On a long walk through Hamburg, somewhere between the fish markets and giant cranes, you might stumble a giant bronze coffee bean looks like its crash landed from space.

But this giant coffee bean represents a staggering fact: one in every three cups of coffee drunk in Europe has passed through Hamburg.

In the first half of this episode, we explore the many profound ways coffee shaped one of Europe’s most important cities.

But then the story flips because, once coffee changed Hamburg, Hamburg began to change coffee.

Series 3 of 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’.

Please spread the word about A History of Coffee!

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

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Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify

This free educational content for the coffee community was made possible by Mahlkönig, manufacturers of world-leading coffee grinders for 100 years for your home and cafe.

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

Support James’ work directly by buying him a coffee at Ko-fi.com/FilterStories

Pick up a copy of Margrit Schulte Beerbühl’s book, Kaffee Ist Fertig!

Read James’ article on Frederick the Great’s attempt to ban coffee in Standart

Go on your own Hamburg coffee tour!

Giant bean

Speicherstadt Museum

Burg Coffee Museum in the Speicherstadt

Becking, 100 year old coffee roasters

1950s Rebuilt Coffee Exchange - and an Instagram post coming on @filterstoriespodcast

Go deeper into the story of Mahlkönig’s grinders

Early EKs - post coming on @filterstoriespodcast

DK (aka Donkey Kong Dreiphasen Kaffeemühle)

Grind-by-Sync espresso grinders

EK Omnia

Guatemala

Matt Perger WBC routine demonstrating the EK

Filter Stories episode on grinding curves

We’re back with more stories about the tiny psychoactive seed that changed the world and continues to shape our lives today.

Is it possible to follow the story not just to Ethiopia, not just to a single town, but all the way back to one tree?

We’ll uncover the uncomfortable history of Guatemala — a story about who inherited the rich volcanic soil, and who was forced to work it.

We explore what happens when our worst nightmare comes true: coffee disappears from the shelves. What did people brew instead? Was any of it actually drinkable?

And we tell the story of how coffee can shape the massive port city of Hamburg, and how Hamburg then went on to shape the global coffee world.

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 Mahlkönig, manufacturers of world-class grinders for 100 years. Subscribe to The Science of Coffee podcast

For twenty years, the 2004 cupping form profoundly shaped the specialty coffee world.

But on the hillsides of coffee farms, some of the form’s byproducts have been disadvantaging producers.

In this episode, we follow two producers whose lives collided with the myth of universal quality. These stories reveal how a single idea of “quality” can close doors for the people with the least power in the supply chain.

The new coffee evaluation form, the CVA, is still young, and with any luck it will keep evolving. I hope for a form that can empower even the smallest producers.

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:

The original Filter Stories episode about Murray Cooper in Ecuador, Firefly

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)

Kenneth Liberman's book, "Tasting Coffee: An Inquiry into Objectivity"

SCA's video series on the CVA presented by Peter Giuliano