Filter Stories - Coffee Documentaries
James Harper
Filter Stories - Coffee Documentaries
James Harper
"An entertaining and thought-provoking way to address how coffee consumption affects the wider world" - Caffeine Magazine
James Harper is a professional storyteller and coffee lover who travels the world to reveal the truth behind our morning coffees.
Each story is a real-life movie. We visit a stateless barista stuck on a faraway island, meet an award winning coffee grower earning just $2 profit from 250 espressos, hear from a coffee producer who is almost murdered three times during a civil war, and much more.
See the behind-the-scenes stories on Instagram @filterstoriespodcast
If you haven't already, please subscribe to the show and review us on Apple Podcasts and Castbox!
Tuesday 15 June 2021 : Would you ever pay £75 for 100g of coffee beans? Today I'm sharing the most popular episode from Adventures in Coffee, a sister podcast to...
Thursday 27 May 2021 : Today I'm sharing the story of a coffee drinker, Jools Walker, and how coffee helped her complete an inner journey. Listen to more episodes...
Thursday 13 May 2021 : Do you grind your beans fresh before brewing your coffee? If so, you are helping overturn a race-to–the-bottom with deep roots in colonial...
Tuesday 27 April 2021 : When was the last time you bought a coffee that was Fairtrade certified?Certifications make it easy for consumers to put their ethics into...
Tuesday 13 April 2021 : How do you drink your instant coffee? If you’re like most of the world, you fill your mug with milk and sugar to sweeten the taste. By...
Tuesday 30 March 2021 : A hundred years ago one Brazilian man owned so many coffee trees he could fill every inch of a European country with them.But why does...
Tuesday 16 March 2021 : Why do we get upset when we’re charged €36 for an ordinary cappuccino?The answer flies us to the Caribbean where white Europeans make...
Tuesday 02 March 2021 : Here’s a surprising fact: coffee was only invented around the time Michelangelo was chiselling his statue of David. Why did it take so...
Thursday 18 February 2021 : A History of Coffee is the story of how a tiny psychoactive seed changed the world and shapes our lives today. Across six episodes,...
Sunday 24 May 2020 : Sofía is a teenager living on a coffee farm and was going to school five days a week. But a year later, she’s studying only on Saturdays....
Thursday 26 March 2020 : You’ve just achieved a life goal. Now what? Dream bigger? Quit while you’re ahead?When Federico Bolaños fulfills his dream of helping a...
Tuesday 28 January 2020 : El Salvador used to grow a quarter of the world’s coffees. Today, it’s barely more than a rounding error. As coffee production fell,...
Thursday 19 December 2019 : Hector “tito” Vargas passed away in December 2019. We honor him by playing the season finale of the Duolingo Spanish Podcast....
Wednesday 04 December 2019 : You buying a coffee from El Salvador and Trump building a border wall have nothing in common. Or do they?Over five episodes, we explore a...
Monday 25 November 2019 : You buying a coffee from El Salvador and Trump building a border wall have nothing in common.Or do they?Over five episodes, we explore a...
Wednesday 20 November 2019 : You buying a coffee from El Salvador and Trump building a border wall have nothing in common.Or do they?Over five episodes, we explore a...
Tuesday 12 November 2019 : You buying a coffee from El Salvador and Trump building a border wall have nothing in common. Or do they?Over five episodes, we explore a...
Thursday 07 November 2019 : You buying a coffee from El Salvador and Trump building a border wall have nothing in common. Or do they?Over five episodes, we explore...
Tuesday 17 September 2019 : We meet a man who came from humble beginnings who has achieved what Armando and Maria have only ever dreamed about....
Tuesday 20 August 2019 : Imagine you’re a coffee buyer on a mission to buy Salvadoran coffee. We visit Armando and Maria’s farms. Which farm would you choose to...
Monday 05 August 2019 : 20 years ago specialty coffee patted itself on the back for saving coffee farmers, both big and small, from the misery of low coffee prices....
Monday 01 July 2019 : Gerry's cafe failed. We investigate why by putting ourselves in Gerry's shoes and experiencing the coffee world as a blind...
Tuesday 18 June 2019 : Gerry has a disability that keeps 2 in 3 adults out of full time work. But Gerry demolishes expectations over and over again....
Tuesday 14 May 2019 : What do you do when you want to buy a cafe but your country is collapsing around you?————————————If you haven't...
Friday 12 April 2019 : Mikhail is a specialty coffee barista. But he’s stuck on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. He doesn’t want to be there and...
Filter Stories - Coffee Documentaries
James Harper
Is really expensive coffee really worth it?
Would you ever pay £75 for 100g of coffee beans? Today I'm sharing the most popular episode from Adventures in Coffee, a sister podcast to...
Coffee Cycle Saturdays
Today I'm sharing the story of a coffee drinker, Jools Walker, and how coffee helped her complete an inner journey. Listen to more episodes...
6) The Future of Coffee?
Do you grind your beans fresh before brewing your coffee? If so, you are helping overturn a race-to–the-bottom with deep roots in colonial...
5) Desperately Seeking Sustainability
When was the last time you bought a coffee that was Fairtrade certified?Certifications make it easy for consumers to put their ethics into...
4) A Dark Bitter Powder
How do you drink your instant coffee? If you’re like most of the world, you fill your mug with milk and sugar to sweeten the taste. By...
3) Coffee Catches Fire
A hundred years ago one Brazilian man owned so many coffee trees he could fill every inch of a European country with them.But why does...
2) Slavery, Suffering and Affordable Luxury
Why do we get upset when we’re charged €36 for an ordinary cappuccino?The answer flies us to the Caribbean where white Europeans make...
1) A Five Gun Salute to the Origins of Coffee
Here’s a surprising fact: coffee was only invented around the time Michelangelo was chiselling his statue of David. Why did it take so...
Introducing: A History of Coffee
A History of Coffee is the story of how a tiny psychoactive seed changed the world and shapes our lives today. Across six episodes,...
A Girl on a Coffee Farm
Sofía is a teenager living on a coffee farm and was going to school five days a week. But a year later, she’s studying only on Saturdays....
Be careful what you dream (it may come true)
You’ve just achieved a life goal. Now what? Dream bigger? Quit while you’re ahead?When Federico Bolaños fulfills his dream of helping a...
Why El Salvador isn't bringing back coffee
El Salvador used to grow a quarter of the world’s coffees. Today, it’s barely more than a rounding error. As coffee production fell,...
A Eulogy for Tito
Hector “tito” Vargas passed away in December 2019. We honor him by playing the season finale of the Duolingo Spanish Podcast....
Is your coffee building Trump's wall? Part 5: How can we support marginalised coffee producers?
You buying a coffee from El Salvador and Trump building a border wall have nothing in common. Or do they?Over five episodes, we explore a...
Is your coffee building Trump's Wall? Part 4: The Rich and the Marginalised
You buying a coffee from El Salvador and Trump building a border wall have nothing in common.Or do they?Over five episodes, we explore a...
Is your coffee building Trump's wall? Part 3: Requiem for a Coffee Republic
You buying a coffee from El Salvador and Trump building a border wall have nothing in common.Or do they?Over five episodes, we explore a...
Is your coffee building Trump's wall? Part 2: El Savage
You buying a coffee from El Salvador and Trump building a border wall have nothing in common. Or do they?Over five episodes, we explore a...
Is your coffee building Trump’s wall? Part 1: A tale of two El Salvadors
You buying a coffee from El Salvador and Trump building a border wall have nothing in common. Or do they?Over five episodes, we explore...
Big and Small in El Salvador: Part 3
We meet a man who came from humble beginnings who has achieved what Armando and Maria have only ever dreamed about....
Big and Small in El Salvador: Part 2
Imagine you’re a coffee buyer on a mission to buy Salvadoran coffee. We visit Armando and Maria’s farms. Which farm would you choose to...
Big and Small in El Salvador: Part 1
20 years ago specialty coffee patted itself on the back for saving coffee farmers, both big and small, from the misery of low coffee prices....
Unseen Bean: Part 2
Gerry's cafe failed. We investigate why by putting ourselves in Gerry's shoes and experiencing the coffee world as a blind...
Unseen Bean: Part 1
Gerry has a disability that keeps 2 in 3 adults out of full time work. But Gerry demolishes expectations over and over again....
Venezuela
What do you do when you want to buy a cafe but your country is collapsing around you?————————————If you haven't...
Stateless
Mikhail is a specialty coffee barista. But he’s stuck on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. He doesn’t want to be there and...
