Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchSanka's Orange Decaf Pot: A Seized Trademark, Radio Hours, Gertrude Berg
Episode 12478
The orange handle on a diner's decaf pot traces back to Bremen, Germany, in 1903, where coffee merchant Ludwig Roselius developed a commercial decaff…
5 days, 8 hours ago
The French Press Is Italian: Milan's Spring Seal and a Clarinet Factory
Episode 12477
The French press goes by many names: plunger in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, cafetière in the UK and Ireland, and Stempelkanne, or stamp…
5 days, 8 hours ago
The Coffee Table's Short History: Godwin's 1868 Design and the TV Era
Episode 12476
In his 1938 furniture encyclopedia, historian Joseph Aronson defined the coffee table as a low, wide table used before a sofa and noted it had no his…
5 days, 8 hours ago
Coffee Cup Design: Meissen's Tall Cups, Deep Saucers, NASA's Space Cup
Episode 12475
Early European coffee houses of the 17th century served coffee in small handleless bowls of imported Chinese and Japanese porcelain. In the 1710s the…
5 days, 8 hours ago
Ray Oldenburg's Third Places: Penny Universities, MMOs, and Loneliness
Episode 12474
In his 1989 book The Great Good Place, American sociologist Ray Oldenburg split life into the home, the workplace, and a third place where people gat…
5 days, 8 hours ago
The Dallah Coffee Pot: Bedouin Hospitality, Cardamom Brews, Banknotes
Episode 12473
The dallah is the traditional Arabic coffee pot, with a bulbous base, a pinched waist, a flared rim, a tall spire lid, and a long crescent spout. Its…
5 days, 8 hours ago
Tchibo's Weekly New World: Coffee Beans, Winter Coats, and Tobacco Bets
Episode 12472
Tchibo was founded in 1949 in war damaged Hamburg by Max Herz and Carl Tchilinghiryan, its name a blend of Tchilinghiryan and Bohnen, the German word…
5 days, 8 hours ago
Panama Geisha at $13,700 a Pound: Erna Knutsen and the Five-Defect Rule
Episode 12471
In August 2025 a lot of Panama Geisha sold for more than $13,700 per pound, over $30,000 a kilogram. That price rests on a grading system, not a buzz…
5 days, 8 hours ago
Kahlúa's Caffeine Illusion: Pedro Domecq's Rum and a Shrinking Proof
Episode 12470
Kahlúa tastes like strong coffee, yet a standard 1.5 ounce pour holds only about five milligrams of caffeine, measured at roughly 100 parts per milli…
5 days, 8 hours ago
Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee: Altitude Laws and Japan's 1967 Shipment
Episode 12469
Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee is grown on a single island yet more than 80% of it ships to one country, Japan. Coffee reached Jamaica in 1728, and the…
5 days, 8 hours ago