#54: Visiting Producers, Advanced Tourism & The Coffee Hunter with Tom of Sweet Maria’s

Making Coffee with Lucia Solis

The conversation with Tom Owen is wide ranging, but one main theme we talk about is coffee travel and tourism. How the host and guest dynamics play out including the unintentional burden we may be placing on coffee producers when we visit them.

Its an interesting time to be reflecting on the role of travel in coffee, since I just had a major trip to teach coffee fermentation. You’ll hear Tom bring this up when he asks me about FTC being a form of advanced tourism.

Sweet Maria’s is an incredible resource for curious coffee nerds who want to learn about home roasting basics, green coffee quality, roast profiles and cupping. The website has an extensive coffee library and resource page, so I highly recommend you check it out if these topics interest you.

In this episode we talk about:

• why he keeps traveling to coffee farms after 26 years
• what is the role of travel in coffee
• when can we use Zoom & WhatsApp instead of hopping on a plane
• what is his approach to sourcing coffee
• how he is like a personal shopper
• etiquette when visiting a producer, what questions to ask ourselves before we visit
• the coffee hunter trope and caricatures of our industry

RESOURCES
Sweet Maria's Podcast episode #38-#39
Inquiries about coffee samples or future Fermentation Training Camps: [e-mail]
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Cover Art by: Nick Hafner
Into song: Elijah Bisbee