Sourced: The Coffee Podcast

In this episode, Royal Coffee’s Richard Sandlin and Charlie Habegger take us to Marcala, Honduras, to explore the remarkable work of COMSA (Café Orgánico Marcala, S.A.), one of Royal Coffee’s longstanding producer partners.Drawing on their firsthand experiences visiting the cooperative, Richard and Charlie discuss COMSA’s commitment to regenerative agriculture, soil health, education, and community development, and how these investments have helped the cooperative grow while creating new opportunities for its members.They also take us behind the scenes of Royal Coffee’s microlot sourcing process, highlighting the arrival of new single-producer coffees from COMSA and the people, processing methods, and distinctive cup profiles that make them worth exploring.From organic farming and community initiatives to exceptional Honduran green coffees, this conversation is a celebration of what long-term partnerships can make possible.Explore COMSA coffees at royalcoffee.com.

Freezing coffee has long been dismissed as outdated advice but is it actually wrong? In this episode, Chris and Isabella share findings from a six-month research project published in Roast magazine exploring whether freezing roasted coffee slows staling. Comparing room-temperature storage with two frozen methods across washed and natural coffees, the study found that while nothing replaces fresh beans, frozen coffee retained sweetness and freshness markers longer. After several weeks, cuppers could clearly distinguish frozen samples from room-temperature controls, which showed faster declines in sweetness and more stale notes. The takeaway: if coffee is a few months off roast, freezing whole beans may actually help preserve quality. A myth revisited, with data to back it up.

The Crown's Director of Education sits down with Luke Waite, founder of Pomello Coffee Consulting and author of The Owner's Manual: A Guide to Sustaining a Coffee Roaster to discuss the challenges of writing for a niche coffee audience, the unique needs of a coffee roasting business, and the nuanced, sometimes vulnerable state of trying to be better than "good enough."

In this episode I wanted to zoom in and get a little bit personal. Although the scale is not massive the impact is immeasurable. Talking with Mayra, our co-worker at Royal, paints a picture of how coffee is so interpersonal and is driven by its ability to connect people to one another.  In her hometown of Santa Elena in Honduras, Mayra has created economic change by exporting her community's coffee  to the specialty market through Catracha Coffee.  But the coffee business also funds a non-profit that extends support for her community members on a host of activities including income diversification, art, and mental health.  We are thrilled to speak with her about her journey. 

In part two of the series, Charlie, Chris, and Spencer explore topics such as risk in coffee purchasing, the pendulum swing in experimental coffee, who is driving demand for investment in unique flavors, whether coffee hybrids could be the next wave, defining co-ferments, the potential for co-ferments to take over the world, and more!