

Filter Stories - Coffee Documentaries
James Harper
Coffee stories with an extra shot of history and science. Filter Stories is a podcast revealing coffee’s hidden microscopic secrets, its powerful past, and how your choice of beans impacts tens of millions of people.
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 Spotify!
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 Spotify!
Episodes
Mentioned books

Dec 4, 2019 • 23min
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 story of El Salvador. We confront massacres, wide inequalities and the specialty coffee you drink today.
Buried deep in this story is a group of people our coffee dollars are neglecting across the world.
Part 5 explores how we can direct our coffee dollars towards historically marginalised farmers across the world.
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If you haven't already, please subscribe to the show and review us on iTunes! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/filter-stories/id1428327760
Shape the future of Filter Stories by taking this 10 minute survey: https://www.surveymonkey.de/r/YWH3LZM
Sign up to the Filter Stories newsletter here: http://www.eepurl.com/dD-sY1
Recommend Filter Stories to other podcast lovers on Podyssey! https://podyssey.fm/podcast/itunes1428327760-Filter-Stories
Piano music composed and performed by James Harper
Sound mixing: Dom Edgley / https://domedgleysound.com/
Filter Stories logo design: https://headquarters.studio/
A big thanks to: Cesar Magana, Mauricio Escalón, Álvaro Castro, Emilio Lopez Diaz, Marco Ariz, Francescopaolo Marolla, Walter Retana, United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation El Salvador, Rony Cordero, Cafe Salkantay Santa Ana, Jodie Cárcamo, Manuel Jesus Lopez, David Velasquez, Gilberto Baraona, Hugo Hernandez, Sara Cortez, Consejo Salvadoreño de Cafe, Tyler Wright, Josh Fontecha, Robert Durrette, Farmers First Coffee, Mauricio Benjamin Bautista Arucha, Israel Márquez, San Carlos Dos Cooperative, Sixto Ramos, Policar Siciliano, Helena Merivel Dias de Jimenez, Olga Carmel Ramirez, Azules Piedras Cooperative, Luis Ortez Ordoñez, Roberto Figero, Jesus Salvador Ortez, Victor Flores, Bronwen Serna
Editorial thanks: Hannah Smith, Tina Ghelani, Adam Harper, Raymond Detweiler, Melanie Böhme, Andrew Johnson, Karin Vališová, Jesse Hartman, Matthias Staeheli

Nov 25, 2019 • 23min
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 story of El Salvador. We confront massacres, wide inequality and the specialty coffee you drink today.
Buried deep in this story is a group of people our coffee dollars are neglecting across the world.
Part 4 asks whether we are denying economic opportunities to the same people our parents and grandparents did?
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If you haven't already, please subscribe to the show and review us on iTunes! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/filter-stories/id1428327760
Shape the future of Filter Stories by taking this 10 minute survey: https://www.surveymonkey.de/r/YWH3LZM
Sign up to the Filter Stories newsletter here: http://www.eepurl.com/dD-sY1
Recommend Filter Stories to other podcast lovers on Podyssey! https://podyssey.fm/podcast/itunes1428327760-Filter-Stories
Piano music composed and performed by James Harper
Sound mixing: Dom Edgley / https://domedgleysound.com/
Filter Stories logo design: https://headquarters.studio/
A big thanks to: Cesar Magana, Mauricio Escalón, Álvaro Castro, Emilio Lopez Diaz, Marco Ariz, Francescopaolo Marolla, Walter Retana, United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation El Salvador, Rony Cordero, Cafe Salkantay Santa Ana, Jodie Cárcamo, Manuel Jesus Lopez, David Velasquez, Gilberto Baraona, Hugo Hernandez, Sara Cortez, Consejo Salvadoreño de Cafe, Tyler Wright, Josh Fontecha, Robert Durrette, Farmers First Coffee, Mauricio Benjamin Bautista Arucha, Israel Márquez, San Carlos Dos Cooperative, Sixto Ramos, Policar Siciliano, Helena Merivel Dias de Jimenez, Olga Carmel Ramirez, Azules Piedras Cooperative, Luis Ortez Ordoñez, Roberto Figero, Jesus Salvador Ortez, Victor Flores, Bronwen Serna
Editorial thanks: Hannah Smith, Tina Ghelani, Adam Harper, Raymond Detweiler, Melanie Böhme, Andrew Johnson, Karin Vališová, Jesse Hartman, Matthias Staeheli

Nov 20, 2019 • 26min
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 story of El Salvador. We confront massacres, wide inequality and the specialty coffee you drink today.
Buried deep in this story is a group of people our coffee dollars are neglecting across the world.
In Part 3, we discover what it takes to almost kill coffee completely.
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Listen to the Coffee Podcast’s series on the history of the coffee price: https://thecoffeepodcast.com/2019/09/30/e137-perspectives-on-the-coffee-price-crisis-history-of-coffee-price-part-i/
Also listen to the Specialty Coffee Association’s podcast with Janina Grabs on the future of the coffee market: https://scanews.coffee/podcast/59/reco-podcast-dr-janina-grabs-on-overcoming-the-single-exit-fallacy-s1-ep-4/
If you haven't already, please subscribe to the show and review us on iTunes! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/filter-stories/id1428327760
Shape the future of Filter Stories by taking this 10 minute survey: https://www.surveymonkey.de/r/YWH3LZM
Sign up to the Filter Stories newsletter here: http://www.eepurl.com/dD-sY1
Recommend Filter Stories to other podcast lovers on Podyssey! https://podyssey.fm/podcast/itunes1428327760-Filter-Stories
Piano music composed and performed by James Harper
Sound mixing: Dom Edgley / https://domedgleysound.com/
Filter Stories logo design: https://headquarters.studio/
A big thanks to: Cesar Magana, Mauricio Escalón, Álvaro Castro, Emilio Lopez Diaz, Marco Ariz, Francescopaolo Marolla, Walter Retana, United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation El Salvador, Rony Cordero, Cafe Salkantay Santa Ana, Jodie Cárcamo, Manuel Jesus Lopez, David Velasquez, Gilberto Baraona, Hugo Hernandez, Sara Cortez, Consejo Salvadoreño de Cafe, Tyler Wright, Josh Fontecha, Robert Durrette, Farmers First Coffee, Mauricio Benjamin Bautista Arucha, Israel Márquez, San Carlos Dos Cooperative, Sixto Ramos, Policar Siciliano, Helena Merivel Dias de Jimenez, Olga Carmel Ramirez, Azules Piedras Cooperative, Luis Ortez Ordoñez, Roberto Figero, Jesus Salvador Ortez, Victor Flores, Bronwen Serna
Editorial thanks: Hannah Smith, Tina Ghelani, Adam Harper, Raymond Detweiler, Melanie Böhme, Andrew Johnson, Karin Vališová, Jesse Hartman, Matthias Staeheli

Nov 12, 2019 • 24min
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 story of El Salvador. We confront massacres, wide inequality and the specialty coffee you drink today.
Buried deep in this story is a group of people our coffee dollars are neglecting across the world.
In Part 2, we reveal why our economist nicknames his own country "El Savage.”
———————————
If you haven't already, please subscribe to the show and review us on iTunes! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/filter-stories/id1428327760
Shape the future of Filter Stories by taking this 10 minute survey: https://www.surveymonkey.de/r/YWH3LZM
Taste Maria’s coffee and support Filter Stories by joining the Indiegogo crowdfund here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/filter-stories-who-grew-your-morning-coffee/x/22081911#/
Sign up to the Filter Stories newsletter here: http://www.eepurl.com/dD-sY1
Recommend Filter Stories to other podcast lovers on Podyssey! https://podyssey.fm/podcast/itunes1428327760-Filter-Stories
Piano music composed and performed by James Harper
Sound mixing: Dom Edgley / https://domedgleysound.com/
Filter Stories logo design: https://headquarters.studio/
A big thanks to: Cesar Magana, Mauricio Escalón, Álvaro Castro, Emilio Lopez Diaz, Marco Ariz, Francescopaolo Marolla, Walter Retana, United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation El Salvador, Rony Cordero, Cafe Salkantay Santa Ana, Jodie Cárcamo, Manuel Jesus Lopez, David Velasquez, Gilberto Baraona, Hugo Hernandez, Sara Cortez, Consejo Salvadoreño de Cafe, Tyler Wright, Josh Fontecha, Robert Durrette, Farmers First Coffee, Mauricio Benjamin Bautista Arucha, Israel Márquez, San Carlos Dos Cooperative, Sixto Ramos, Policar Siciliano, Helena Merivel Dias de Jimenez, Olga Carmel Ramirez, Azules Piedras Cooperative, Luis Ortez Ordoñez, Roberto Figero, Jesus Salvador Ortez, Victor Flores, Bronwen Serna
Editorial thanks: Hannah Smith, Tina Ghelani, Adam Harper, Raymond Detweiler, Melanie Böhme, Andrew Johnson, Karin Vališová, Jesse Hartman, Matthias Staeheli

Nov 7, 2019 • 27min
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 stories of El Salvador. We confront massacres, wide inequalities and the specialty coffee you drink today.
Buried deep in this story is a group of people our coffee dollars are neglecting across the world. People who decide to migrate north.
———————————
If you haven't already, please subscribe to the show and review us on iTunes! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/filter-stories/id1428327760
Shape the future of Filter Stories by taking this 10 minute survey: https://www.surveymonkey.de/r/YWH3LZM
Taste Maria’s coffee and support Filter Stories by joining the Indiegogo crowdfund here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/filter-stories-who-grew-your-morning-coffee#/
Sign up to the Filter Stories newsletter here: http://www.eepurl.com/dD-sY1
Recommend Filter Stories to other podcast lovers on Podyssey! https://podyssey.fm/podcast/itunes1428327760-Filter-Stories
Piano music composed and performed by James Harper
Sound mixing: Dom Edgley / http://www.domedgleysound.com/
Filter Stories logo design: http://www.headquarters.studio/
A big thanks to: Cesar Magana, Mauricio Escalón, Álvaro Castro, Emilio Lopez Diaz, Marco Ariz, Francescopaolo Marolla, Walter Retana, United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation El Salvador, Rony Cordero, Cafe Salkantay Santa Ana, Jodie Cárcamo, Manuel Jesus Lopez, David Velasquez, Gilberto Baraona, Hugo Hernandez, Sara Cortez, Consejo Salvadoreño de Cafe, Tyler Wright, Josh Fontecha, Robert Durrette, Farmers First Coffee, Mauricio Benjamin Bautista Arucha, Israel Márquez, San Carlos Dos Cooperative, Sixto Ramos, Policar Siciliano, Helena Merivel Dias de Jimenez, Olga Carmel Ramirez, Azules Piedras Cooperative, Luis Ortez Ordoñez, Roberto Figero, Jesus Salvador Ortez, Victor Flores, Bronwen Serna
Editorial thanks: Hannah Smith, Tina Ghelani, Adam Harper, Raymond Detweiler, Melanie Böhme, Andrew Johnson, Karin Vališová, Jesse Hartman, Matthias Staeheli
The British Ambassador’s wife was acted by Heather Simons

Sep 17, 2019 • 18min
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.
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Taste Maria’s coffee and support Filter Stories by joining the Indiegogo crowdfund here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/filter-stories-who-grew-your-morning-coffee#/
See the Filter Stories live show in Berlin on the 1st and 4th of October 2019: https://www.facebook.com/events/494233377792673/
Sign up to the Filter Stories newsletter here: www.eepurl.com/dD-sY1
Recommend Filter Stories to other podcast lovers on Podyssey! https://podyssey.fm/podcast/itunes1428327760-Filter-Stories
Piano music composed and performed by James Harper
More episode information here: www.medium.com/@FilterStories
Sound mixing: Dom Edgley / www.domedgleysound.com/
Filter Stories logo design: www.headquarters.studio/
A big thanks to: Ignacio Gutiérrez, Maria Zoila Pineda de Rivera, Oscar Rivera, Marco Ariz, Hotel La Palma, Piero Cristiani
Editorial thanks: Hannah Smith, Tina Ghelani

Aug 20, 2019 • 28min
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 buy from?
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Taste Maria’s coffee by joining the Filter Stories Indiegogo crowdfund here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/filter-stories-who-grew-your-morning-coffee#/
Listen to the About Face podcast here: https://www.aboutfacepodcast.com
Sign up to the Filter Stories newsletter here: www.eepurl.com/dD-sY1
Recommend Filter Stories to other podcast lovers on Podyssey! https://podyssey.fm/podcast/itunes1428327760-Filter-Stories
Piano music composed and performed by James Harper
More episode information here: www.medium.com/@FilterStories
Sound mixing: Dom Edgley / www.domedgleysound.com/
Filter Stories logo design: www.headquarters.studio/
A big thanks to: Maria Zoila Pineda de Rivera, Oscar Rivera, Marco Ariz, Ignacio Gutiérrez
Editorial thanks: Janina Grabs, Jenn Rugolo, Tina Ghelani, Adam Harper
Maria and Santos were acted by Ana Kavalis and Eneko Sanz

Aug 5, 2019 • 27min
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.
But what's it like for a small coffee farmer getting into this specialty coffee club today?
We dive into El Salvador’s Cup of Excellence to contrast the experience of two producers.
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Taste Maria’s coffee by joining the Filter Stories Indiegogo crowdfund here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/filter-stories-who-grew-your-morning-coffee#/
Sign up to the Filter Stories newsletter here: www.eepurl.com/dD-sY1
Recommend Filter Stories to other podcast lovers on Podyssey! https://podyssey.fm/podcast/itunes1428327760-Filter-Stories
Piano music composed and performed by James Harper
More episode information here: www.medium.com/@FilterStories
Sound mixing: Dom Edgley / www.domedgleysound.com/
Filter Stories logo: www.headquarters.studio/
A big thanks to: Maria Zoila Pineda de Rivera, Oscar Rivera, Marco Ariz, Ignacio Gutiérrez
Editorial thanks: Janina Grabs, Jenn Rugolo, Tina Ghelani, Adam Harper
Maria was acted by Ana Kavalis

Jul 1, 2019 • 22min
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 man.
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Gerry’s roastery: http://www.theunseenbean.com/
More Piano music on Coffee People Zine: https://www.coffeepeople.org/pages/musicv01
Sign up to the Filter Stories newsletter here: https://www.eepurl.com/dD-sY1
Recommend Filter Stories to other podcast lovers on Podyssey! https://podyssey.fm/podcast/itunes1428327760-Filter-Stories
Piano music composed and performed by James Harper
More episode information here: https://www.medium.com/@FilterStories
Sound mixing: Dom Edgley / https://www.domedgleysound.com/
Filter Stories logo: https://www.headquarters.studio/
A big thanks to: Gerry Leary, Ever Meister, Ben Cole, Kat Melheim, Sam Neely, Becca Brenowitz, Brian Hergert
Editorial thanks: Lerato Maphanyane, Andrew Johnson, Adam Harper, Diksha Dutta

Jun 18, 2019 • 22min
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.
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Gerry’s roastery: http://www.theunseenbean.com/
Sign up to the Filter Stories newsletter here: http://www.eepurl.com/dD-sY1
Recommend Filter Stories to other podcast lovers on Podyssey! https://podyssey.fm/podcast/itunes1428327760-Filter-Stories
Piano music composed and performed by James Harper
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/filterstoriespodcast/
More episode information here: http://www.medium.com/@FilterStories
Sound mixing: Dom Edgley / http://www.domedgleysound.com/
Filter Stories logo: http://www.headquarters.studio/
A big thanks to: Gerry Leary, Ever Meister, Ben Cole
Editorial thanks: Lerato Maphanyane, Tim Ridley, Luka Kelman, Andrew Johnson, Adam Harper.