Every other week three friends, coworkers, and coffee industry professionals humorously explore topics in history, culture, and business using coffee as inspiration. Then, using their professionally trained palates, they try the coffee and commit to giving no bad reviews. Hosted by Jenni Trilik, Marcus Contaldo, and Stephanie Motenko. Sponsored by Modest Coffee
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This episode is one of our favorites, and also a fan favorite, so we decided to play it again while we take a little summer break. We hope you enjoy it again!-There may be no bigger genre than true crime at this moment in time so we decided to see if we could find a true crime coffee. And what do you know, we found the Murder Coffee Company. This w…
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Steph went to NYC and all she brought back was this delicious coffee and an amazing story about two Malaysian immigrant women who are making waves in the specialty coffee world. This is the story about how in 2015 Chi Sum Ngai and Kaleena Teoh quit their jobs to follow their dream of owning a coffee shop in a 400 square foot space and ended up as t…
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Bonus: Uncle Nearest vs. Jack Daniels Love It or Leave It
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On our Patreon, we release weekly bonus episodes called Love It or Leave It where we give our unfiltered opinions on various coffee or episode related products. For our most recent Patreon episode, we compared Uncle Nearest whiskey to Jack Daniels whiskey as a companion to our most recent full length episode. We decided to release this episode to e…
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Uncle Nearest + Jack Daniels Coffee
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In this episode we talk about how Jack Daniel left home as a young boy and was taken in by a pastor with a distillery side hustle run by a master distiller and enslaved man named Nathan "Nearest" Green, also known as Uncle Nearest. Young Jack became the assistant to Uncle Nearest and Uncle Nearest became like a father to Jack. When Jack was an adul…
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DOMINO M*TH*RF*CK*R!Click to hear more!INDOxyz: https://indo.xyz/collections/frontpage/products/sumatra-gayo- Buy a mystery box of past products that we have tried on the podcast! For $10 you will receive 10 cups worth of coffee. Includes shipping! Limited supplies, buy here: https://www.paypal.com/instantcommerce/checkout/YUHJNDHDX2CTEHelp us buy …
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Melitta Bentz, Inventor of the Pour-Over Brew Method
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In this week's episode Jenni tells us about her favorite person in coffee history, the OG 3rd wave coffee connoisseur and inventor of the pour-over method of brewing coffee, Melitta Bentz and the company she founded and named after herself. In 1908, Melitta was unhappy with percolated coffee, the most common way of brewing coffee in Germany where s…
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This is our first episode where we decided not to name the coffee company! Our entire podcast is based on giving no bad reviews to whatever coffee we try. There are companies out there that hold ideologies that we can only give bad reviews to so we purposefully avoid the products of those coffee companies. For today’s episode, Steph’s partner was s…
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Good Foods Awards + Pedestrian Coffee and Goshen Coffee Roasters
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The Good Food Awards winners for 2023 were just announced and so we thought it fitting that Marcus should do an episode about the Good Foods Awards, given his own personal experience with the competition. In this episode, Marcus tells us about the Good Food Awards and the process to become a winner. We also highlight the two coffee roasters from Il…
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Cheese Flavored Flavor Coffee + History of Cheese
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This week’s episode is all about words that should never go together: coffee + cheese flavored. When we first started, cheese flavored coffee was suggested to us by our friend and owner of Ten Drops Coffee. So we had to buy it but Jenni hid it away while Steph and Marcus forgot about it. Then Jenni learned a crazy fact that she had to share with th…
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We received a bag of McMenamins Sabertooth coffee from a friend and listener who traveled to Portland, OR and found the company to be so fascinating that we decided to do an entire episode about them.Two brothers, born and raised in Portland, started with a single business and have grown to be a multimillion dollar staple of the Pacific Northwest. …
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Turkish Coffee + The Origins of Coffee Culture
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In this week's episode, Jenni covers Turkish style coffee and the origins of coffee culture. The first recorded history of coffee dates back to the mid 1500s in Yemen. Sultan Suleiman then spread it throughout the entire Ottoman Empire. Turkish style coffee brewed using a cezve/ibrik became so prominent that it is still the main brew method through…
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Welcome to the episode where we answer the question we've all been wondering, how to pronounce La Colombe! This is a mainstream coffee company best known for their ready to drink canned coffee and second most known for the TV show, Dangerous Grounds. La Colombe was founded by BFFs JP Iberti and Todd Carmichael. You can tell which is the most outgoi…
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In honor of the Jewish holiday of Purim, this year celebrated on March 6, Steph had the fun idea of telling us about the history of Purim and how it is celebrated today. This is a fascinating story about Esther and how she helped the Jews of Persia save themselves from a decree of murder issued by Haman, the eventually disgraced Viceroy of the King…
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Anodyne Coffee + Democratic Republic of the Congo
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Steph went on vacation to Milwaukee and brought back a bag of Anodyne Coffee. First she tells us the story of the marathon running founder that has built an incredibly successful business in Milwaukee over the last 25 years. Then we try a coffee from Anodyne, a single-origin coffee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a region that is hard to…
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Pocket Latte + The History of Chocolate
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We’re back! This week we explore the origin of chocolate, the history of chocolate in Korea, and then we try Pocket Lattes. We have been so excited to try Pocket Latte, a bar made from cocoa butter and coffee that contains as much caffeine as a cup of coffee. It is such a fun and innovative product but it has literally taken us almost a year to get…
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So wow, what a wild ride the last few weeks have been for us. Modest Coffee went viral and sold $200,000 of coffee in 15 hours, we somehow managed to process over 4,000 shipments, and then Marcus lost his thumb in a tragic workplace accident. Yes, all in two weeks. So in a break from our regular scheduled programming, we decided to fill everyone in…
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History of Decaf + Decaf Three Ways: Rerelease
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Edit: we noticed a funky thing happened in transmission and it seems the theme music and our commercial shifted. It's brief but if it annoys you, you can listen to the original release on September 13, 2022. Thanks! Hi everyone! For this week's episode we decided to give ourselves a holiday break and release a previously aired episode. We had thoug…
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History of Eggnog + Jolliest Bunch of A$$holes Coffee
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Happy whatever you celebrate or don't celebrate! Happy winter! Happy almost New Year! Our gift to you is this podcast episode. Marcus tells us the history of eggnog and Steph tells us about Expedition Roasters Coffee Company. For the tasting we get back to our roots and try their eggnog flavored coffee. The packaging is adorable but will the coffee…
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History of Tarot + Coffee Tarot Cards with Teresa Fiehn Millies
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We are SO excited for this week’s podcast crossover with our most special guest, Teresa Fiehn Millies, our dear friend, fourth Modest Coffee employee, and host of Ninth Arcana: A Tarot Podcast. We have been looking to get Teresa on the podcast for a long time and finally figured out the best way possible, a coffee themed tarot deck. Teresa is the c…
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Thanksgiving Rabbit Hole + Native Coffee Traders
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It’s Happy Thanksgiving time everyone! In this week’s episode Steph takes us down the rabbit hole of her mind and answers all the questions about Thanksgiving that she could think of. From were the Jews on the Mayflower, to the corn of the dead, to when did the first Muslim person arrive in the Americas, Steph found an answer to all of it. Whether …
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3rd Wave Feminism vs. 3rd Wave Ska vs. 3rd Wave Coffee with Third Wave Water
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It’s the 3rd Wave Everything episode! We were challenged by listener Eric to compare 3rd Wave Ska to 3rd Wave Coffee. For good measure, we thought we’d also throw in 3rd Wave Feminism because why not? So get out your surfboards because in this super fun extra long episode there's going to be a lot of waves! In our first segment, Steph covers the 1s…
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Bonus Episode: History of Candy Corn
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Happy Halloween! Trick or treat! You came to our house and we're giving you candy corn! In last week's episode we covered the history of Halloween and tried a candy corn flavored coffee. Steph also had the history of candy corn prepared but everything ran a little long so we decided to give everyone a Halloween special episode. So enjoy this histor…
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History of Halloween + Jarbee Candy Corn Coffee
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It's spooky season and we're here to learn about the reason for the season! Steph takes us back in time to tell us the origins of Halloween. We discuss cultural traditions from different countries from the Americas to Europe and how the rise in Christianity changed the pagan traditions to be a lot less fun before the Irish immigrants in America bro…
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Kawaha 1893 + Colonization of Kenya
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In this week’s episode we switch gears and try a specialty coffee, Kahawa 1893. We still have a founder educated at Harvard with a Wall Street resume, but her roots diverge from the typical coffee company story. Margaret Nyamumbo was raised on a coffee farm in Kenya and is determined to bring Kenyan coffee to the world and help women farmers while …
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In this week's episode, we learn how we that nothing more than a k-cup to slim down and maintain our girlish figures. Chock full of questionable Dr. Oz peddled health ingredients and an overabundance of B-vitamins, this really seemed like a one stop shop for our best health. Then we meet the guy that inspired that one song from Chumbawamba, Brandon…
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When we came up with the idea of doing an episode about decaf, we thought it would just be a discussion about the different processing methods. Turns out there’s WAY more to decaf than any of us expected. Of the inventors of the three major decaffeination methods there’s a guy that was friends with Hilter, a guy who was killed by the Nazis, and a g…
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In this week’s episode, Marcus and Steph try PBR Hard Coffee while Jenni tags along for the story of the Pabst Blue Ribbon company, a history older than the Civil War. The story of the Pabst company starts with a family of German immigrants in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Thanks to a devastating event in the next major city over and some little blue silk …
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In this week’s episode we learn about the iconic New York coffee brand, Chock Full o’Nuts. This company was the Starbucks of New York City long before the era of Starbucks. With coffee shops scattered across Manhattan, this counter style diner served up exactly what people needed when they needed it for a price they could afford. Listen to hear abo…
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Why choose between your morning energy drink and your morning coffee? In this week's episode we try the combo that is both! Steph tells us the history and current events of the leading energy drink coffee company and this company has it all. Girls, large trucks, lawsuits, sexual harassment accusations, and so much intensity. Find out what we think …
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It's a birthday spectacular! Happy Birthday to Marcus and Jenni! Steph decided to give Marcus and Jenni the gift of a podcast episode. In this week's episode, Steph tells the very fascinating history of birthday cake and then we try Birthday Cake Coffee from a fitness/marketing/coffee brand called Coffee Over Cardio. Does this coffee take the cake?…
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There may be no bigger genre than true crime at this moment in time so we decided to see if we could find a true crime coffee. And what do you know, we found the Murder Coffee Company. This week we delve into the psychology of true crime and the macabre and then we try a blueberry flavored coffee called Turning Blue. Find out what we think about th…
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It's a Marcus coffee nerd episode! None of us have ever tried cascara but have been very curious about it so we were all really excited to try this herbal tea made from the fruit of the coffee plant. Marcus tells us the history of cascara, how and where it is consumed today, and we figure out ways we think it would be best enjoyed. Find out what we…
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Breakfast with Elvis - Peanut Butter Banana Coffee
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This week we try Breakfast with Elvis, a peanut butter banana flavored coffee that attempts to pay homage to the favorite sandwich of the King himself. Steph takes us on a journey back in time, before Elvis, to the earliest days of rock and roll. We then learn about the meteoric rise of the King and how the world was perfectly poised for his kind o…
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History of Juneteenth + BeanFruit Coffee
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It’s a couple of weeks later than we had hoped to release this episode, but we found the history of Juneteenth to be incredibly fascinating and we were excited to try the coffee from BeanFruit Coffee, so we thought better late than never. In this week’s episode, Jenni covers the history of Juneteenth and the end of slavery in America. We all learne…
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We're back to recording! This week we get back to our roots and try cotton candy flavored coffee from the Bones Coffee Company. It's like a carnival for our mouths! Maybe? In this episode, Steph tells us the history of cotton candy and it's been around a lot longer than any of us could guess. Then she tells us what little information she could find…
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In this week's episode we try Manhattan Special, a coffee soda that is about as old as modern coffee, around since the late 1895 in the same location in Brooklyn, New York. It is a New York classic that we were excited to try! Steph tells us the tale of the Manhattan Special company and with a company this old, it definitely has some history. Now r…
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Aldi Coffee Water: Love It or Leave It
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This week we are in the midst of fulfilling a pretty insane order and did not have any time to properly research or record a regular episode. But we didn't want you to go a week without us so we decided that it would be fun to release an exclusive Patreon bonus episode. You hear us mention Love It or Leave It every week and so we'll let you take a …
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Aldi vs. Trader Joe's, Part 2: Trader Joe's
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In this week's episode we have Joanna Goss, our resident Trader Joe's expert, bringing us not only an insider's perspective on Trader Joe's but also the history as our storyteller! In addition to her day job as a store artist at Trader Joe's, Joanna is an accomplished artist, published author, and vintage reseller. We loved having Joanna on the pod…
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Aldi vs. Trader Joe's, Part 1: Aldi
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This week in part one of our two part Aldi vs. Trader Joe's series, Steph tells us the founding story of Aldi and what history she could learn about the reclusive brothers who made it the store it is today. This story would not be complete with all the drama—World War II, a family rift, and even a kidnapping! We also welcome a special guest, Joanna…
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Cometeer Coffee • Frozen Coffee Pods
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We've seen Cometeer advertised quite a bit so, intrigued by the concept, we decided to do an episode about it. A coffee concept born of a lazy college student, Cometeer is a frozen coffee concentrate meant to be constituted with water and claims to be as good as a freshly brewed cup of coffee. Developed between said college student, an OG of specia…
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Coava Coffee + the History of the Chemex
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When Marcus and Jenni went to Portland a few months ago, Marcus was so excited to learn that a Coava coffee location was just blocks from their Airbnb. At the crack of dawn he walked on over, met some super friendly baristas, and enjoyed a most excellent cup of Chemex brewed coffee. So they brought back a couple of bags to share with Steph and all …
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It's our first interview episode! Steph retells the story of her friend Derrick who has a lovely and romantic tale about his idyllic childhood spent within a stone's throw of the Royal Cup Coffee factory and how he by chance met this coffee again in his adulthood, hundreds of miles away. Then we try this coffee that everyone has likely had but noon…
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Spicy Taco Coffee is the coffee no one asked for but somehow exists. For this episode, Jenni's childhood best friend thought it would be fun to send the podcast this treat of an abomination and test our commitment to no bad reviews. And guess what! We did it. In this episode we not only manage to give no bad reviews, one of us emptied the cup, desp…
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Blast off with us as Jenni takes us through the history of coffee and space flight from the first Apollo mission to the moon, the space shuttle missions, and the International Space Station. Each new era of space flight brought a new era of coffee consumption along with ingenuity to make the coffee experience as much like Earth as possible. If ther…
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Yep, that's right, Green Day the band makes a coffee . When we found out, we had to try it for the sake of 1990s nostalgia. In this episode we learn about the history of Green Day from their days as wee lads singing Beatles tunes at the retirement center to them winning all of the awards. Then we discover what inspired them to start a coffee compan…
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Bonus Episode 3: Leon Black, Portrait of an (Alleged) A** Hole
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First thing we need to say, this episode gets our first trigger warning for mentions of sexual violence. We don't like to tell stories with trigger warnings, but here we are. Maybe don't play this episode with the kids in the car. This episode is a deeper dive into the allegations that we touched upon in Episode 11: Twinkies Coffee. If you haven't …
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When friend of Modest Coffee, Big Mike, told us about the Twinkies K-cups that he saw at his local Menards, we knew we had to make an episode. Little did we know, this story held much more than we expected. Steph covers the history of Hostess, the birth of the Twinkie, and the company's convoluted path to the hands of an (allegedly) disturbing CEO.…
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It's a Marcus episode! As a coffee podcast, we thought it important to maybe tell the story of coffee itself so we asked our resident expert to weigh in. When a friend sent us a bag of Jamaican Blue Mountain that she picked from the Island in the same week Marcus roasted some JBM for another friend, an episode was serendipitously born. Marcus tells…
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There were so many fun stories about Coca Cola that we decided to give you a bonus episode rather than leave these outtakes on the cutting room floor. Steph tells us how one guy made nearly a billion dollars on a $74,000 investment in Coca Cola, how Coca Cola infiltrated the Soviet Union behind the back of Stalin, in what ways Coca Cola definitely …
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It's the cocaine episode, err, the Coca-Cola with Coffee episode! Steph tells us the fascinating history of the Coca-Cola company and how they came to create Coke with Coffee. Will cocaine infused Coca-Cola cure the founder, John Stith Pemberton, of his morphine addiction? When did Coca-Cola remove coca leaves from Coca-Cola? It's more recently tha…
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