Articles by Ken

About Ken

Kenneth R. Olson (he/him) is co-founder and publisher of Barista Magazine the worldwide trade magazine for the professional coffee community. He has written extensively about specialty coffee, traveled near and far for stories, activities, and fun, and been invited to present on topics important to coffee culture. He is also an avid fan state parks, public libraries, and physical media.

A little video from Nuova Simonelli

March 22, 2011 Ken Comments Off

Sarah posted this video earlier today on our facebook page, and it seems pretty popular there, so I thought for everyone out there who’s not on the book of faces, you might like to see […]

Record Earthquake and Tsunami Rock Japan

March 11, 2011 Ken Comments Off

News broke this morning here in Oregon of the tsunami, which started yesterday after a massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake shook the ocean floor just off the coast of Japan. The waves reached our Pacific Coast, […]

Climate Change and Coffee (UPDATE)

March 8, 2011 Ken Comments Off

Excellent story from the Seattle Times yesterday about climate change and how it is affecting farmers in Costa Rica. You can read it here. “We want to prove to the coffee-consuming world that we’re doing […]

TED, Meet Coffee. Coffee, this is TED.

February 23, 2011 Ken Comments Off

I was talking to Stephen Morrissey of Intelligentsia at Coffee Fest Chicago this last week and he was brimming with excitement over the latest project he (and many others) are working on. It’s called Coffee […]

WBC 2011 – Colombia Preview

February 15, 2011 Ken 1

The first installment of our new feature in the magazine “Countdown to Colombia” debuted in the Feb/March issue of Barista Magazine. Countdown will run through the June/July issue and this year’s World Barista Championship in […]

Hat v. Hairnet

January 12, 2011 Ken 1

The New York Times has a photo essay up today featuring a number of baristas in the city and the chapeaus they don. Why so many baristas in hats? Well because the city health department […]

Last Second Christmas Gifts?

December 23, 2010 Ken Comments Off

Well who wouldn’t want some Rob Zombie coffee in their stocking this year? Seriously, though, Rob Zombie? Metal musician and horror movie maven that he is, I don’t know what he’s done to make me […]

Good Morning, Campers!

October 19, 2010 Ken 1

Well, there should be photos and blog posts from the event on the ground in Galina, Calif., but Sarah is having a hard time getting a working internet feed. That said, she wanted me to […]

Friday in Peru

October 16, 2010 Ken Comments Off

Friday was the first full day of let’s talk coffee 2010 here in tarapoto. There were trainings, cupping, demos, lectures, and one-on-one meetings between producers and their buyers. I spent most of my time with […]

Peru Continued

October 15, 2010 Ken Comments Off

We’re in Tarapoto now as Let’s Talk Coffee gets underway this morning. Well actually it began last night with a poolside welcome reception, but the program begins today. But the fun really began for us […]