Is your coffee actually ethically sourced? A coffee farm in Brazil kept its ethical sourcing seal after inspectors rescued workers from slave-like conditions there, according to the farmer’s own lawyers. So what is that little seal on your coffee bag really worth?

In this episode of Curiously Caffeinated, veteran barista Sam breaks down every coffee label you’ll see in the grocery aisle: Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, USDA organic, Smithsonian Bird Friendly, Starbucks C.A.F.E. Practices, and direct trade. What each coffee certification actually promises, what it doesn’t, and which one protects the farmer.

In this episode:

• Where the money from your $6 latte goes, and why a coffee farmer might see as little as 40 cents
• The 1989 coffee price crash and the coffee crisis that left 25 million farmers selling below cost
• How fair trade coffee started with an 1860 novel, Max Havelaar, and farmers in Oaxaca, Mexico
• Fairtrade minimum prices, the Fairtrade Premium, and why the price floor isn’t what most people think
• The Rainforest Alliance frog, Bird Friendly shade grown coffee, and why songbirds need coffee farms
• What C.A.F.E. Practices (Coffee and Farmer Equity) claims, and how slave labor cases fall through the cracks
• The real stories behind the workers rescued from Brazilian coffee farms in 2025
• Why direct trade isn’t a certification at all
• A coffee edition of Two Truths and a Lie
• Five simple ways to buy more ethical coffee without blowing your budget

This is not a guilt episode. It’s a guide to reading your coffee bag, so you know what you’re actually paying for.

Follow Curiously Caffeinated on Spotify for new episodes every Saturday, and send this one to your coffee person.

Instagram: @curiouslycaffeinatedpodcast
TikTok: @thesammimae

Sources:

• Repórter Brasil: https://reporterbrasil.org.br/2025/10/farmer-says-he-kept-starbucks-seal-even-after-slave-labor-case/
• Repórter Brasil, 2025 rescues: https://reporterbrasil.org.br/2025/09/brazils-largest-coffee-cooperative-linked-to-new-slave-labor-cases/
• University of Melbourne: https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/how-much-of-your-$6-coffee-actually-reaches-the-farmer
• Daily Coffee News, Fairtrade 2026 minimums: https://dailycoffeenews.com/2026/08/04/fairtrade-international-raises-price-minimums-again/
• Canon of the Netherlands, Max Havelaar: https://www.canonvannederland.nl/en/maxhavelaar
• Smithsonian, Bird Friendly at 25: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/smithsonian-tropical-research-institute/2025/08/27/smithsonian-bird-friendly-celebrates-25-years-setting-the-gold-standard-for-sustainable-coffee-and-cocoa-production/
• Rainforest Alliance, founder Daniel Katz: https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/insights/our-founder-daniel-katz-reflects-on-the-origins-of-the-rainforest-alliance
• Starbucks, C.A.F.E. Practices: https://stories.starbucks.ca/stories/2024/c-a-f-e-practices-starbucks-approach-to-ethically-sourcing-coffee
• National Consumers League lawsuit: https://nclnet.org/national-consumers-league-sues-starbucks-alleging-coffee-giant-deceives-customers-with-claims-of-100-ethical-coffee-tea/

French press vs espresso vs drip coffee: what’s the difference, and why does the same coffee taste completely different depending on how you brew it?

This week on Curiously Caffeinated, I break down the four “knobs” behind every brew method (grind size, time, filter and heat), then put them to the test in my own kitchen. One bag of beans. Three brew methods. My husband Derion, a sous chef who had no idea what he’d signed up for. One cup was “so much better.” Another was “diabolical.”

In this episode:
☕ The four variables behind every brew method, explained without the jargon
☕ Drip, French press, pour over and espresso: how each works and what it does to flavor
☕ The Gold Cup ratio, and why your 12-cup coffee maker isn’t really 12 cups
☕ The mom who invented the paper coffee filter using her son’s school notebook
☕ Our at-home taste test: the same beans, three ways, and a very honest husband
☕ How to fix bitter, sour, weak or stale coffee at home

Also, this is our first episode on video! And it’s take three, thanks to a computer that restarted itself twice. Welcome to the real side of podcasting.

Do you brew pour over at home? I’m shopping for my first setup, so tell me your favorite dripper and kettle over on Instagram or TikTok.

If you’re enjoying the show, follow Curiously Caffeinated on Spotify so you never miss an episode, and send this one to your coffee person.

Let’s connect!
TikTok: @thesammimae
Instagram: @curiouslycaffeinatedpodcast

The coffee from our taste test:
Brown Dog Coffee Roasters, Bruno’s Forever Jar Colombia: https://browndogroasting.com/products/brunos-forever-jar-colombia-4-project-single-origin?variant=53040326639934

Sources:
How many oz of coffee for a 12-cup pot, Kaldi’s Coffee: https://kaldi.com/blogs/post/how-many-oz-of-coffee-should-be-used-in-a-12-cup-coffee-pot
Achieving the Gold Cup Standard, Seattle Coffee Gear: https://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/blogs/learning-center/achieving-the-gold-cup-standard-your-guide-to-brewing-excellence
The invention of the coffee filter, German Patent and Trade Mark Office: https://www.dpma.de/english/our_office/publications/ingeniouswomen/110jahrekaffeefilter/index.html
Mr. Coffee history, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Coffee

The history of coffee in the Americas starts with one of the most famous stories ever told about a coffee plant, and a lot of it might not be true.

A ship stuck dead still in the middle of the Atlantic. Water running out. And French naval officer Gabriel de Clieu pouring half his drinking water into a tiny coffee plant, every day, for a month. It’s printed on coffee bags and repeated in coffee history books. But almost every dramatic detail comes from one witness: de Clieu himself, writing about it fifty years later.

On this episode of Curiously Caffeinated, a coffee podcast hosted by a ten-year barista who’s still learning out loud, we tell the legend and then check it against the record.

In this episode:
☕ How a 1714 gift from Amsterdam gave France its first coffee tree
☕ Gabriel de Clieu, a mystery “lady of quality,” and a homemade glass greenhouse
☕ Pirates, a storm, a jealous saboteur, and the famous water ration, in his own words
☕ How coffee came to Martinique and grew to nearly 19 million trees, and who really did that work
☕ The Typica coffee variety and what Jamaica Blue Mountain has to do with this story
☕ Legend vs. record: was he really first, and did one tree really start coffee in Latin America?

If you’re enjoying the show, follow Curiously Caffeinated on Spotify so you never miss an episode. And send this one to your coffee person. You know exactly who I mean.

Let’s connect!
TikTok | @thesammimae
Instagram: @curiouslycaffeinatedpodcast

Sources:
All About Coffee, William Ukers (1922): https://www.gutenberg.org/files/28500/28500-h/28500-h.htm
Typica variety, World Coffee Research: https://varieties.worldcoffeeresearch.org/varieties/typica
Gabriel de Clieu, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_de_Clieu
History of Coffee, National Coffee Association: https://www.aboutcoffee.org/origins/history-of-coffee/

Ten years behind an espresso bar, and I’m still learning. This episode is where the history lessons from Episodes 1 and 2 finally land somewhere useful — in your kitchen, at the coffee shop, in front of that wall of bags at the grocery store you’ve been staring at forever.

We’re covering what actually makes your coffee taste the way it does: terroir (altitude, soil, climate — yes, it matters as much in coffee as in wine), the three processing methods that shape your cup before the roaster ever touches the beans, and how to read a coffee bag without needing a degree.

Plus — how to find a roaster worth your money, what the red flags actually mean (and don’t mean), a quick breakdown of Arabica vs Robusta vs the lesser-known Excelsa, and the only real rule for figuring out what you like.

I also pulled out my French press for the first time. Twice. And yeah, everything changed.

Whether you’re a specialty coffee obsessive or someone who just wants a better cup at home — this one’s for you.

Mentioned in the episode:

BrownDog Coffee Roasters | @browndogcoffeeroasters

These are some of my favorite coffee roasters based right here in Washington state. No affiliation at all here, just someone who buys a lot of coffee from these guys.

Beanly | @beanly.app

This guy popped up on my TikTok feed and has created an app that will help you track the coffees you like and why you like them. The more you track, the more the app learns what you like and can help give recommendations on what to try next. No affiliation here either, just showing some love to a small creator with a vision.

Let's connect on socials!

TikTok | @thesammimae

Insta | @curiouslycaffeinatedpodcast