IT’S JUST COFFEE!

In our latest episode, bartender and beverage innovation specialist Thurman Wise taught us what coffee professionals can learn from the cocktail world.

Now we’re putting those lessons to the test.

Thurman is back for a competition-style collaboration loosely inspired by the World Coffee in Good Spirits finals. His challenge is to make two drinks using the same bright Kenyan peaberry: a classic Irish coffee and a completely different designer beverage, all while keeping coffee at the centre.

There are no rehearsed routines, and we’re following the competition rules very loosely. Thurman adjusts the whiskey by taste, sweetens the cream and changes his signature drink halfway through making it.

The result is a lighter specialty-coffee Irish coffee, followed by a stripped-back Manhattan riff made with rum, cherry syrup and black pepper, with coffee taking the place of sweet vermouth.

We explore how to balance coffee with spirits, why temperature and dilution matter, how these ideas could become non-alcoholic café drinks and why the best signature beverages are often the simplest.

Then Thurman shares his favourite martinis from around the world and explains what coffee can learn from bars obsessed with getting every little detail right.

It’s Coffee in Good Spirits, IJC style.

Plus, Condesa Co.Lab joins us with the weekly green coffee market report.

COFFEE BREAK! is your weekly inside scoop into the coffee community. Everything from on-the-fly barista tips and honest café reviews to hospitality stories and gatekept coffee secrets.

CHAPTERS!

00:00 The Coffee Cocktail Challenge
00:58 How Coffee in Good Spirits Works
02:52 Making a Specialty Irish Coffee
05:15 Finding the Right Coffee-to-Whiskey Balance
07:10 How to Float the Cream
07:49 Tasting the Irish Coffee
10:41 Coffee Cocktails Beyond the Espresso Martini
12:56 Riverina Fresh
13:35 Challenge Two: The Signature Drink
13:57 Turning Coffee Into Vermouth
15:01 Changing the Recipe Mid-Drink
18:02 Tasting the Coffee Manhattan
19:45 Does a Coffee Cocktail Need to Taste Like Coffee?
21:37 Making Coffee Cocktails Without Alcohol
23:35 Why Signature Drinks Go Wrong
25:21 Thurman’s Favourite Martinis
28:37 What Coffee Can Learn From Martinis
29:40 Condesa Co.Lab Market Report
31:41 Should Thurman Enter the Competition?

LINKS

Find Thurman and MEASURED Guide:

Thurman Wise: https://www.instagram.com/thurmanwise/
MEASURED Guide: https://www.measured.guide/

Want more coffee content?

IT’S JUST COFFEE: https://linktr.ee/itsjustcoffeepod

Want to get in touch?

Hit us up at hello@itsjustcoffeepod.com with your questions, hot takes or favourite coffee cocktails.

Proudly sponsored by:

APAX LAB: https://apaxlab.com/
Condesa Co.Lab: https://condesacolab.com.au/
Riverina Fresh: https://www.riverinafresh.com.au/

Thanks for listening!

#CoffeeCocktails #CoffeeInGoodSpirits #SpecialtyCoffee
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Signature coffee drinks are everywhere. But are they actually balanced, or are cafés piling on syrups, foams, layers and garnishes until the coffee disappears?

Thurman Wise is a bartender, beverage innovation specialist and Product Director at MEASURED Guide. He’s also gone viral travelling the world in search of its coldest martini.

Today, Thurman becomes our spirit guide, in every sense of the word, as he teaches Rohan Cooke and Ben Bicknell what coffee professionals can learn from the cocktail world.
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re cafes still the place where community happens, or have laptops, rising costs and grab-and-go culture completely changed the role they play?

Rohan Cooke and Ben Bicknell unpack the idea of the “third place”, the space between home and work where people can gather, connect and feel like they belong.

From regulars and barista-led connection to run clubs, book clubs, no-laptop venues and day-to-night models, we explore what cafe community looks like in 2026. Why is the traditional third-place model becoming harder to sustain? Can someone working silently on a laptop really be part of a community? And how can cafes create genuine belonging without letting customers occupy a table for six hours on one coffee?

We also discuss why the experience surrounding a cup of coffee might be specialty coffee’s strongest defence against convenience.

Plus, APAX LAB introduces Conflux, and Condesa Co.Lab joins us with the weekly green coffee market report.

COFFEE BREAK! is your weekly inside scoop into the coffee community. Everything from on-the-fly barista tips and honest cafe reviews to hospitality stories and gatekept coffee secrets.

CHAPTERS!

00:00 Are Cafes Still the Third Place?01:50 What Is a Third Place?03:39 Do Cafes Still Build Community?06:45 Why the Old Model Is Hard to Sustain09:18 The Five Cafe Models Emerging Now10:16 Events, Run Clubs and Community13:03 The Laptop Paradox15:39 Baristas as Community Connectors17:05 How No-Laptop Cafes Create Connection18:10 The Cost of Accessibility20:02 Cafes Built Around Shared Interests21:52 What the Third Place Means Today24:41 Condesa Co.Lab Market Report26:57 A Place vs a Sense of Belonging28:11 Tell Us About Your Third Place

Want more coffee content?

IT’S JUST COFFEE:https://linktr.ee/itsjustcoffeepod

Want to get in touch?

Hit us up at hello@itsjustcoffeepod.com with your questions, comments or favourite third places.

Proudly sponsored by:

APAX LAB:https://apaxlab.com/

Condesa Co.Lab:https://condesacolab.com.au/

Riverina Fresh:https://www.riverinafresh.com.au/

Thanks for listening!

#CoffeeBreak #CafeCulture #SpecialtyCoffee

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Would you call the police over a €2 espresso?

It actually happened to Francesco Sanapo.

Francesco is a three-time Italian Barista Champion and the co-founder of Ditta Artigianale, the specialty coffee group challenging tradition from inside one of the most tradition-bound coffee cultures in the world.

In this episode, Francesco explains why Italy’s famous €1 espresso is no longer sustainable, what happened when an angry customer called the police over a €2 decaf, and why charging more only works when cafés deliver better coffee, better storytelling and better hospitality.

We also trace Francesco’s journey from washing cups and secretly studying customer orders to reaching the World Barista Championship final and building Ditta Artigianale across Florence and Milan.

Then we get into Italian modern espresso, why specialty cafés around the world are beginning to look exactly the same, how to expand without stripping the soul from your business, and Francesco’s deceptively simple advice for the entire specialty coffee industry:

Be nice.

If you’re new here (welcome), our show dives into some of the best coffee conversations on the internet, but we will always remind ourselves that at the end of the day, it’s just coffee!

CHAPTERS!

00:00 The €2 Espresso That Brought the Police01:07 How to Pronounce Ditta Artigianale01:37 Riverina Fresh02:30 Is the Macchiato Overrated?05:02 From Washing Cups to Making Coffee06:55 Compete for Yourself09:38 Taking Italy to the World Stage11:14 The Moment Francesco Changed His Life13:05 Why He Had to Open a Café14:15 Italy’s Coffee Contract Problem17:39 Expanding Without Becoming a Chain20:41 Why Espresso Still Costs €1 in Italy23:34 The Customer Who Called the Police25:20 How Cafés Can Raise Their Prices26:33 Italian Coffee vs Australian Coffee29:38 Has Italian Espresso Fallen Behind?31:23 What Is Italian Modern Espresso?34:33 Why Specialty Cafés All Look the Same37:19 Francesco Reveals His Next Milan Café39:10 Free Espresso for IJC Listeners40:08 Specialty Coffee Needs Nicer Baristas42:00 Where to Find Francesco

Find Francesco and Ditta Artigianale:

Francesco Sanapo: https://www.instagram.com/sanapofrancesco/Ditta Artigianale: https://www.instagram.com/dittaartigianale/Website: https://dittaartigianale.com/

Want more coffee content?

IT’S JUST COFFEE: https://linktr.ee/itsjustcoffeepod

Want to get in touch? Hit us up at hello@itsjustcoffeepod.com with your questions, hot takes or guest suggestions.

Proudly sponsored by:

APAX LAB: https://apaxlab.com/Condesa Co.Lab: https://condesacolab.com.au/Riverina Fresh: https://www.riverinafresh.com.au/

Thanks for listening!

#ItalianCoffee #SpecialtyCoffee #FrancescoSanapo
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We discuss if Gen Z is actually ‘too anxious’ for cafés, why matcha and iced signatures are exploding, and how specialty shops can embrace customisation without selling their soul. Plus: book raves, barista phobia memes, and two unapologetic uncs trying (and failing) to speak fluent Gen Z.

Also, Condesa Co.Lab joins us with the weekly green coffee market report.

Coffee Break is your weekly inside scoop into the coffee community. Everything from on the fly barista tips, honest and unfiltered cafe reviews (eek), hospitality stories and gate kept coffee secrets.

Want more coffee content?

IT'S JUST COFFEE: https://linktr.ee/itsjustcoffeepod?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=4e8cead0-6644-4c4a-b419-28c825b1b236

Want to get in touch? Hit us up at hello@itsjustcoffeepod.com for any questions or comments.

Proudly sponsored by:

Marco Beverage Systems: https://www.instagram.com/marcobeveragesystems/

Apax Lab: https://apaxlab.com/ Condesa Co.Lab: https://condesacolab.com.au/

Riverina Fresh: https://www.riverinafresh.com.au/

Thanks for listening!

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