Behind the Bar w/ Josh and Matt

In this episode we explore what money is to us and how we choose to use it. We aren't perfect, but since the beginning of Castle, it has been our goal to use this business for good in our community and support those around us. Owning a business gives a person a certain sense of "power", and in the words of Ben Parker: "With great power comes great responsibility". We hope you enjoy the episode!

Another addition to our customer series, we have a long awaited interview with our good friend and customer, Ryan Wilson. Listen in as we talk about life as a actor, roundabouts in England, and whatever random stuff we could come up with. We hope you enjoy and get to know our friend a little better!

This week we talk about the accessibility (or lack there of and why) of craft coffee. Jumping into what seems like an ocean of information can be very daunting and hard to find a starting point. Or maybe you have already dipped your toes into the world of craft coffee and are having a hard time deciphering what is useful info and what is just noise. We dive into how we first started in this industry and where we found help and guidance when we needed it. We hope our website as well is a trove of information and guidance for you no matter what stage of the journey you are on, Enjoy!Helpful video on Single Origin Bag meanings:https://youtu.be/C8_DIXoIMv4James Hoffman Youtube Channelhttps://www.youtube.com/@jameshoffmann/featuredWorld Atlas of Coffeehttps://a.co/d/fsoHYIqScott Rao: Coffee Roasters Companionhttps://a.co/d/eL2KZssBarista Hustle Online Coffee Resources and Classeshttps://www.baristahustle.com/Perfect Daily Grind (Helpful Articles)https://perfectdailygrind.com/coffee-essentials/ Mill City Roasters Free Online Roasting Schoolhttps://youtu.be/k35XKH3YhIICastle Coffee Website for Buying Coffee, Brew Guides, and Coffee Educationhttps://www.castlecoffeeco.com/

Happy New Year! This week we brought in the New Year with a topic that effects literally almost every single business: Hiring Employees. How do you go about hiring the right person for the job? We have a philosophy for hiring ourselves, and we hope that maybe this can help be a guideline or at least help those who are struggling to  find or keep employees. We are not perfect, we are not experts, but we try to be the best examples we can be for our employees. Enjoy some fun times and chit chat as well!

We decided to combine the second part of our home brewing episode with gift ideas for your coffee drinking friends, or yourself for Christmas time! Getting started with buying coffee equipment can be overwhelming but we try to help make that process a little easier. Even if you have stuff at your house already, upgrading is always fun if you ever wanted to go that route! We hope you enjoy!

We got the pleasure of interviewing our first customer on the podcast this week with our good friend Melissa Lux! She has been a regular of our shop for over a year now and we have loved every second of getting to know her. We hope you enjoy the time getting to hear her story as well. If you see her in the shop say hi! Enjoy Episode #14!

Building community with other coffee shops in the city is so important. "A rising tide lifts all boats" as they say. We all grow when we ALL grow together. We are so blessed to have so many shops here with such good people working in the industry. Our friends over at Plata Coffee joined us this week to talk all things barista-ing, about their shop in the Saw Mill, and catching up with some good ol' conversations! Enjoy, and go give our friends a visit at Plata Coffee!

This week we have the special privilege of having our friend and customer Josh Brown on the podcast. We have known Josh since the beginning of opening Castle Coffee (and even a little before), and connected instantly on our love for coffee. We hope you enjoy not just hearing Josh and Matt this week... but a friendly voice to add in the mix! Enjoy!

So yeah... This episode was supposed to be about home coffee brewing and the ins and outs of brewing our (or any coffee) at home so you get the same quality that you get from a coffee shop, at home. We lost track of time and this will definitely have to  be a two part episode. Don't get us wrong, we still talk about home brewing... you'll just have to listen. Episode 11 brings fun banter just as if you were talking to us behind the bar of our coffee shop. Enjoy!

This idea is such an integral part of our business, but it is a notion that is so lacking in many places today. Coffee shops are in a unique position to where we can interact with people in many ways that businesses in the food industry cannot. We started this coffee shop to build a community oriented space to cultivate genuine relationships, and a heart of hospitality is right there hand in hand with how we try to do that. We hope you enjoy our goofy banter and serious moments! 

We got some news. Big news for the future of Castle Coffee indeed. The introduction of Cornerstone Coffee Roasters! Corner and Castle? Why the difference? We talk about this and get more in depth about the change in the roasting side of our business, the good parts and the not so good parts. Check out our website to order Cornerstone Coffee at home, so even if you're not in ABQ you can try it for yourselves! We hope you enjoy!

Coffee lingo can be so confusing. What is a flat white? What is over extraction? Craft coffee what? These terms are widely used today and can sometimes feel intimidating to ask. Either at our Shop or on this episode, we aim to make coffee more accessible. To bridge the gap between what you see and hear to what you actually are getting in your cup. We don't touch on everything... there very well may be a part two to this. But we touch the surface to help you better understand these sometimes confusing terms. Also what is Matt's obsession with poop?... You'll just have to listen.

Behind the Bar conversations. This is what it's like to work at a coffee shop. You never know what conversation you'll have next. This time we just got to talking about what it's like being a dad. Both Matt's and Josh's toddler sons just had a birthday, so we thought we'd reflect on how fatherhood has changed us, how we have no idea what we are doing, but man do we love being a father. We get serious, we get dumb, we just hope you enjoy this episode and enjoy some time talking about some real life stuff.

Our wonderful friend and baker Kelly from the Witching Flour Bakery has taken some time from baking to reset, rejuvenate, and get her new space ready that will open some time in the near future. Kelly has been the artist behind all those beautiful pastries you have seen in Castle since almost the beginning, and we have been beyond blessed to call her our friend and to work with her. There is no Castle Coffee without Kelly, and we are so thankful for all she does for our wonderful city. She took a break from her time off to come hang out with us and talk about what the witching flour is, her passion for baking, and who she is personally. We are so honored to have her on the podcast and stay tuned for her new shop to open!

This is not a clear cut and dry blueprint for how to start a coffee shop. What it is though is Josh and Matt's 6 years of coffee experience (managing and owning), and us trying to make sense of how to start a coffee shop that will not just succeed but thrive.  We aren't perfect but we like to think we have learned a thing or two over the years that have helped us personally through these past 3 years of owning Castle. Coffee shops are a beautiful place of gathering, each with their unique vibe and feel, but its the bones and base underneath that keep it afloat. We hope you enjoy and possibly use this to help start your dream of owning a coffee shop one day!

Stress and Anxiety are some of the most universal emotions that we as people face, and it's something we face almost daily. How do we equip ourselves to tackle such emotions and how do we deal with these as unique individuals who have unique circumstances? Matt and Josh try to tackle this very question with some of our own insight on how we deal with stress and anxiety. It's not gonna be the cure, but being transparent and open about it just might help. We hope you enjoy Episode 4!

There's a ton of different ways to get your name out there, so why did we choose a podcast? We learn from one of the best in the west, 15 year podcast veteran Chris Burnett of 10 Drink Minimum Podcast. Yes.... this is a long one but take it it chunks or all at once, doesn't matter to us! It's all just a good time talking about podcasting and some interesting stories from one of our regulars at the shop.

Episode 2 of Behind the Bar. Why do we do, what we do? Why do we love this bean so much? Coffee is such a spectacular and special product that is used all over the world, and there is so much going on that allows us to have our morning cup. It can seem daunting, but we aim to make it personable and more easily understandable. Now when you walk into a coffee shop, we hope this makes it less intimidating for you. Enjoy!

Before we dive into all of our content, we want you to get to know your hosts, co-owners of Castle Coffee, Josh Castleberry and Matthew Luevano- Campbell. We hope you have fun, enjoy yourself a little, and get to dive a little deeper into our heads and why we started Castle Coffee in Albuquerque, NM.Episodes to come will include Small Business entrepreneurship, what goes into running a small business, what it means to be a part of your community, and so so much more. Stay tuned, and look for new episodes every two weeks!