Filter Stories

  • Home
  • Filter Stories

Filter Stories Love coffee? Love podcasts? Filter Stories is a documentary podcast revealing the untold stories hidden in your cup of coffee.

I’m shocked and saddened by the sudden passing of Jason Grube. I met Jason in Seattle back in the early days of Filter S...
19/08/2025

I’m shocked and saddened by the sudden passing of Jason Grube.

I met Jason in Seattle back in the early days of Filter Stories, before I even had a logo. Eight years ago, I was completely unknown, just a random person who wanted to make audio documentaries about the specialty coffee world.

Even though he was really busy, Jason gifted me his time and energy to create the Filter Stories logo. His support helped my podcast so much, and I was always in awe of his kindness and design brilliance.

I’m also angry at how he passed away. We both shared a huge love for cycling. I have the fortune to live in Germany where it’s relatively safe to cycle. Jason had the misfortune to cycle in the USA, a country dominated by cars, and that is what ultimately took him away from us.

Jason was a very special person, and he didn’t deserve to be taken away by a lack of basic cycling infrastructure. I will continue to fight for safer, cycle-friendly streets across Berlin and beyond.

You can contribute to the GoFundMe to help support his surviving wife and children. Link in bio.

Same country, same road, same port—totally different costs.It’s easy to assume all coffees travel the same. But when it ...
06/08/2025

Same country, same road, same port—totally different costs.

It’s easy to assume all coffees travel the same. But when it comes to preserving flavor and traceability, specialty takes a very different path—and it shows up in the numbers.

Hear the full story on the Filter Stories podcast episode ‘Farm to port: why specialty costs more.’
Link in bio.

Would you work harder for 60% more pay?That’s the question I asked in Huila, Colombia, after meeting Andrés, a young far...
11/07/2025

Would you work harder for 60% more pay?

That’s the question I asked in Huila, Colombia, after meeting Andrés, a young farmer running Finca Monte Bonito (). He could earn significantly more growing specialty coffee—but he doesn’t.

So I dug deeper. And what I found wasn’t about laziness or lack of passion. It was about risk, tradeoffs, and invisible barriers that shape who’s incentivized to grow specialty.

🎧 Tap the link in bio to understand why some farmers choose specialty over commodity.

If specialty coffee pays more, tastes better, and helps the environment—why don’t more farmers grow it?To find out, I tr...
27/06/2025

If specialty coffee pays more, tastes better, and helps the environment—why don’t more farmers grow it?

To find out, I traveled to Colombia’s Huila region and met two producers whose choices couldn’t be more different. One is betting everything on specialty. The other walks away.

Their reasons have less to do with passion or hard work—and more to do with invisible starting conditions that shape every farmer’s future.

Tap the link in bio to listen.

I’m heading to World of Coffee Geneva! 🛤️🚄If you're around and want to talk coffee, stories, or just share a good cup of...
19/06/2025

I’m heading to World of Coffee Geneva! 🛤️🚄

If you're around and want to talk coffee, stories, or just share a good cup of coffee—DM me!

Also, swing by booth 1843 (right by the SCA Community Lounge) to join me for a cupping with . Details to follow!

In Brazil, coffee is often sold cheap, fast, and in bulk. But Vicente Pereira is trying something different by trying to...
13/06/2025

In Brazil, coffee is often sold cheap, fast, and in bulk. But Vicente Pereira is trying something different by trying to grow only specialty coffee.

But where can he go for the best prices? He’s tested a lot of avenues! Local buyers, exporters, direct trade, even shipping his own container. Which of these gets him the prices he needs to keep his farm long-term sustainable?

🎧 Listen now — The hard business of selling beautiful coffee on the Filter Stories podcast (link in bio).

Brazil is the world’s coffee growing powerhouse — but that creates problems for producers who are focusing entirely on s...
06/06/2025

Brazil is the world’s coffee growing powerhouse — but that creates problems for producers who are focusing entirely on specialty.

Vicente Pereira grows specialty coffee with care, but sells it into a system built for volume. His biggest challenge isn’t climate change or quality. It’s price.

🎧 Listen to The Hard Business of Selling Beautiful Coffee – Part 1 on .

Why do some cold brews feel creamy smooth… and others sting?Different coffees feel different when brewed concentrated. W...
16/05/2025

Why do some cold brews feel creamy smooth… and others sting?

Different coffees feel different when brewed concentrated.

With help from Prof. Paul Breslin, I learned stronger coffees affect more than just our taste buds. They also interact with our touch receptors.

And when coffees get very concentrated, the interaction of many and multiple types of receptors can dramatically change how coffees feel in our mouths.

Listen to my podcast episode “Fruit juice or creamy almonds? Your guide to controlling cold brew flavours” by following link in bio.

Smells are very, very strange. Un-roasted green coffee is full of tiny microscopic molecules that smell of nothing. But...
25/04/2025

Smells are very, very strange.

Un-roasted green coffee is full of tiny microscopic molecules that smell of nothing.

But once you apply heat, they undergo a cascade of reactions that change their shape. And, at one point, these molecules produce beautiful aromas.

And if you keep on roasting, these molecules degrade again and suddenly lose their beautiful aromas.

See the journey for yourself by listening to my episode ‘How baby plant food transforms into delicious coffee flavours.’

Link in bio!

For years, I’ve been so careful making Filter Stories. Every word meticulously chosen, every creative idea filtered thro...
10/04/2025

For years, I’ve been so careful making Filter Stories. Every word meticulously chosen, every creative idea filtered through fear of being judged. But recently… something shifted. I joined an improv theatre group—and what started as pure panic (me? ACTING?) became one of the most powerful tools I’ve found to unlock deeper creativity.

I wrote about it in my latest Substack newsletter—how embracing play and spontaneity made me bolder behind the mic. Read the full story (and watch me be a very angry gorilla) via the link in bio. Subscribe while you’re there!

I usually hate trends, but my social media manager told me it was important, so here we go!
01/04/2025

I usually hate trends, but my social media manager told me it was important, so here we go!

New episode just released!A coffee bean starts as a green seed, packed with everything it needs to grow. But when we roa...
10/03/2025

New episode just released!

A coffee bean starts as a green seed, packed with everything it needs to grow. But when we roast it, we hijack that gift and turn it into something else: flavor. What actually happens inside the bean when heat meets those nutrients?

In this episode, we zoom in on the Maillard reaction—the wild chain of molecular collisions that transforms baby plant food into the aromas we love.

Hear it now by following link in bio!

Address


Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Filter Stories posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Filter Stories:

Shortcuts

  • Want your business to be the top-listed Media Company?

Share