Filter Stories - Coffee Documentaries

Do you grind your beans fresh before brewing your coffee? If so, you are helping overturn a race-to–the-bottom with deep roots in colonial extraction …

When was the last time you bought a coffee that was Fairtrade certified?

Certifications make it easy for consumers to put their ethics into practice. But, hidden beneath the glossy sticker …

How do you drink your instant coffee? If you’re like most of the world, you fill your mug with milk and sugar to sweeten the taste.

By adding milk and sugar to your instant, you helped …

A hundred years ago one Brazilian man owned so many coffee trees he could fill every inch of a European country with them.

But why does Brazil grow so …

Why do we get upset when we’re charged €36 for an ordinary cappuccino?

The answer flies us to the Caribbean where white Europeans make black Africans suffer.

In this second episode of A …

Here’s a surprising fact: coffee was only invented around the time Michelangelo was chiselling his statue of David.

Why did it take so long for humans to invent the cup of coffee?

In this …

A History of Coffee is the story of how a tiny psychoactive seed changed the world and shapes our lives today.

Across six episodes, documentary maker James Harper and professional historian …

Sofía is a teenager living on a coffee farm and was going to school five days a week. But a year later, she’s studying only on Saturdays.

This might …

You’ve just achieved a life goal. Now what? Dream bigger? Quit while you’re ahead?

When Federico Bolaños fulfills his dream of helping a young …

El Salvador used to grow a quarter of the world’s coffees. Today, it’s barely more than a rounding error. As coffee production fell, illegal migration to America grew.

But there are many …

Hector “tito” Vargas passed away in December 2019.

We honor him by playing the season finale of the Duolingo Spanish Podcast.

Correction: Tito …

You buying a coffee from El Salvador and Trump building a border wall have nothing in common.

Or do they?

Over five episodes, we explore a story of El Salvador. We confront massacres, wide …

You buying a coffee from El Salvador and Trump building a border wall have nothing in common.

Or do they?

Over five episodes, we explore a story of El Salvador. We confront massacres, wide …

You buying a coffee from El Salvador and Trump building a border wall have nothing in common.

Or do they?

Over five episodes, we explore a story of El Salvador. We confront massacres, wide …

You buying a coffee from El Salvador and Trump building a border wall have nothing in common.

Or do they?

Over five episodes, we explore a story of El Salvador. We confront massacres, wide …

You buying a coffee from El Salvador and Trump building a border wall have nothing in common.

Or do they?

Over five episodes, we explore stories of El Salvador. We confront massacres, wide …

We meet a man who came from humble beginnings who has achieved what Armando and Maria have only ever dreamed about.

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Shape the future of Filter Stories by taking this 10 minute …

Imagine you’re a coffee buyer on a mission to buy Salvadoran coffee. We visit Armando and Maria’s farms. Which farm would you choose to buy from?

…

20 years ago specialty coffee patted itself on the back for saving coffee farmers, both big and small, from the misery of low coffee prices.

But what's it like for a small coffee farmer …

Gerry has a disability that keeps 2 in 3 adults out of full time work.

But Gerry demolishes expectations over and over again.

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Gerry’s …

What do you do when you want to buy a cafe but your country is collapsing around you?

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If you haven't already, please subscribe to the show …

Mikhail is a specialty coffee barista. But he’s stuck on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

He doesn’t want to be there and he’s trying to get off. But he can’t. There are boats …

What were your dreams at 16? Sofía lives on a remote coffee farm in Nicaragua and hers is to be a great english translator.

But Sofía needs school …

In Central America, you can’t tell the story of coffee without mentioning war.

This is Alfonso. He's hugged Fidel Castro and President Reagan …

Tito lives on a mountain in Panama, is a rebel and doesn’t listen to anyone.

Which is why he makes a terrible decision: he buys a coffee farm instead of getting an education. Tito is now …

Raymond's family want him to spend his life using a horse instead of a car, to live off the grid and have little contact with the outside world.

But young Raymond is curious and explores the …

Martin is the best barista in Kenya and has a dream to open a cafe. Except, he can't. Kenyans don't drink coffee.

But he has a plan: he’s going to win the World Barista Championships to …

Murray is one of Ecuador's most famous coffee farmers. But there's a problem: he's only earning $2 profit from 250 espressos. How does he survive?

While he struggles, his farm is splashed …

Sarah has just landed her dream job working as a barista for the best cafe in North Carolina.

Her cafe will soon be featured in the New York Times …