Making Coffee with Lucia Solis

In this second episode, we show you how to stop losing coffee to a badly calibrated pulper, why chasing 100% ripe cherries is actually costing you money, the $480 fix that lets a small farm sort cherries perfectly well, how to keep your coffee under 40°C during drying without spending a fortune, why a mechanical dryer isn't the villain everyone says it is, the cheap instruments that will deliver consistent quality across harvests, and ways to treat your wastewater. 
The Coffee Producer Toolkit is the podcast that helps you run a more profitable coffee farm. 
Hosted by coffee journalist James Harper (Filter Stories podcast) and fermentation specialist Lucia Solis (Making Coffee with Lucia Solis podcast), it's built for farmers who want to run their farm like the business it is.
Over two years we interviewed 50+ producers and experts across 20 countries. Each episode takes one part of the business — agronomy, processing, fermentation, storage, quality, sales — and lays out what the best farms are doing.
Related podcast episodes:
Lucia:
Making Coffee with Lucia Solis — How to De-Funkify your Naturals 
Making Coffee with Lucia Solis — Germination: A Close Look at Coffee Drying 
James:
Filter Stories: Why One Colombian Farmer Chose Specialty, and the Other Walked Away

Follow us through our newsletters and Social media:
Lucia’s Newsletter
James’s Newsletter
Lucia Instagram
James’ Filter Stories Instagram
People mentioned in the episode:
Lester Lerner, Old Willow Coffee, Colombia 
Orlando Osorio, La Primavera, Colombia 
Astrid Medina, Tolima, Colombia 
David Velásquez, Los Naranjos, El Salvador 
Jesús Antonio Chala, Finca El Silencio, Colombia
Victor Chala, Palma Rosa, Colombia 
Melissa de Gasperín, Rancho San Felipe, Córdoba, Mexico 
Norberto Suárez, Boquete, Panama 
César Marín, Chacra D'Dago, Peru 
Manuel Matta, Santa Maria, Colombia
 
Resources: 
Innovakit: canguaro (picking sleeves) 
Pinhalense Cherry Floater 
Pinhalense Vertical Pulper 
Pinhalense Mechanical Dryers 
Tolva — Plastic Vertical Hopper 
Moisture Meter (Mid Tier) 
Moisture Meter (High End) 
Cenicafé Low-Water Wet Milling (Ecomill-type systems) 
Flávio Borém Drying Research 
DIY Moisture Maths (weight + fixed volume)
 
Lucia's Favorite Tools:
Temperature Gun
Ambient Temperature Sensor
Temperature Probe
pH meter & buffer solution
 
Cover Art: Nick Hafner
The Coffee Producer Toolkit is made possible by these leading coffee organisations:
The Coffee Quest | BWT | Descamex | InterAmerican | Pinhalense | Novonesis | GrainPro
Support the show

The Coffee Producer Toolkit is the podcast that can help you run a more profitable coffee farm. 
Hosted by coffee journalist James Harper (Filter Stories podcast) and fermentation specialist Lucia Solis (Making Coffee with Lucia Solis podcast), it's built for farmers who want to run their farm like the business it is.
Over two years we interviewed 50+ producers and experts across 20 countries. Each episode takes one part of the business — agronomy, processing, fermentation, storage, quality, sales — and lays out what the best farms are doing.
In this first episode, we show you how you can benchmark your farm against the two numbers that matter, protect your flowering without paying for irrigation, avoid the exotic variety trap that's costing farmers their harvests, stop wasting money on fertilizer your soil doesn't need, and save weeks of labor a year with tools that cost less than $50.
Follow us on Instagram - Lucia (@lluciasolis) - James (@filterstoriespodcast)  and tag us in an Instagram story. 
 Join our Patreon community to be a part of our live Office Hours sessions.  
Stay up to date through our newsletter
Discover how James produces Filter Stories episodes by subscribing to his Substack newsletter

Cover Art Designed by Nick Hafner
Related Podcasts:
Lucia:
#79: Farm First: Lalo Perez on Long-Term Coffee Health
James:
The Science of Coffee: The Magic of Soils
The Science of Coffee: Plant Genetics
People mentioned in episode:
Fernando Castillo Guatemala
Paulino Quintero, Colombia
Orlando Osoria, Colombia
Julia Ortega, Mexico
Sergio de la Vequia, Mexico
Hugo lopez, Innovakit
Agronomists:
Manuel Mata, Colombia
Sam Knowlton, USA
Lalo Perez, Mexico 
Resources
Anacafe technical management 
Coffee Cascara Compost Guidelines (English) 
Compostaje de la pulpa/cáscara de café (Espanol)
Netafim Drip Irrigation manual
Innovakit: abonador (fertiliser applicator) 
Innovakit: aroplateo (tree guard for weed whacking) 
Innovakit: selector de arvenses (low-drift sprayer)
Innovakit: canguaro (sleeves) 
World Coffee Research variety catalogue
Recommended varieties: Centroamericano, H1, H16, Mundo Maya
Coffee&Climate Toolbox
Access Agriculture
World Coffee Research Resources
Barista Hustle’s Coffee Farm Management series
Our partner sponsors
The Coffee Quest
Descamex
BWT
InterAmerican Coffee
Pinhalense
Novonesis
GrainPro

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Buy Roasted Coffee Here.

Check out our YouTube videos

#63: Terroir for Busy People
Dirty Jobs Hawaiian Coffee Clip
Support the show on Patreon  to join our live Discord hangouts, and get access to research papers, transcripts and videos.

And if you don't want to commit, show your support here with a one time contribution: PayPal

Sign up for the newsletter to hear about the next episode, FTC dates, and coffee releases.   
Support the show

Lalo's substack page

Ikaria Coffee (Lalo's farm + roasted coffee)

Biofilia (agronomic consultancy)

Support the show on Patreon  to join our live Discord hangouts, and get access to research papers, transcripts and videos.

And if you don't want to commit, show your support here with a one time contribution: PayPal

Sign up for the newsletter to hear about the next episode, FTC dates, and coffee releases.  
Support the show