599: How To Raise Your Baseline Coffee Knowledge w/ Dylan Siemens Head of Coffee Education at Cafe Imports

Coffee education is essential for a professional to not just have knowledge needed for their current job, but to add depth, appreciation, motivation, and to prepare them for possible futures in the coffee industry beyond their role today. The next step is to find a place that can supply you with that knowledge in a way that not only delivers facts, but breeds understanding and growth. Today we get to sit down with the Head of Coffee Education at Cafe Imports, Dylan Siemens to talk about the newly released free educational resource, ED+U! Dylan Siemens is the Head of Education at Cafe Imports and the creator of ED+U. He began his coffee career in 2012 as a barista and then Head of Education at Onyx Coffee Lab, where he trained hundreds of baristas and competed nationally, winning the U.S. Brewers Cup in 2017. Over that decade, he gained firsthand insight into how difficult it is for small businesses to maintain high-quality training and how much young professionals benefit when knowledge is made available to them. Dylan joined Cafe Imports in 2022 to help revitalize the company's education program. Building on Cafe Imports' extensive knowledge library, he created ED+U, a platform designed to make professional coffee education accessible to everyone. He doesn't think of himself as the source of ED+U's material, but as the collector and organizer of knowledge from countless people across the supply chain and within Cafe Imports who helped build it. We discuss: How coffee retail, competition training, and the transition to green coffee shaped his world view on coffee education Systemized coffee education and workflows Understanding the coffee supply chain and green buying The role of education in industry growth and retention How the baseline knowledge of coffee advances individuals, companies, and the industry as a whole The platform of ED+U and how it engages the student to encourage understanding Applying education in the real world Links: ED+U Educational Platform KEYS TO THE SHOP ALSO OFFERS 1:1 CONSULTING AND COACHING! If you are a cafe owner and want to work one on one with me to bring your shop to its next level and help bring you joy and freedom in the process then email chris@keystothshop.com of book a free call now: Related episodes: 020 Joe Marrocco : Transparency, Origin Knowledge,and Your Shop : How to approach and apply coffee origin information to enhance, not detract, from the cafe experience 481 : Exploring Sensory Analysis Using "The Coffee Rose"/ Ian Fretheim, Director of Sensory Analysis at Cafe Imports You Need to Prioritize In-House Training!

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599: How To Raise Your Baseline Coffee Knowledge w/ Dylan Siemens Head of Coffee Education at Cafe Imports is an episode from Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Retail Professionals by www.keystotheshop.com.

This episode is 38:45 long.

This episode was published on Apr 21, 2026.

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