This episode was recorded "live" from the C. Dorman cupping lab while Tim was in Kenya in January in order to taste and select coffees for purchasing.

Like many of our listeners and followers already know, we prefer to work directly with farmers over years in order to improve the quality of their coffees and their farms. Due to how the Kenyan coffee industry is organised, it is the only origin we buy from where we do not have a direct relationship with a single farmer.

This is because the majority of the best coffees are coming from smallholder farmers who sell their coffee cherries to co-operatives, where the coffees are bulked together for processing and drying.

Buying coffees in Kenya is therefore a bit different to what we are used to and Tim visits Kenya on an annual basis in order to taste through hundreds of coffee samples to make his selection every year.

Listen in on Tim's thoughts around Kenyan coffee quality and how he approaches buying coffees in Kenya.

As the year comes to a close, I sit down with Ben Symes, our wholesale manager, to reflect on 2025 and look back on what has made this year special.

In this episode, we talk about the farms we work with around the world, reflect on the 2025 harvests, the coffees that stood out to us, and the relationships we continue to build with the people who produce our coffees. We also share highlights from our projects this year, including our biological farming initiative, producing long-format films from the farms, and following the achievements of our team.

Alongside the farms, we look back on experiences that made 2025 memorable: being recognized 5th on the 100 Best Coffee Shops list, celebrating Stephanie’s 15-year anniversary and Ben’s 10 years with the company, traveling to inspiring coffee events and destinations, and, for the third year in a row, receiving the Sprudgie Award for Best Coffee Podcast, an achievement we are truly grateful for and could not have done without the support of our listeners.

Above all, we want to thank you for supporting us. Every day we strive to make the coffees we roast and share as good as they can be, and we look forward to sharing more great coffee experiences with you in 2026.

In this second episode with Tom Hopkinson, Head of Coffee and Customer Success at ROEST, we continue our conversation about roasting, technology, and the development of modern sample roasters. If you haven’t listened to Part 1 yet, we recommend starting there to get the full story of Tom’s background and the origins of our collaboration with ROEST.

In Part 2, we dive deeper into how roasting practices have evolved, the challenges and possibilities of automation, and the way ROEST approaches innovation in both hardware and software. Tom shares his perspective on where roasting technology is heading, what roasters still misunderstand, and how better tools can lead to better coffee.

Tune in if you are interested in roasting, sample roasters, and the future of coffee technology.

Learn more about ROEST on their website here: https://www.roestcoffee.com/

Music by my uncle Jens Wendelboe.