Coffee Quality, Part 1: The birth of specialty coffee flavours

from Filter Stories - Coffee Documentaries · host James Harper

For the longest time, coffees were dull and bitter. But then a small group of pioneers changed the world. In this episode, we travel back to the 1960s and ’70s to meet the trailblazers who realised coffees could taste distinctive: sweeter, brighter, cleaner. We discover how their personal preferences became a movement, then a form, and eventually a global definition of “quality”. Please support my work directly at Ko-fi.com/FilterStories Other ways you can help: Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify Follow me on Instagram and tag me in an Instagram story Write a review on Apple Podcasts Discover how I make these Filter Stories episodes by subscribing to my Substack newsletter Go deeper into the story of quality: Specialty Coffee Association's new Coffee Value Assessment 2004 cupping form from the Specialty Coffee Association of America SCAA Coffee Cuppers Handbook (4th edition, 2011) Michael Sheridan of CQI discussing the inter-organisational politics behind the Houston Expo announcement on Lee Safar's Map It Forward podcast Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here. Support hundreds of thousands of coffee farmers with Fairtrade. Discover how here. See the Mikafi countertop roaster at the Thermoplan stand (6637) at World Of Coffee Brussels. Not attending? See it here. What does the Marco MilkPal look like to you? WALL-E? Something Steve Jobs would be proud of? Check it out here. "Seize the Moment", the tabletop device from DiFluid that guides your customers through their coffee as it cools. Use code FILTER and this link to get 10% off.

What this episode covers

For the longest time, coffees were dull and bitter. But then a small group of pioneers changed the world. In this episode, we travel back to the 1960s and ’70s to meet the trailblazers who realised coffees could taste distinctive: sweeter, brighter, cleaner. We discover how their personal preferences became a movement, then a form, and eventually a global definition of “quality”. Please support my work directly at Ko-fi.com/FilterStories Other ways you can help: Leave a 5 star rating on SpotifyFollow me on Instagram and tag me in an Instagram storyWrite a review on Apple Podcasts Discover how I make these Filter Stories episodes by subscribing to my Substack newsletter Go deeper into the story of quality: Specialty Coffee Association's new Coffee Value Assessment 2004 cupping form from the Specialty Coffee Association of America SCAA Coffee Cuppers Handbook (4th edition, 2011) Michael Sheridan of CQI discussing the inter-organisational politics behind the Houston Expo announcement on Lee Safar's Map It Forward podcast Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here.Support hundreds of thousands of coffee farmers with Fairtrade. Discover how here. See the Mikafi countertop roaster at the Thermoplan stand (6637) at World Of Coffee Brussels. Not attending? See it here.What does the Marco MilkPal look like to you? WALL-E? Something Steve Jobs would be proud of? Check it out here."Seize the Moment", the tabletop device from DiFluid that guides your customers through their coffee as it cools. Use code FILTER and this link to get 10% off.

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Coffee Quality, Part 1: The birth of specialty coffee flavours

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This episode is 23 minutes long.

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This episode was published on December 8, 2025.

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