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This week we're doing a deep dive on the AeroPress. Where it came from, why it's stuck around for so long, and why we still think it deserves a spot on every coffee bar. It's different enough from a pourover or espresso, we share our go-to recipes. Nic's AeroPress RecipeInverted 1:8.4 ratio 25g Coffee 210°F (99°C)00:00 - 00:20: Carefully pour to 150g Screw on cap Singular gentle swirl, incoroporating all the grounds. 01:05: Flip AeroPress Slowly press without overpressing until all water has left the puck Add 60g bypass Enjoy! https://aeropress.com 0:00 Intro 0:41 Forgotten AeroPresses 3:34 The AeroPress 4:35 What Zero Bypass Means 7:07 Origin Story: Alan Adler and the Aerobie 9:32 The AeroPress Go 11:14 The AeroPress Clear 16:28 The AeroPress XL 17:59 The AeroPress Premium (Glass) 22:32 What Makes the AeroPress Unique 28:56 Nic's AeroPress Recipe 35:49 Iced AeroPress? 41:01 Is It a Must-Have? 43:11 The AeroPress Stainless Steel 51:17 Wrap Up

New to Specialty Coffee? You're in the right place. On today's episode we go over the 3 stages we'd point anyone towards; Cafe, Learning and Home Brewing. Along the way we get into why "acquired taste" isn't a real argument against a coffee, what to order first, and how much you actually need to spend to brew well at home. Books and resources mentioned: The World Atlas of Coffee by James Hoffman https://www.amazon.com/World-Atlas-Coffee-3rd-explained/dp/1784729868/ref=sr_1_1 Cafe Imports ed+u https://edubycafeimports.thinkific.com Gear: Fellow Stagg EKG Kettlehttps://fellow.sjv.io/kettle Baratza Encore ESPhttps://www.baratza.com/en-us/product/encoretm-esp-zcg495 Fellow Opus 2 https://fellow.sjv.io/opus-2 Hario v60 https://www.hario-usa.com/products/vd-01t Kalita Wave https://kalitausa.com/products/kalita-wave-185-stainless-steel-coffee-dripper Fellow Espresso Series 1 https://fellow.sjv.io/series-1 Meraki Espresso Machine https://tidd.ly/4ukKTDh 0:00 Intro 1:11 Drinking Cortados Tonight 3:25 Getting Into Specialty Coffee 4:52 You Don't Have to "Acquire" a Taste 7:56 Stage 1: The Cafe 9:12 What to Look For in a Good Cafe 13:01 Talk to Your Barista 14:13 The Free Coffee Bet 16:00 Milk Drinks vs. Filter Coffee 23:58 Start a Coffee Notebook 30:34 Stage 2: Learning 36:20 Stage 3: Home Brewing 39:09 Building a Budget Setup 45:33 Why Water Matters 48:35 Dialing In Your Recipe 53:26 Knowing What You Like 55:16 The Best Cup of Coffee 57:50 Wrap Up

We catch up after a short break, recap Roast Retreat 2026 in Detroit, run through a wave of new coffees currently at Mundos, and share details on the Fermentation Project. Fermentation Box Set: https://www.mundosroastingco.com/coffee/p/fermentation-box-set James Hoffmann Fermentation Project Video: https://youtu.be/Iq34gq2ihMk?si=B3W4Q_zYt2HF2jH5 Podium Coffee Club: https://tidd.ly/4qo2NCs 0:00 The Fermentation Project 0:33 Intro 4:43 What We're Drinking 8:20 Coffee Bag Design Talk 12:21 Roast Retreat 2026 Recap 20:30 What's New at Mundos 22:31 Tangent: Why Cold Drinks Taste Sweeter 32:37 Rabbit Hole 43:39 What is The Fermentation Project? 53:44 Box Set, Tasting Event 59:22 Outro

We tackle one of coffee's most argued-about habits: rinsing your paper filter before you brew. Through a series of taste tests, we try to figure out whether it actually changes anything in the cup, or if it's just something we all do out of habit. Do you rinse your paper filter before brewing? 0:00 Intro 1:23 Does Rinsing Your Filter Matter?  3:19 Setting Up Test  6:56 Tasting the Rinse Water  12:19 Do Different Filters Change the Outcome?  15:17 Does Pre-Wetting Affect Filtration?  17:01 Hot Rinse vs Cold Rinse  24:42 What We're Drinking  32:00 Brewing the Real Test  41:56 Blind Taste Test: V60  47:26 Round Two: Kalita  54:20 What Actually Caused the Difference?

Gabe Boscana has spent 26 years in specialty coffee, from barista at Gimme! Coffee to National Roasting Manager at Intelligentsia, Green Coffee Director at Sightglass, founder of his own roastery Máquina, and now Green Coffee Buyer at Bellwether Coffee. In this episode, we sit down with Gabe to talk about what it really means to buy green coffee, why the C-Market doesn't tell the full story, and what cafe owners need to understand about where their coffee actually comes from. One of the more honest conversations we've had on this show. 0:00 Intro  0:57 Gabe's 26-Year Career in Specialty Coffee  3:19 What Drew Gabe to Green Coffee Buying  12:06 The Real Impact of Fair Prices on Farmers  16:58 Should Roasters Rename Coffees to Make Them Marketable?  22:11 Curating Bellwether's Coffee Marketplace  35:06 Why Coffee Costs What It Costs  42:43 How the Rising C-Market Affected Quality  48:56 What New Roasters Underestimate  59:04 What Cafe Owners Should Understand About Green Coffee  59:46 If Gabe Could Change One Thing About Pricing

Batch espresso scares us. Not because it's bad, but because what if it's actually good?  When Valor Coffee posted that they were testing batch espresso, it got us thinking about the "shots die" rule and whether any of that actually holds up in a blind taste test. We get into the tradeoffs, the perception problem on the cafe side, and what you're really giving up when you pull the barista further from the drink.  What We're Drinking: https://www.mundosroastingco.com/coffee/p/colombia-cesar-ledesma-pink-bourbon Say hi: [email protected] equalpartscoffee.com 00:00 Intro 02:29 What We're Drinking 10:14 Valor Coffee 11:35 The Batched Espresso Dillemma 13:44 Blind taste test 16:00 First Attempt 20:15 Round 2 22:52 Results 27:31 Batch Espresso vs. Cold Brew Concentrate 32:03 Speed, Quality, Perception 34:20 The Barista Experience 37:39 Wrap Up

Meraki Gen 2: https://tidd.ly/4ukKTDh Podium Coffee Club: https://tidd.ly/4qo2NCs We got our hands on the Meraki Gen 2 espresso machine and have been using it daily. Built-in grinder, dual boiler, integrated scales for both grinding and brewing. On paper it has everything. In this episode we share our honest first impressions, break down what makes it stand out, and compare it to other machines in the same price range. Meraki sent us this machine but did not sponsor this video. Full review coming soon. 0:00 Intro 1:33 Are We Espresso or Milk? 6:33 Podium Coffee Club 7:07 What We're Drinking 8:21 Potato Defect Tangent 9:40 Tasting the Coffee 10:50 Meraki Gen 2 13:08 Ease of Use & Build Quality 14:02 What's Included in the Box 16:06 Meraki vs ES1 18:10 Built-In Grinder 19:35 Integrated Scales 25:10 Dual Boiler Benefits 29:09 Steam Wand Performance 33:10 Temperature Probe & Auto-Stop Feature 39:04 Menu Settings & Customization 41:51 Pre-Infusion Settings 43:39 The Car Analogy: Where Does the Meraki Fit? 45:21 Who Is This Machine For? 47:04 What's Coming Next

Morgan Eckroth: 2022 US Barista Champion, content creator, and Onyx Coffee Lab team member, sits down with us for an honest conversation about what it takes to compete at the highest level of coffee, how she builds signature drinks from scratch, and why hospitality is the thing she cares about most. Find Morgan at @morgandrinkscoffee on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, and on Substack at Coffee for Here. 0:31 Introductions 1:41 What We're Drinking 4:33 Who is Morgan Eckroth? 7:40 What is the US Barista Championship? 10:03 How Morgan Prepares for Competition 12:17 Bringing Competition Drinks to Cafes 14:06 Coffee Meets Cocktail Culture 16:49 Morgan's Creative Process 20:20 Culinary Influences in Coffee 21:29 Widening the Lens Beyond Coffee 22:44 From Barista to Career 24:10 When Coffee Became More Than a Job 25:55 Making Competition Accessible 27:40 The Power of Coffee Community 29:46 Advice for Aspiring Competitors 33:39 Defining Your Own Success 34:53 Morgan's Favorite Drink 37:44 Savory & Umami in Coffee 40:31 Fostering Creativity in Your Cafe 42:30 Barista League & Lowering Barriers 43:47 How to Start Preparing Now 45:25 The Future of Specialty Coffee 47:18 The Importance of Hospitality 49:19 Where to Find Morgan

Fellow Espresso Series 1: https://fellow.sjv.io/series-1 We've had some time with the Fellow ES1. Enough to move past first impressions and actually talk about it. In this episode we get into everyday home use, steaming, shot consistency, the price conversation, and where we think home espresso is heading. ☕️ What We're DrinkingColombia Finca El Chaferote II from Prodigal Coffee RoastersAiden Profile: https://brew.link/p/8jC2 Firmware video: https://youtu.be/2CS3TP-9aBE?si=Gv7b46Kch5plRh4c 0:00 - Open 1:12 - Intro 2:53 - What We're Drinking 7:24 - Owning the ES1 8:35 - Milk Steaming 10:33 - Full-size steam wand & drip tray thoughts 13:04 - Shot-to-shot consistency at home 15:18 - Why the ES1? 18:43 - App Integration Ideas 19:26 - The Bluetooth Lever Tangent 22:17 - Rabbit Hole 26:16 - Features we want to see fixed/added 27:30 - The hidden hot water spout. 33:46 - Who should (and shouldn't) buy this machine 38:33 - The home espresso grinder gap 41:22 - Fellow Opus 2 first thoughts 46:03 - Where home espresso is heading 49:34 - Outro

Nick Terzulli didn't set out to reinvent home espresso. He started with a latte at Sightglass, a honeymoon in Barcelona, and a medical engineering background he couldn't stop applying to coffee problems. Now, as VP of R&D at Fellow, he's the person behind one of the most talked-about espresso machines to hit the market in years — the Espresso Series 1. In this episode, Nick breaks down the boosted boiler architecture that makes the Series 1 tick, why shot-to-shot consistency has been the white whale of home espresso, and how building the Aiden brewer laid the foundation for everything that came after. He also gets into burr design, why unimodal isn't always better, and what it actually takes to bring a product from a blank piece of paper to thousands of people's countertops. Find Nick: Instagram: @nicholasnumbers LinkedIn: Nicholas Terzulli Equal Parts Coffee is a podcast about the people, gear, and ideas shaping specialty coffee. New episodes drop every other week. Subscribe so you don't miss one. 0:00 Intro 0:40 Welcome & Guest Introduction 1:14 What Nick Does at Fellow 1:53 How Nick Got Into Specialty Coffee 3:30 From Coffee Lover to Coffee Engineer 8:24 First Espresso Machine 9:42 Was Espresso Always in Fellow's Roadmap? 17:17 How Aiden Influenced Series 1 18:40 The Boosted Boiler Explained 21:39 The Challenge of 120V Home Espresso 22:17 Designing Three Machines 24:06 Fellow's Growth as a Company 27:22 Series 1 Dev Time 34:44 For the Casual Home Barista 38:21 Designing for Everyone 41:38 Shot-to-Shot Consistency 44:40 Reliability & Longevity 48:21 Repairability & Refurbishment Facility 54:19 Unimodal vs Bimodal Grind Distribution 57:41 The Hardest Thing Nick Has Done 1:02:08 Rapid Fire 1:06:27 Wrap Up & Where to Find Nick

Tea in a specialty coffee cafe, should you even bother? In Episode 33, we dig into one of the more overlooked questions in cafe ownership: how (and whether) to build out a tea program without letting it pull focus from the coffee that brought people in the door. We cover matcha: its place on the menu, how to source it, and the case for and against batching. Why a bad tea experience can quietly damage your reputation just as much as a bad espresso. If you're opening a cafe, already running one, or just really passionate about what goes across the bar, this one's for you. We are drinking Colombia Buesaco from Jack's roastery Mundos Coffee - www.mundosroastingco.com 00:00 Intro 03:00 What We're Drinking 07:43 Should Cafes Offer Tea? 10:55 Finding Your Cafe's Philosophy 13:25 How Mundos Built Its Tea Program 18:13 Types of Tea a Cafe Can Offer 21:01 Matcha's Place in the Cafe 26:08 Getting Creative with Matcha 30:07 Choosing the Right Matcha Grade 38:46 Batching Matcha: Pros & Cons 47:37 The Cold Water Matcha Method 52:16 Iced Teas & Seasonal Drinks 56:38 Loose Leaf Tea Essentials 1:00:34 Wrap-Up & Final Thoughts

Podium Coffee Club - https://tidd.ly/4qo2NCs Co-fermentation has exploded in the coffee industry. Farmers are fermenting coffee with fruits, hops, and exotic yeasts to create wild new flavors. Some see it as innovation that helps farmers add value to their crops. Others see it as a shortcut that's damaging the pursuit of natural coffee excellence. The debate got real when Best of Panama 2024 outright banned all co-fermented and infused coffees from competition. So what's really going on? Is this the future of specialty coffee, or are we losing something important? We break down co-fermentation vs infusion, the farmer economics, competition implications, and our honest take after tasting dozens of these experimental coffees. We're drinking Colombia Galaxy Hops Co-ferment from Freelance Coffee. - freelancecoffeeproject.com Want to experience award-winning coffees like the one we're drinking in this episode? Podium Coffee Club is a monthly subscription that sends you coffees exclusively from roasters who've won championships and competitions. Every coffee has been recognized for excellence, so you're guaranteed something special each month. It's how we discover incredible roasters we might never find otherwise. Sign up using our link and support the podcast https://tidd.ly/4qo2NCs Let us know what's your take on co-ferments? Are you team innovation or team purist? 👇 0:00 Industry Standards 0:31 What We're Drinking 3:38 Podium Coffee Club 8:04 What Is Co-Fermentation? 10:03 Fermentation Refresher 21:00 Co-Fermentation vs. Infusion 27:37 Pros & Cons 38:12 Consumer Perspective & Transparency 42:44 Co-Ferments in Competition 44:46 Purist Philosophy & Industry Direction 53:47 Listener Questions

Podium Coffee Club - https://tidd.ly/4qo2NCs Want to experience award-winning coffees like the one we're drinking in this episode? Podium Coffee Club is a monthly subscription that sends you coffees exclusively from roasters who've won championships and competitions. Every coffee has been recognized for excellence, so you're guaranteed something special each month. It's how we discover incredible roasters we might never find otherwise. Sign up using our link and support the podcast Companies are claiming "mold-free" and "mycotoxin-free" coffee, implying that regular coffee is contaminated with dangerous toxins that survive roasting and are slowly poisoning you. But is any of this actually true? We examined lab tests comparing cheap grocery store coffee, specialty coffee, and "certified mold-free" brands. What we found about mycotoxin levels might surprise you. The question is: should you be worried about what's in your daily brew, or is this just expensive marketing preying on health-conscious consumers? We're drinking: Goshen Coffee Roasters Colombian co-fermented with wine yeast and lychee Thank you to James Hoffmann for conducting the lab testing we reference. Studies  Determination of potentially mycotoxigenic fungi in coffee: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6049681/ 0:00 - Intro 1:45 - What We're Drinking 2:31 - Co-Fermented Coffee  9:49 - Is Your Coffee Moldy? 10:32 - The Mold Marketing Trend 13:34 - What Are Mycotoxins? 15:41 - Mold Survives Roasting 19:02 - James Hoffman's Testing 22:28 - Results 25:20 - Specialty Coffee Standards 28:00 - Coffee Storage & Freshness 35:04 - Final Verdict on Mold 45:30 - Outro

In this special 30th episode, we sit down with Ryan Castelaz, founder of Discourse Coffee and author of "The New Art of Coffee." Ryan shares his unconventional journey from aspiring opera singer to coffee entrepreneur, and reveals how he transformed a tiny shop in a town of 600 people into a thriving hospitality group. Ryan Castelaz is the Founder of Discourse Coffee & The Afterglow Group Author of "The New Art of Coffee"Creator of Agency (Milwaukee's James Beard-nominated hybrid cocktail lounge) Instagram: @ryan.castelazWebsite: discourse.coffee  "The New Art of Coffee" - Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, William Sonoma, Onyx Coffee Labs 0:00 - Intro 0:52 - Building Discourse  2:50 - From Flavor Science to Coffee Innovation 3:37 - Head in the Clouds, Feet on the Ground 6:43 - Building Pathways of Trust with Customers 8:29 - Why People Will Still Come to Cafes 11:41 - From Opera Singer to Espresso  15:32 - Three Essential Rules for Opening a Cafe 17:50 - The Crawl, Walk, Run Model 23:19 - Inside "The New Art of Coffee" 27:32 - The Fourth Wave 32:25 - "Your Audience Isn't Ready" 34:39 - The Co-Fermented Coffee Debate 40:50 - Matrix Reference 46:18 - How to Start Creating Drinks 50:26 - Ideas Choose You 53:15 - Where to Find Ryan

Happy New Year from Equal Parts Coffee!  Welcome to 2026! We're kicking off the new year by sharing our coffee goals and aspirations, giving you an honest review of the AeroPress Premium (is it worth $200?), and announcing Mundos first-ever public latte art competition. We're also tasting a wild co-ferment coffee, banana blended with cranberry, and diving deep into how co-fermentation actually works beyond just "adding fruit flavor." Lucha Leche Competition Sign-Up:  eventbrite.com/e/lucha-leche-latte-art-competition-registration-1978624731836?aff=oddtdtcreator Jack got the AeroPress Premium for Christmas, and we're breaking down whether the glass and stainless steel upgrade actually makes better coffee than the classic plastic version. We discuss zero bypass brewing, why the AeroPress is one of our essential home brewers, and how it compares to a French press. If you're looking to get into specialty coffee at home, this is a great starting point. 0:00 Intro 1:54 What We're Drinking 7:33 Lucha Leche 11:54 AeroPress Premium 22:24 French Press 25:07 Essential Home Brewing Setup 28:05 Is the AeroPress Premium Worth $200? 36:08 Developing Your Coffee Palate 46:36 Our Coffee Goals for 2026 1:01:06 Outro