from University of Groningen as well as Certificate in Global Asset Management from Warrington College of Business, UF and a BSC in Statistics & Actuarial Science from University of Western Ontario- Canada. Vava’s vision is to challenge the status quo and promote positive social disruption within the Coffee industry. This vision comes from an inborn passion for transformative change and a drive to promote the sustainable production of coffee at various origins by tracing the production of high quality coffee beans to the independent smallholder coffee farmer, who works day in and day out, against major obstacles and with meager resources to produce some of the world’s best tasting coffees, often without an understanding or appreciation of the final fruits of their labor.

Vava is also a Q grader and was part of the 2015 IVLP program a prestigious State Department sponsored program. Vava Coffee has also been recognized over the years for its grassroots initiatives and contribution to smallholder farming communities and Youth in agriculture. Vava served on the SCA board 2019- 2020 on the Finance and Sustainability Committees. In 2019 Vava Coffee was recognized as a Best for the world community Honoree - B Corp.

Vava recently authored the book “Coffee Milk Blood”. Coffee Milk Blood is a project and book inspired by her own experience as an African woman in the industry and the theme of the book touches on appropriate storytelling/depiction of producers - how producers want to be seen beyond the coffee and as Women , the African woman, the culture of the place as well as underp

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