About The Barista's Brief

Staff

• Astrid Kiel

  Founding Editor

  Started a coffee blog six months ago after switching from instant and now covers the specialty scene with the terrifying enthusiasm of the recently converted. Astrid writes about gear rabbit holes, beginner traps, and the social minefield of ordering a flat white wrong. She is learning in public, loudly.

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  Started a coffee blog six months ago after switching from instant and now covers the specialty scene with the terrifying enthusiasm of the recently converted. Astrid writes about gear rabbit holes, beginner traps, and the social minefield of ordering a flat white wrong. She is learning in public, loudly.

• Bea Galloway

  Standards Correspondent

  Came to coffee writing from personal finance journalism after calculating what her home espresso setup actually cost per shot. Bea covers gear economics, the upgrade treadmill, and the specific psychosis of reading grinder reviews at 2 a.m. She is both the warning and the cautionary tale.

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  Came to coffee writing from personal finance journalism after calculating what her home espresso setup actually cost per shot. Bea covers gear economics, the upgrade treadmill, and the specific psychosis of reading grinder reviews at 2 a.m. She is both the warning and the cautionary tale.

• Casey Rhind

  Civic Affairs Desk

  Professionally contrarian barista-slash-content-creator who built a following by arguing that most specialty coffee consensus is groupthink in nicer packaging. Casey covers overrated techniques, sacred cows, and the things your favorite roaster won't say out loud. They have been blocked by at least four WBC champions.

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  Professionally contrarian barista-slash-content-creator who built a following by arguing that most specialty coffee consensus is groupthink in nicer packaging. Casey covers overrated techniques, sacred cows, and the things your favorite roaster won't say out loud. They have been blocked by at least four WBC champions.

• Devon Osei

  Culture Columnist

  Former analytical chemist who quit pharma to open a roastery and now treats every shot like a peer-reviewed experiment. Devon covers water chemistry, extraction science, and the refractometer readings nobody asked for. He has never once described a coffee as 'juicy' without air quotes.

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  Former analytical chemist who quit pharma to open a roastery and now treats every shot like a peer-reviewed experiment. Devon covers water chemistry, extraction science, and the refractometer readings nobody asked for. He has never once described a coffee as 'juicy' without air quotes.

• Joon-ho Ryu

  Field Reporter

  Seoul-born, Melbourne-trained barista and café designer who sees coffee as a spatial and aesthetic experience first. Joon-ho covers café architecture, service choreography, and why your menu board font is a crime. He has never written fewer than three paragraphs about a countertop material.

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  Seoul-born, Melbourne-trained barista and café designer who sees coffee as a spatial and aesthetic experience first. Joon-ho covers café architecture, service choreography, and why your menu board font is a crime. He has never written fewer than three paragraphs about a countertop material.

• Lucia Ferro

  Letters Editor

  Third-generation Neapolitan café owner who moved to Portland and has never recovered from the culture shock. Lucia covers espresso tradition, roast philosophy, and the moral bankruptcy of oat milk. Her columns read like love letters to a crema that no longer calls her back.

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  Third-generation Neapolitan café owner who moved to Portland and has never recovered from the culture shock. Lucia covers espresso tradition, roast philosophy, and the moral bankruptcy of oat milk. Her columns read like love letters to a crema that no longer calls her back.

• Malcolm Voss

  Institutional Memory Desk

  Semi-retired coffee trader and green buyer who spent three decades in origin countries and now writes about supply chains, commodity pricing, and everything the latte-art Instagram accounts leave out. Malcolm covers the money, the labor, and the uncomfortable math behind your single-origin pour-over.

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  Semi-retired coffee trader and green buyer who spent three decades in origin countries and now writes about supply chains, commodity pricing, and everything the latte-art Instagram accounts leave out. Malcolm covers the money, the labor, and the uncomfortable math behind your single-origin pour-over.

• Marco Tamper

  Weekend Editor

  A self-taught latte artist who believes every espresso shot tells a story, usually one of disappointment and over-extraction.

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  A self-taught latte artist who believes every espresso shot tells a story, usually one of disappointment and over-extraction.

• Priya Chandra

  Public Records Fellow

  Quit a sommelier career after realizing coffee's flavor wheel had more spokes and less pretension—then found the pretension anyway. Priya covers sensory analysis, cupping culture, and the paper-thin line between tasting notes and creative fiction. She has strong opinions about your palate.

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  Quit a sommelier career after realizing coffee's flavor wheel had more spokes and less pretension—then found the pretension anyway. Priya covers sensory analysis, cupping culture, and the paper-thin line between tasting notes and creative fiction. She has strong opinions about your palate.

• Tomás Breve

  Copy Chief

  Twenty-two-year barista competition veteran who now writes about the industry he helped build and the body it destroyed. Tomás covers café labor, competition culture, and the ergonomic horror of a thousand closing shifts. His wrists crack audibly through the prose.

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  Twenty-two-year barista competition veteran who now writes about the industry he helped build and the body it destroyed. Tomás covers café labor, competition culture, and the ergonomic horror of a thousand closing shifts. His wrists crack audibly through the prose.