Which new bourbon are we pumped about? What does it take to be a master journeyman? Where are we excited to travel to next? Each week, The Manual Podcast invites an expert, artisan, or craftsman for a roundtable discussion on what’s new, exciting, and unique in their trade.
For this week’s episode of The Manual Podcast, the gang’s all here as Nicole, Sam, and Greg sit down Jelynn Malone and Mike Arquines, both co-founders of the 2020 Micro Roaster of the Year, Mostra Coffee.
The founders of Mostra Coffee set out with a mission in mind — to help eradicate poverty in the Philippines. To do that, they originally wanted to open a bakery. And what does a good baked good need? Coffee. After deciding to nix the bakery side of things, they pursued the coffee angle, sourcing coffee from the Philippines and bringing in Arquines, a trained chef, to be their roaster.
From there, they experimented with roasting, Arquines using his chef’s techniques to understand how to roast coffee. Six years later, they are still going strong, with coffee distribution far and wide, including in dozens of different specialty beers.
On the show, Malone and Arquines describe what it was like to shoot for such a big goal and how it has panned out for them (well, it has panned out well, if you couldn’t guess.) They also discuss what roasting coffee is actually like, and what they do with it after — how to cup and how to identify a good roast from a bad roast.
Are you a coffee fiend? Do you hate the stuff? We want to hear from you. If you ever have a question or comment for The Manual Podcast folks, give us a shout at podcast@themanual.com — we’re always around! Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter so you can join the discussion. Don’t forget, too, to rate and review the podcast where you download it.
