Issue 130: July | August 2025
From the Publisher
The founder and publisher of Roast magazine, Connie Blumhardt has spent over 25 years in magazine publishing and has worked in the coffee industry for the last 20 years. Connie brings the same passion and commitment to this industry journal that is present within the roasting community.
With each issue, Connie brings insight and inspiration to the pages of Roast with this column.
I attended a writers’ panel held in association with Coffee Fest’s Portland trade show this past June, appropriately staged at Guilder Coffee inside Powell’s—a legendary independent local bookstore. Mark Shimahara, author of Coffee Covered published by Roast, and Howie Bryman, associate editor of Daily Coffee News, joined a fantastic set of panelists to discuss the role and influence of writers in the coffee industry. I really enjoyed being in the audience for this event, as opposed to my typical role of panelist or moderator, as it gave me a chance to hear and consider the perspective of writers in the industry. The presentations and discussion made me proud of the work that the Roast and Daily Coffee News team puts out every day.
It’s human nature to look in the mirror and focus on what we perceive as our faults, but on rare occasions, such as listening to Mark and Howie talk about the professional, serious approach they practice in their work, we see the beauty in the full picture of the reflection. In that reflection, I found relevant reminders of the thread that has run through all the years and all the projects, from Roast, Daily Coffee News and Roast Summit to the books we have published and the podcasts and other media we have produced.
From issue No. 1, our purpose has been to provide the highest quality educational materials and events to our readers. We insist on thoroughly researched, well-written content that is professionally edited. We never accept advertising thinly disguised as editorial, and we push to cover news and research fairly from original sources with the highest quality editing. In addition, we have consciously sought out and promoted representatives of our industry whose voices haven’t typically been amplified or even included by the media.
Although we know we are not perfect in these pursuits, this is so ingrained in our DNA that we don’t always take the time to celebrate what we believe makes us unique in our industry. I would like to take a moment to thank all the team members, past and present, for embracing our mission, as well as the readers, consumers and advertisers who recognize the value in what we produce. Thank you for making us great!
Warmest wishes,
Connie
Panelists at the Coffee Fest Portland writers’ panel.
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