The Science of Coffee is a journey into coffee’s hidden microscopic secrets to help you make even better coffee at home.
Documentary maker and coffee professional James Harper travels the world and speaks with leading coffee scientists to help you appreciate coffee more deeply.
You are going to get taken into the science of water, coffee extraction, plant genetics, espresso technology, latte foam, sonic seasoning, our sense of taste and smell, organic farming, roasting, grinding and freshness, and how to think like a scientist.
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The Science of Coffee is a spin-off series from James Harper’s documentary podcast Filter Stories.
Follow James on Instagram: https://bit.ly/2Mlkk0O
Listen to Filter Stories: https://bit.ly/3ajoT5
Coffee Quality, Part 3: When the “quality” myth hits the farm
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 SpotifyFollow me on Instagram and tag me in an Instagram storyWrite 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
Live in Berlin? Join me for a free decaf cupping at Communal Coffee on the 12th December 2025. Reserve your ticket here: https://bit.ly/4nZXyrf.
8 Dec 2025
Coffee Quality, Part 2: How “quality” became a myth
If you ask two specialty professionals what makes a high-quality coffee, you’ll likely get a surprisingly consistent answer: clean, sweet, juicy, bright. To an outsider, they would be forgiven for thinking coffee quality is universally defined.
But the truth is more sober.
In this episode, we examine how a simple cupping form helped create a universal idea of quality. We then look at the evidence that, in fact, it’s just the personal preferences of a small group of people masquerading as universal quality.
Please support my work directly at Ko-fi.com/FilterStories
Other ways you can help:
Leave a 5 star rating on SpotifyFollow me on Instagram and tag me in an Instagram storyWrite 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:
2004 cupping form from the Specialty Coffee Association of America
SCAA Coffee Cuppers Handbook (4th edition, 2011)
Cup of Excellence cupping form
Kenneth Liberman's book, "Tasting Coffee: An Inquiry into Objectivity"
SCA's video series on the CVA presented by Peter Giuliano
Live in Berlin? Join me for a free decaf cupping at Communal Coffee on the 12th December 2025. Reserve your ticket here: https://bit.ly/4nZXyrf.
8 Dec 2025
Coffee Quality, Part 1: The birth of specialty coffee flavours
For the longest time, coffees were dull and bitter. But then a small group of pioneers changed the world.
In this episode, we travel back to the 1960s and ’70s to meet the trailblazers who realised coffees could taste distinctive: sweeter, brighter, cleaner.
We discover how their personal preferences became a movement, then a form, and eventually a global definition of “quality”.
Please support my work directly at Ko-fi.com/FilterStories
Other ways you can help:
Leave a 5 star rating on SpotifyFollow me on Instagram and tag me in an Instagram storyWrite 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:
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)
Michael Sheridan of CQI discussing the inter-organisational politics behind the Houston Expo announcement on Lee Safar's Map It Forward podcast
Live in Berlin? Join me for a free decaf cupping at Communal Coffee on the 12th December 2025. Reserve your ticket here: https://bit.ly/4nZXyrf.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.7 / 5
34 ratings
Spotify
4.9 / 5
93 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 26 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
18
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
85
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