That Coffee Show with Ben Glee

We have a special episode to kick off Season 3 of That Coffee Show. Crossing over with the ‘Bean there, done that’ Podcast, Ben Gleeson is joined by industry experts Phillip Di Bella & Raihaan Esat. Phillip Di Bella needs no introduction when it comes to coffee & the Australian coffee scene. Initially known for the establishment of Di Bella Coffee, which became Australia’s largest specialty coffee company, Phillip’s entrepreneurial spirit has brought success to other businesses such as International Coffee Traders, Abbotsford Road Specialty Coffee in New York, and more recently The Coffee Commune. Raihaan or ‘Rai’ as we know him, has an impressive coffee resume himself. Known as one of the good guys of specialty coffee, Rai has an incredible palette & coffee knowledge & is always looking for ways to share with people. He is the Head judge for Golden Bean Australasia, General Manager of International Coffee Traders along with The Coffee Commune & was a part of the team that won the Golden Bean World Series in 2022. This episode is jam packed with unique insights about all things coffee & the industry that surrounds it.

Show notes

https://www.coffeecommune.com.au/the-new-bean-there-done-that-podcast/

In this episode, we catch up the the newly crowned World Cup Tasting Champion Young Baek. Not only is Young a World champion taster, he is also a World Class human who wants to help educate & build on the current specialty coffee culture. You'll hear Young's story on how he started in specialty coffee right up to winning the world title in Athens & spoiler alert: it wasn't all smooth Sailing. In this interview, you'll come to find that Young is a humble, genuine human that is more than happy to share his knowledge & offer advice to anyone wanting to learn! Enjoy.

In this episode we catch up with Stacey Lynden. Stacey is multi award winning Barista & Roaster winning medals in numerous competitions. She is a qualified Q grader & looks after quality control for Swiss Water Decaf. In this episode we hear how Stacey got involved in Specialty coffee & also talk about competing & the process and evolution of decaf coffee.

In this episode, Ben's better half joins him in the studio to discuss simple ways cafe owners can make small adjustments in their shops to improve the overall 'vibe' & attract more customers.

In this episode Ben takes the show on the road to catch up with the Founder of Toby's Estate, Toby Smith. Toby is responsible for creating one of Australia's most iconic coffee brands, spreading the world over. Toby has had a profound impact within the world of Specialty Coffee & today we get to gain some insight into just how that happened.

This weeks episode is a little bit different. We have David (Deej) Smith joining Ben Glee in the studio to ask each other a series of random coffee questions. As always, there are plenty of laughs to be had along with some really useful advice.

In this episode, Ben Glee & returning guest Paul Asquith jump into their time machine, head back to the early 2000's and take in the landscape of the emerging but still very young coffee culture.

Carlos Escobar is the 2020 Australian Brewers Cup Champion. He also competed at the World Championships placing 4th overall. Today, Carlos joins us in the studio to talk about Coffee Competitions & having a the right mindset to compete, along with the story of his full circle journey growing up on a coffee farm in Colombia to Engineering, then all the way back to coffee. Carlos also shares an incredible coffee with your host Ben Glee. 

In this episode we meet Agnese. Agnese is the 2021 London Coffee Masters champion & a newly accredited Q grader with the Coffee Quality Institute. We also learn about her incredible coffee journey from working on coffee farms in Vietnam to moving to Berlin to further her coffee experiences. This is a must listen to anyone wanting to be inspired by somebody who has a true passion to experience all she can from life. 

Follow Agnese on instagram at @ninjagnes 

Justin Narayan joins Ben Glee on this episode of That Coffee Show. Justin is the 2021 winner of Masterchef Australia & we hear Justins story of how he decided to enter the competition all the way through to winning. Also on the show, Ben brings a special coffee to share. Both Justin & Ben give their top tips to spotting a great cafe.