Episodes

  • 4) Just Friends? America's love affair with coffee

    4) Just Friends? America's love affair with coffee
    Apr 17 2023
    America is coffee-obsessed. From Central Perk’s red couch being the centre of major plot twists in Friends to the fact the average American drank more than two cups a day.

    And the conventional explanation is pretty straightforward: an English colonist introduces coffee to Jamestown in 1607. 150 years later Americans rebel against the British by throwing tea chests into Boston harbour and drinking coffee becomes their patriotic duty. Oh, and of course who won the civil war? The side that had the coffee.

    But, actually, the truth is much more surprising, and reveals a much more counter-intuitive story of America.

    In this final episode of Series Two of A History of Coffee, we offer you a story of America through the lens of a black drink, another black drink, a third black drink and perhaps even a fourth.

    A History of Coffee is a collaboration between documentary maker James Harper of the Filter Stories coffee podcast and Jonathan Morris, Professor of History and author of ‘Coffee: A Global History’.
    Don't miss future episodes by pressing the 'Subscribe' or 'Follow' button in your podcast player.

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    Please spread the word about A History of Coffee!

    Follow us on Instagram - Jonathan (@coffeehistoryjm) and James (@filterstoriespodcast) - and tag us in an Instagram story.

    Write a review on Apple Podcasts (http://apple.co/3jY42aJ)

    Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify (https://spoti.fi/3K2h4RQ)


    This free educational content for the coffee community was made possible by Rancilio, manufacturers of professional Italian espresso machines for your home and coffee bar for almost 100 years
    (https://bit.ly/3U3oLMz)


    Read Jonathan’s book, ‘Coffee: A Global History’ (https://amzn.to/3dihAfU)

    Listen to other coffee documentaries on James’ Filter Stories podcast (https://bit.ly/3ajoT5e)

    Download all episodes of this second series right now by subscribing to the ‘A History of Coffee’ podcast channel (http://bit.ly/2NArChO)


    Learn how Brazil massively expanded output in episode three of the first series of A History of Coffee: Coffee Catches Fire (https://bit.ly/2NArChO)

    Brew up some Yaupon Holly! (https://bit.ly/40R6IuY)

    Discover Deb Hunter's All Things Tudor podcast (https://bit.ly/3L5OZet)
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    44 mins
  • 3) Espresso Lungo: The slow road to Italy's democratic espresso culture

    3) Espresso Lungo: The slow road to Italy's democratic espresso culture
    Apr 17 2023
    One morning back in the ‘80s, Howard Schultz walks out of his Milan hotel, stumbles into an espresso bar, and fundamentally changes coffee history. He discovered (and then popularises) the iconic, timeless Italian coffee experience: Rich thick coffee, an affordable price and great theatre. But this Italian ritual is surprisingly young, so young that Howard Schultz was in school while some of it was being developed!In this third episode of Series Two of A History of Coffee, we show you why for most of Italy’s history, coffee was thin, expensive, dull to watch…and that’s if you were lucky enough to even be drinking the real stuff at all!A History of Coffee is a collaboration between documentary maker James Harper of the Filter Stories coffee podcast and Jonathan Morris, Professor of History and author of ‘Coffee: A Global History’. -----------Don't miss future episodes by pressing the 'Subscribe' or 'Follow' button in your podcast playerPlease spread the word about A History of Coffee!Follow us on Instagram - Jonathan (@coffeehistoryjm) and James (@filterstoriespodcast) - and tag us in an Instagram story. Write a review on Apple Podcasts (http://apple.co/3jY42aJ)Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify (https://spoti.fi/3K2h4RQ)This free educational content for the coffee community was made possible by Rancilio, manufacturers of professional Italian espresso machines for your home and coffee bar for almost 100 years (https://bit.ly/3U3oLMz)Read Jonathan’s book, ‘Coffee: A Global History’ (https://amzn.to/3dihAfU)Listen to other coffee documentaries on James’ Filter Stories podcast (https://bit.ly/3ajoT5e)Download all episodes of this second series right now by subscribing to the ‘A History of Coffee’ podcast channel (http://bit.ly/2NArChO)Go deeper into the story of espresso machines: James' science podcast about Espresso Machine Technology Neapolitan coffee maker (https://bit.ly/3zZCivl)Espresso at 1906 World’s Fair in Milan (https://bit.ly/3MOX7kQ)Rancilio's Museum, Officina Rancilio 1926 (https://bit.ly/3Q7vqTI)"La Cornuta" espresso machine (https://bit.ly/41uBryd)Rancilio's Berlin Showroom, the BER Rancilio Station (https://bit.ly/3mD0lNA)
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    45 mins
  • 2) A Lasting Stain: Haiti, Colonialism and Coffee

    2) A Lasting Stain: Haiti, Colonialism and Coffee
    Apr 17 2023
    Haiti was once the biggest, most profitable coffee growing region in the world.

    But today Haiti is one of the world’s poorest nations where you can’t get a bag of Haitian beans delivered to Berlin in a week for love nor money.

    In this second episode of Series Two of A History of Coffee, we show you how colonialism and racism dragged Haiti into poverty, and the role of coffee at the centre of it.

    Be warned: this episode contains graphic descriptions of violence.

    A History of Coffee is a collaboration between documentary maker James Harper of the Filter Stories coffee podcast and Jonathan Morris, Professor of History and author of ‘Coffee: A Global History’.

    -----------

    Don't miss future episodes by pressing the 'Subscribe' or 'Follow' button in your podcast player


    Please spread the word about A History of Coffee!

    Follow us on Instagram - Jonathan (@coffeehistoryjm) and James (@filterstoriespodcast) - and tag us in an Instagram story.

    Write a review on Apple Podcasts (http://apple.co/3jY42aJ)

    Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify (https://spoti.fi/3K2h4RQ)


    This free educational content for the coffee community was made possible by Rancilio, manufacturers of professional Italian espresso machines for your home and coffee bar for almost 100 years
    (https://bit.ly/3U3oLMz)


    Read Jonathan’s book, ‘Coffee: A Global History’ (https://amzn.to/3dihAfU)

    Listen to other coffee documentaries on James’ Filter Stories podcast (https://bit.ly/3ajoT5e)

    Download all episodes of this second series right now by subscribing to the ‘A History of Coffee’ podcast channel (http://bit.ly/2NArChO)
    Show more Show less
    48 mins
  • 1) It's Just Coffee? How coffee houses changed the world

    1) It's Just Coffee? How coffee houses changed the world
    Apr 17 2023
    A coffee shop is a lot more than just a place to drink coffee. The seats and sofas encourage you to invite a friend, and chat.

    And chatting is powerful: ideas that emerge from these caffeine-fuelled conversations give birth to modern finance and even the founding of great artistic and scientific institutions.

    Meanwhile, other ideas threaten those in power, and have led to many attempts to ban coffeeshops (and even coffee itself!) these last 500 years.

    In the first episode of Series Two of A History of Coffee, we show you how the coffee shop changed the world, and we ask whether it still has what it takes to upend society.

    A History of Coffee is a collaboration between documentary maker James Harper of the Filter Stories coffee podcast and Jonathan Morris, Professor of History and author of ‘Coffee: A Global History’.

    -----------

    Don't miss future episodes by pressing the 'Subscribe' or 'Follow' button in your podcast player


    Please spread the word about A History of Coffee!

    Follow us on Instagram - Jonathan (@coffeehistoryjm) and James (@filterstoriespodcast) - and tag us in an Instagram story.

    Write a review on Apple Podcasts (http://apple.co/3jY42aJ)

    Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify (https://spoti.fi/3K2h4RQ)


    This free educational content for the coffee community was made possible by Rancilio, manufacturers of professional Italian espresso machines for your home and coffee bar for almost 100 years
    (https://bit.ly/3U3oLMz)


    Read Jonathan’s book, ‘Coffee: A Global History’ (https://amzn.to/3dihAfU)

    Listen to other coffee documentaries on James’ Filter Stories podcast (https://bit.ly/3ajoT5e)

    Download all episodes of this second series right now by subscribing to the ‘A History of Coffee’ podcast channel (http://bit.ly/2NArChO)
    Show more Show less
    46 mins
  • Introducing: Series Two of A History of Coffee

    Introducing: Series Two of A History of Coffee
    Apr 3 2023
    We're back with more stories about the tiny psychoactive seed that changed the world and continues to shape our lives today.

    In Series Two, we reveal how the invention of the coffee shop revolutionised societies, why colonialism, racism and coffee have kept once prosperous Haiti poor today, how Italy's revered espresso culture was created, and we debunk many myths around America's supposed love affair with coffee.

    If we want to make coffee a more equitable industry that’s also kinder to the environment, a place to start is understanding the stories and systems that put the coffee into your cup this morning.

    Press the ‘Subscribe’ button so you don’t miss future episodes.

    A History of Coffee is a collaboration between documentary maker James Harper of the Filter Stories coffee podcast and Jonathan Morris, Professor of History and author of ‘Coffee: A Global History’.

    Follow us on Instagram! Jonathan Morris @coffeehistoryjm and James Harper @filterstoriespodcast.

    This free educational content was made possible with the support of Rancilio, manufacturers of professional Italian espresso machines for almost 100 years.

    Join us live at the London Coffee Festival 2023! We have three time slots for you to choose from: Saturday, 22 April, 11:00-11:30 and 14:30-15:00, and Sunday, 23 April,14:30-15:00.


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    5 mins
  • BONUS: Coffee's Ticking Time Bomb

    BONUS: Coffee's Ticking Time Bomb
    May 31 2022
    We have an exciting announcement....AND, a story about Sri Lanka and coffee history we think you're really going to like.

    Sri Lankan coffee has delicious notes of chocolate and caramel. But it’s basically impossible to find, and we’re going to bet you’ve never drank it.

    But that's really odd, because Sri Lanka has the perfect climate to grow coffee, and was once one of the biggest coffee growing countries in the world.

    But Sri Lanka was the victim of an ecological ticking time bomb. And this bomb is still ticking, and is going to explode again.

    In this episode of Adventures in Coffee, producer James Harper takes co-hosts Scott and Jools on an adventure back in time, across Ethiopia, Yemen, Sri Lanka to trace the origins of this ticking bomb, and what it’s going to take to defuse it.

    —

    Subscribe to Adventures in Coffee here: https://bit.ly/300V4jS

    Listen to Jonathan's guest appearance on negative coffee advertising here: https://bit.ly/3uOXYc0

    Read Stuart McCook’s excellent book, Coffee Is Not Forever: https://bit.ly/3320rob

    Listen to James’ stories about El Salvador on his Filter Stories channel: https://spoti.fi/3Lcnuhg

    Help other people find the show by leaving a rating on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3JYduHY

    Help others find the show by creating a screengrab of this episode on your podcast player and sharing it on your Instagram stories. Tag us and we’ll reshare it!
    Scott Bentley / Caffeine Magazine: https://bit.ly/3oijQ91
    Jools Walker / Lady Velo: http://bit.ly/39VRGew
    James Harper / Filter Stories: https://bit.ly/2Mlkk0O

    Read Jonathan’s book, ‘Coffee: A Global History’ here: https://amzn.to/3dihAfU

    A massive thanks to Lawrence Goldberg of Hansa Coffee, Ajantha Palihawadana, Professor Stuart McCook and Harm van Oudenhoven.
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    46 mins
  • BONUS: A History of Tea

    BONUS: A History of Tea
    Feb 15 2022
    Coffee has a fascinating history stretching back hundreds of years. But tea takes it to the next level, stretching back thousands.

    And it too was colonised by Europeans with huge repercussions that we are still feeling today.

    We hope you enjoy episode 11 from the excellent The Tea History podcast: Europeans Discover Tea, produced by Laszlo Montgomery.

    Listen to the rest of The Tea History Podcast: https://bit.ly/3BnDjgr

    Explore Laszlo's The Chinese Sayings Podcast: https://bit.ly/3BiITAT

    Discover The China History Podcast: https://bit.ly/3GTekmd

    Sign up for the 2022 Barista League's High Density (free!) conference here: https://bit.ly/3BjAI78

    Visit Jonathan’s Instagram (https://bit.ly/37eMS3F) and Twitter (https://bit.ly/3jNr9ou)
    & James’ Filter Stories Instagram (https://bit.ly/2Mlkk0O) and Twitter (https://bit.ly/3baTsJk)

    Help other people find the show by leaving a review on...
    Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/3jY42aJ
    Castbox: http://bit.ly/38sXdcH

    Read Jonathan’s book, ‘Coffee: A Global History’ here: https://amzn.to/3dihAfU
    Listen to other coffee documentaries on James’ Filter Stories podcast: https://bit.ly/3ajoT5e
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    28 mins
  • BONUS: Decolonising Coffee History

    BONUS: Decolonising Coffee History
    Jun 22 2021
    Each sip of coffee we drink is steeped in dark colonial past.

    The reason we can enjoy it every morning is because it's relatively cheap, and many people suffered under European colonisers to create systems that produced this cheap coffee.

    But unfortunately, that's just the beginning. Colonialism has stripped enslaved and indigenous people of their language, pushed their descendants into work that a modern European would never do, and created racial ideologies that persist and harm people of colour to this day.

    In this bonus episode of A History of Coffee, documentary maker James Harper moderates a conversation between Professor Peter D'Sena, a leading historian from the decolonising academic movement, and Professor Jonathan Morris, author of Coffee: A Global History.

    They explore how colonialism shaped coffee, and what a cup of coffee that seeks to address the damage of colonialism would look like.

    Help other people find the show by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/3jY42aJ

    How would you decolonise coffee? Start a conversation with us on social media.

    Jonathan Morris' Instagram (https://bit.ly/37eMS3F) and Twitter (https://bit.ly/3jNr9ou)
    Peter D'Sena Instagram (https://bit.ly/34WvPl5) and Twitter (https://bit.ly/3ggSlKL)
    James Harper’s Filter Stories Instagram (https://bit.ly/2Mlkk0O) and Twitter (https://bit.ly/3baTsJk)

    If you an educator and are interested in decolonising your curriculum, Peter wrote a guide here: https://bit.ly/3cvoH3l

    Read Jonathan’s book, ‘Coffee: A Global History’ here: https://amzn.to/3dihAfU

    Listen to other coffee documentaries on James’ Filter Stories podcast: https://bit.ly/3ajoT5e
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    48 mins