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With the prosperity of the industry, a shout-out. As podcasts started to get popular in 2020, it contains, podcasts have become a perfect medium for
Micky decided to try to use the podcast as a new way to
baristas, experts, and coffee lovers.
more players joined, and more diverse fulfill the organization’s mission.
When Micky first thought of forming an NPO for When Coffee Meets Podcasts: How It
content and topics have appeared. baristas, it was thanks to his encounter with a world Diversifies the Coffee Community
barista champion in 2018. He found out that baristas
Coffee is one of them. are just like ordinary people in daily life, but when it I’M NOT A BARISTA started its podcast in 2021
comes to their professions, they suddenly become the when the COVID-19 hit. For each episode, the founder
star – put all their life into their careers, into the cof- and the podcast host, Micky Wang, would invite one
fee industry. He realized that being a barista is not coffee industry guest to share their stories. Attached to
about pushing a button on a coffee machine. Rather it the podcast is an article profile of the person as well.
requires knowledge and techniques after years of learn- There is no specific topic for the episodes. The guest
ing and pursuing. He wants more people to listen to could say and share anything they wanted to discuss,
their stories; a podcast is a “truer” medium for barista from barista life to start-up stories. So many times, when
stories from his view. “Many times, you may have read you listen to I’M NOT A BARISTA, you don’t know what
the text and seen the photos, but it is still difficult to you are expecting. However, that is where most listeners
Then, COVID-19 hit. Even though it has caused Lucia specializes in using microbes to create reproducible
feel what this person is really like. When you are lis- would get pleasant surprises from those “Meet Some-
worldwide mess, it helped the podcast industry have flavor profiles and provide stability to a highly variable
tening to the podcast, you will find that this person is body” episodes. Nevertheless, to create all the content,
another boom as the global population was restricted process. In her podcast, you can hear topics such as how
different from what you imagined through their tone the only man behind it is Micky, sometimes with part-
from going outdoors. Nielsen’s new report shows that the sugar content differs based on processing style: washed,
and rhythm of speech in words, and your feelings for time volunteers. From inviting guests to editing episodes,
U.S. podcast listener base has grown by 40% over the past honey, or natural. Or another episode discussed how the
this person would go further.” Micky did it all. For him, making podcasts is not for
three years, and more than half of them said they started coffee terroir would influence coffee taste. Through
Easy to start and operate, less time and money-con- profit but another medium to volume up the voices of
listening during the past two years during the pandemic. podcasts, listeners could gain a lot of professional and
suming, and, more importantly, a more intimate feeling baristas. “A lot of the time, we would interview an un-
In China, people called 2022 “the first year of the podcast exclusive coffee-producing knowledge from an expert
era”. According to a report released by the professional that they cannot find anywhere else. On top of that, it is
marketing research company iResearch, the number of free. Podcasts like these, made by coffee professionals
new Chinese podcasts in China in 2020 surpassed 7,000, with their passions and goodwill, truly help the coffee
a year-on-year increase of 412%; and the number of pod- community improve.
cast users in China has reached nearly 70 million. Podcasts also provide an emotional link for listeners
Looking at the future, there is no doubt that the and the hosts. The coffee writer and host of Boss Barista,
growth of podcasts will continue. According to Grand Ashley Rodriguez, explained the difference between
View Research, the global podcasting market size was words and audio. She said: “I think there’s something
valued at USD 18.52 billion in 2022 and is estimated to really striking about hearing someone speak, about real-
expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of ly tuning into what a person is saying. For me, podcasts
27.6% from 2023 to 2030. With the prosperity of the give an added emotional weight because you get to hear
industry, more players joined, and more diverse content people in their own words share their stories.”
and topics have appeared. Coffee is one of them. As the New Yorker once commented, as a medium
of deep intimacy, podcasts can slowly build stories and
Turning Taste into Auditory: How Pod- form an emotional atmosphere. The emotional transmis-
casts Make Magic sion efficiency of voice is higher, and immediate reactions
such as the use of words, laughter, or silence make people
The nature of the podcast encourages more people, feel real and have a sense of companionship; therefore, a
from coffee experts to coffee lovers, to join the conver- trusting relationship is formed from this.
sation and contribute to the coffee community. Especial- In fact, a few interviewees I talked to mentioned
ly for those with a professional background, it is a better the intimate emotional feeling empowered by podcasts,
way to pass on their knowledge to the community more including the founder of I’M NOT A BARISTA, Micky
effectively and efficiently. In fact, that’s what many cof- Wang. I’M NOT A BARISTA is an NPO (not-for-profit
fee professionals are doing at the moment. For example, organization), especially for the barista group. The or-
former winemaker turned fermentation and coffee pro- ganization aims to empower the people behind the cup
cessing specialist Lucia Solis made a podcast focusing on by sharing their stories with the broader public and
the agricultural side of coffee production called Making providing them financial support. Micky and the volun-
Coffee with Lucia Solis. With years of experience work- teers have documented more than 200 barista stories to
ing with coffee producers throughout Latin America, give the heroes behind coffee bars, famous or unknown,

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