AA Cafe Podcast
Explore coffee through history, science, music, and other vaguely-related topics. Join Brian Franklin from Tulsa-based DoubleShot Coffee Company and co-host Mark Brown from Argentfork.com as they meander around coffee-inspired ideas and engaging interviews.
Episodes
Every year Mark and Brian conjure up a "ten things" list, and this year it's memories of 2025. Brian's cohost for the episode is KC, an Oklahoma girl who is a fan of DoubleShot and just so happened to be in the studio when it was crunch time. The pair taste and talk about Priscilla Gonzalez's Bambito Estate Yellow Catuai Anaerobic Natural, banter about Mango coffee and Mango the street artist, and celebrate the first harvest of Do...
In this extended episode, Juan Ramón Diaz comes to Tulsa to visit DoubleShot. Mark and Brian begin by chatting about a chocolate tasting with David De Olier from Salento, Quindio, Colombia. Then Juan breaks in to serve his own coffee in the AA Cafe studio. Producer Juan Ramón and Roaster Brian held an event to talk about all things coffee. The audio isn't perfect, but you'll feel like you're right there in the room listening. It's ...
Brian just returned from a trip to Colombia, visiting Cofinet in the Quindio region. While there, he had lunch with Luz Helena Salazar, owner of Maracay - producer of several coffees in the DoubleShot lineup over the past couple years. Felipe Arcila, co-owner of Cofinet sat down for an interview on the farm. While there, some turmoil came to a head (Brian's head, specifically) about coffee prices and what other roasters are doing t...
Liz Blood was the guest on this episode, discussing her career in journalism and her current projects in TV and print media. Mark and Brian discuss the meaning of art, the new graffiti-inspired BOOST summer coffee shandy, and Liz's new book, the Creative Field Guide to Northeastern Oklahoma. Get the shandy and the book at DoubleShotCoffee.com.
Mark is OOO and Amanda has stepped in for her podcast debut. In an abbreviated episode, get caught up on the status of The Coffee Purist, a teaser on something definitely NOT puristic from the coffee purist himself, and an opportunity to listen to a chapter of the book with a certain AA Cafe-inspired slant. Most everything besides the coffee is available at the website purist.coffee.
The annual convention for the Specialty Coffee Association was held in Houston April 25-27. Amanda, Mark and Brian all went down to represent DoubleShot, try and pre-sell some of The Coffee Purist books (slated to be on your coffee table by fall 2025), catch up with old friends, and get a pulse on what's happening today in "specialty coffee." This episode is all about that experience. Of note: a first introduction to Wondafrash Ede...
Brian has just returned from another trip to Nicargaua, where he had a few revelations concerning cupping, relationships, and the world economy. Mark comes along for the ride and the diatribe. Throughout the episode, you might learn about the effects of tariffs on coffee prices and business sustainability, the importance of judging coffees circumstantially rather than absolutely, and the prevalence of coffee roasters lying about th...
DoubleShot Coffee Company turns twenty-one on March 5, 2025. Mark and Brian discuss the ever-perplexing birthday poster, which incorporates a spray painted chimpanzee ripped off from nemesis, which was originally created as a part of the second human trial for a banana coffee through the spurious American Society for the Caffeination of Primates. Wednesday marks the launch of the Sappy Meal, available at DoubleShot. You too can wea...
It's January and coffees harvested a year ago are just arriving in Tulsa. With coffee commodity prices soaring and shipping complications worldwide, the coffee industry is in chaos. Jim McEnanay joined Brian and Mark via zoom to discuss the state of affairs. This interview was recorded December 6, and since then the EUDR has been postponed to December 30, 2025. The dockworkers' strike that was set to begin on January 15 has been av...
As 2024 draws to a close, Mark and Brian talk about the highlights of the past twelve months. And end with their annual "ten things" lists. Check out the playlist on spotify, if you dare. Happy holidays.
All this talk about "the Gesha," and the day finally arrived for Franklin to roast it. With over eighty orders in the queue, the roastmaster went to work. And then sat down in the AA Cafe studio immediately afterward to talk about how it felt. If you pre-ordered the coffee, you'll be enjoying it soon. If you didn't, you're missing out on an amazing experience. Don't let that happen to you again; check out the craziness unfolding at...
Franklin is roasting another Gesha. Maybe the best one he's ever roasted. Certainly one of the best that Felipe Arcila at Cofinet has ever produced in their ten years. Felipe sat in on a zoom interview with the roastmaster. Mark and Brian sip on some coffee from La Pastora - the second holiday coffee of the year at DoubleShot. Buy the Gesha online at DoubleShotCoffee.com.
It's the Thanksgiving episode of AA Cafe and full of holiday cheer. Mark and Brian sip Beredo and talk to Firaol Ahmed about its origins. There's a diversion discussing Firaol's VO2 Max, and then they launch directly into talk of a very fresh Gesha natural out of Colombia, which is available for pre-purchase on the DoubleShot app and at DoubleShotCoffee.com.
Herb Gottfried is quite a character. A renaissance man, Mark says. Herb has been a regular at DoubleShot for quite some time, and decided to give us an oar he got from Cornell University when he taught rowing there. We sat down with him to discuss his life and career, his love for rowing, and the history of this oar. He's a fascinating guy, and his episode of the DoubleShot Folk podcast is well worth a listen. Find it at DoubleShot...
With the political season coming to a close and autumn in full swing, Mark and Brian fire up the mics to talk about shipping. Significant issues have caused delays in shipping that have hindered our ability to get coffee from both Ethiopia and Nicaragua. Brian has a conversation with Firaol Ahmed from Moii Coffee about shipping out of his home country of Ethiopia. And then Brian Phillips from Anthem Coffee Imports made the drive fr...
Skyler Cooper, the host of afternoon news at FM102.3 KRMG and producer of the Full Access OK podcast, came to DoubleShot and sat down in the AA Cafe studio to talk about coffee during National Coffee Month. He graciously let us use this audio, which features the entire interview, as the new cycle only allowed time for an edited version. Listen here, and catch Skyler's podcast and news broadcast at KRMG.com.
Morgan Long is a farmer at Prairie Creek Farms and a regular at the DoubleShot. She wrote a children's book called Sandwich the Pig, which is a true story about a half-wild pig she rescued on the farm. Morgan sat down with Brian to talk about the book and her life, and to share a little more about Sandwich. Buy Morgan's book at DoubleShotCoffee.com.
Pre-order Brian's book, The Coffee Purist at purist.coffee.
Firaol Ahmed emailed roastmaster Brian Franklin a few months ago, asking if he'd like samples of his Ethiopian coffee. Franklin get emails like this from random strangers a lot, but for some reason decided to look into this one. The young importer and seasoned roaster found a lot in common, and made a deal on some outstanding coffee. In this episode, Firaol tells about his history, while Mark and Brian discuss the backstory behind ...
Cristina Garces and Ariel Montoya visited DoubleShot for the first time the week of Independence Day. After visiting Washington, D.C., they hit the coffee capital of the world, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Cristina is the daughter of Don Ernesto, who was once the largest independent producer of coffee in Colombia. Ariel was the owner of Hacienda El Boton, producer of the very first natural out of Colombia: our very own Maduro. This episode is ...
DoubleShot roastmaster, Brian Franklin has just returned from another trip to Nicaragua. He and Mark talk about what coffee farms are really like and the difficulty of getting to Dos Manzanas and Finca Massif. While en route to Finca Massif Nueva Segovia, Brian interviewed Luis Miranda about the farms and how he got into coffee. It's worth a listen. And worth thinking about. Buy the coffee they're drinking at DoubleShotCoffee.com.
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