For episode 3 of our podcast, we chat with Austin Amento, owner of Augie's Coffee and winner of the 2016 US Cup Tasters competition. In 2009, with no background in coffee, Austin and his father bought a coffee shop. When it looked like all was lost and the shop would fail, what did Austin and his father do? They took the last of their money and bought a roaster, with no idea how to use it. And that started a huge turnaround at Augie's which currently has 3 locations, is adding a 4th, and roasts some of our favorite coffees. But Austin isn't content just running a few coffee shops. He also won the US Cup Tasters competition in 2016, only his second year competing. The Cup Tasters competition tests your ability to taste coffee and detect subtle differences, quickly. Join us as we learn more about what the Cup Tasters competition is, how Austin prepares, and how you can be a better coffee taster yourself! Two quick offers before you go! 1. Save 15% on your first order from Augies with coupon code "ANGELSCUP". 2. Save 25% on your first delivery from Angels' Cup with coupon code "podcast25". Thanks so much for listening! If you like what we're doing, don't forget to subscribe and/or leave us a review.

For Episode 2 of the Angels' Cup Coffee Hunters podcast, we chat with Jeremy Brooks of Flat Track Coffee. Jeremy is Flat Track's Director of Coffee and also a Q grader. Every single coffee you've tried, from Maxwell House to Panama Geisha, has been tasted and graded by a Q grader. It's the most important step in the coffee value chain that most people have never heard of. In a nutshell, Q graders rate coffees on a scale of 60-100, and these scores have a huge impact on the price coffees receive in the market. But Q grading isn't simply a critic's review, it's a highly standardized process of tasting and rating coffees. The goal is to standardize tastings and calibrate the tasters so that the same coffee would receive the same score no matter who's grading it. As you can probably imagine, this is a daunting challenge. And to make matters worse, the point system is extremely specific. A single point makes a huge difference in the final score. A 91pt coffee is considered to be fundamentally different from a 90pt coffee. As a consumer, a system like this might sound ridiculous. How can all these people be tasting coffees and scoring them the same way, all across the world? Well, that's what we hope to find out. The SCAA has a Cupping form that Q graders use to score coffee (download here). You can follow along as we work though each category on the sheet and learn what makes the difference between 7 or 8 points. Even if you're not interested specifically in Q grading, we hope that working through the sheet will help you: * Understand more about how coffee is judged. * Think about coffee more systematically. * Calibrate your own sense of taste so it's easier to share your experience with others. And two quick offers before you go! 1. Save 16% on your first order from Flat Track Coffee with coupon code "angelscup16". 2. Save 25% on your first delivery from Angels' Cup with coupon code "podcast25". Thanks so much for listening! If you like what we're doing, don't forget to subscribe and/or leave us a review.

In a recent Angels' Cup Coffee Hunters podcast, the topic of women in high-level coffee industry roles was brought up. It's generally agreed that women have a sharper sense of taste than men, but then why don't we see more female q-graders (the coffee world equivalent of sommeliers)? And for that matter, why don't we see more female sommeliers? Part of the problem might be that women just don't realize how much better their sense of smell and taste are. It's kind of a hard thing to prove because taste is in your mouth and in your head, and it's generally believed to be subjective. It's also socially awkward to walk around telling men you have better taste than them, even if you do. Fortunately, women are also better at discerning subtle color differences than men, exactly the same way they're better at discerning subtle differences in taste. Here's a fun way to test yourself. See if you can tell which square in each row is a different color! It might take some squinting, but if you have two x chromosomes, you'll probably see which box is a different color that the others. If you have a y chromosome, you'll also do a lot of squinting, but probably get it wrong. Sorry! ? We hope this is inspirational and gives courage to women pursuing careers in coffee, wine, spirits, and food. We also hope that if you're in a position to hire people in these industries, you'll more strongly consider female candidates when all else appears equal on paper. And if you (or someone you know) is interested in developing a sharper sense of taste, check out Angels' Cup. We're an online coffee tasting club where subscribers get to blindly sample up to 208 coffees per year. We also have a 100% free app that lets you record tasting notes and compare answer with the roaster and other members of our community. It's the best way to take your coffee game to the next level, and tasting flights start at only $8.99!

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