2009 Winter Barista Jam: OZO Coffee - Boulder, Colorado

Barista jams are much like cupcakes...you don't have them too often, but when you do, all you want is three more. Anytime 50 baristi/coffee professionals/coffee lovers get together for a 'spro-down, I feel as though my life makes sense--these crazy people actually like coffee as much as I do...rad! The jam was a great time had by all, thanks largely in part to the OZO Coffee crew, and as well as a great showing from the local shops, such as The Cup, The Laughing Goat, Metropolis, NOVO, and Amante (to name a few), and an exited group of aspiring Baristi. The latte art competition didn't disappoint either. The top three finalists competed against each other, pouring great art into macchiato cups! All three poured great shapes, but the winner turned out to be Anita, who proved she can definitely throw down on some espresso-engulfed milk beauty. Yes, I did just go there.

Coffee Talk: Moving beyond kindergarten lexicon

I can't tell you how many times I've walked into a coffee shop and asked about the details of a coffee, only to be told how "bold" or "smooth" it is. Then I order Tea because I don't trust baristas who can't tell me more about a coffee than that. It shouldn't be this way. How refreshing would it be if, when you ask about a coffee, a barista told you about the subtleties, flavor notes, mouthfeel, even perhaps information about the region where it was grown? Its not that all of these are needed to sell a coffee, but its the baristas who will take this country to another level of coffee enjoyment, and if we settle, we've just reverted to where coffee was in the '70's. The coffee description terms "light, medium, dark roasts" are describers that should never finish a baristas presentation of a coffee--they are a matter of roast, not of taste. "smooth, strong" is just a baristas way of saying, "I don't have a clue about the specifics of this coffee, so I'm going to sell you a porsche by telling you it has 4 nice wheels." Some call this a 'cop out'...I would agree. We are doing the coffee, ourselves, and its drinkers a disservice by sticking with this obvious, lazy terminology. You wouldn't purchase a bottle of specialty wine if a salesmen said, "its a dark red color", you would however, buy a bottle that was described with a velvety mouthfeel, a dense cherry bouquet, a buttery ethereal dance of vanilla, and a light semi-sweet coriander-like finish.

The responsibility for better terminology first lies in coffee shop owners, who cannot remain satisfied by simply selling a product, and second in baristas, who need to hunger for a better descriptions from owners/roasters/farmers, and third, in coffee drinkers, who must look just a bit deeper into their coffee.

Solutions: the chain of knowledge starts from farmers, who can partner with roasters to give more detailed information about a coffee, and pass that on to a coffee shop's baristas. Also, coffee drinkers should be more educated about what they are drinking. This will mean more work for coffee shop workers in the form of public cuppings/tastings, or even in putting together more accurate depictions of coffees. Or, how about this: coffee shops can start by helping people know how to better enjoy coffees by giving them free information (a simple 8 x 10 of coffee tasting terms will do more good than you know). There are many capable people in the chain of coffee handlers that can present a more colored description of a coffee. Pursue these descriptions! A well-trained barista should never be able to get away with describing a coffee as "medium". Here are some terms that every coffee shop owner/barista/taster should become well familiar with:

Aroma: the scent/boquet of a coffee. Hint: never drink coffee with the lid on, you'll lose 30-60% of the flavor capabilities!

Body: the mouthfeel/weight of how a coffee feels in your mouth (eg: whole milk is heavy in body, but lemonade is light in body.)

Acidity: describes the bright, lively, or dry, unlively quality. (eg: "lively" or "moderate" or "flat). Acidity produces crisp, pleasant, possibly fruity notes.

flavor describers: anything from blueberry, melon, to graham cracker, chocolate, almond... (it will immensely help to look at a coffee flavor wheel while you taste)

aftertaste/finish: Does the taste of the coffee stay on your tongue for a few seconds, or does it immediately leave, aka, produce a clean finish.

There is an objective part to tasting coffee, and there is a subjective part too, as no two pallets are alike. Enjoy tasting coffees, because that is the goal! And, always drink with friends when possible! In no time, we can together start actually thoroughly enjoying coffee for all it offers. Will we, as coffee professionals, and as developing coffee tasters be satisfied with ancient, elementary coffee moniker that has long since expired and evolved into something more beautiful and more intricate? NO, we will not revert to those ways, we will ask more of our coffee in the coming days.

Liberty Market-Gilbert, Arizona

Liberty Market is what you hope heaven will be like; clean, friendly, beautiful, with amazing food and drink. Even the restrooms are amazing! The creativity of the owners really shines through, who have individually designed a specific restroom in their own personal style. One restroom has kitchen recipes written all over every wall, another has mountain photography, another is lavender-like. You go into the bathroom of your choice, and are greeted, upon locking the door, with music custom to the specific room you enter. So there, I've officially done something that I couldn't help doing: mentioning the restrooms even before the heavenly espresso journey that is extremely noteworthy. Something I've learned is this: coffee is nothing without the environment to enjoy said coffee, which is exactly why people all over the globe resort to coffee shops in the first place--they are someone's kitchen bar, open to the public, perfect for conversation, for inspiration, for learning. Coffee shops force us--we often need forcing--to have a life, and to open up our eyes to the world which so often, we forget doesn't actually revolve around each of us. What Liberty Market does is create an environment that encourages conversation, and encourages you to ask the barista questions about the coffee. The bar, aptly named E-61, after their espresso machine, a 1964 Faema E-61 3-group chrome beauty, which sits along the back wall, is an 8-seat homey yet modern place to have a seat and a conversation with one of the knowledgeable baristas. Brian, one of the baristas there always jumps at the chance to talk about all things espresso, including the techniques and quality of the 2 espresso blends the shop serves, both roasted with a wood chip roaster, giving the espresso a (not overly) smokey undertone. I have been here about 6 times, and have always had a great drink, an enlightening conversation, and have always left feeling like life makes sense again, which leads me to call Liberty Market's E-61 espresso bar my official favorite coffee atmosphere.

The Coffee Rush-Chandler, AZ

There are a lot of people here, which 10 years ago would be a sign that this place knows how to do coffee, but today leaves me suspect, particularly in light of the great leap in coffee knowledge the industry has jumped to. Right when I open the door I have a sinking feeling that this place, despite their logo "better coffee, better rush", that this place exists for those who like the idea of coffee-they love to hold the cup of caffeine, they love to wake up, they love sugar-and not for those who really love coffee. This place is the 7-11 of the Phoenix coffee scene. They boast of "locally roasted espresso" which doesn't matter at all if its a blend/single origin that actually tastes similar to a dirty ashtray. Whether you roast it under the counter or in Guam, what matters is that the espresso is in your hopper at the peak date, and that it is roasted to feature the hand-picked qualities of the beans involved (espresso blending is for the master roasters among us who know the nuances of the beans they use, when each bean varietal is at its peak roast level, which beans to combined into the mix, or even whether a single origin should be used). This shop can have their 34 flavors, and the droves of uneducated customers...I am leaving for the love of the coffee. I'll be "rushing" out as quickly as I came.

Slayer Espresso unveils variable pressure machine

Slayer Espresso Machine @ Fratello - teaser from Chris Prefontaine on Vimeo.

Want more control, baristas? Got it. The new Slayer espresso machine allows for adjustments of water pressure, which means pre-infusion if you want, mid-infusion softening if you want, or post-infusion soaking if you want...basically whatever you desire. Yes, this means more of a chance to create a bad shot of espresso, but it also may be just the machine that pulls out never before tasted qualities in espresso.

The design looks unbelievable and I'm really excited to taste espresso from a barista who has the machine nailed. According to an unknown source on coffeed, the mouthfeel of espresso (at a pre-infusion of 6-7 seconds, full pressure, then tapered down at the end) was "more cloud-like and fluffy than anything previously tasted".

This isn't, of course, the first time baristas have had the possibilities of variable water pressure, but it may be the first time it goes mainstream in today's market. Overall, I'd say a welcome machine to today's baristas. Be on the look out for this machine soon. The first released machine supposedly is at a cafe in Melbourne, AU, called St. Ali, and there are a few in the country, specifically in Ann Arbor and San Francisco (I could not find the names of the shops). Look for it next in Portland or New York.

Details (2 group):

2 group variable pressure

separate boilers for each group

PID

Power requirement: 30A

steam: 3500W

brew: 3500W (per group)

tank sizes: brew-1.23L per group, pre-heat-3.3L, steam-3.4L

Stumptown NYC opens today

According to various sources, Stumptown has finally opened doors to the public in the Ace Hotel lobby north of Madison Square Park, on 20 W 29th st. in Manhattan.  They are supposedly calling it a "soft opening".    

Featured Shop: Intelligentsia Venice

Debut: Introducing Your Intelli-Venice Crew from Intelli LA on Vimeo.

Intelligentia Venice: where extraction science meets art.

Intelligentsia 
Venice Coffeebar
1331 Abbot Kinney Boulevard
Venice, California 90291
310.399.1233

Intelli on Flickr  

I would be doing a disservice to the coffee culture everywhere if I didn't feature an Intelli shop first, so, this shop must be talked about.  To say the least, Intelligentsia's Venice coffeebar is an interesting, formidable step into what is coming to the coffee industry.  A problem that most, if not all coffee bars have is a lack of communication between barista and customer--you order from a cashier, he/she passes on that order to a barista, the barista makes the drink.  This may have worked for the fast food industry, but in today's age of customer-tailored individualized drinks, it can be a difficult task to re-create what the customer wanted initially.  I tested this theory five times at five different coffee shops.  What I did was order an Americano with equal parts espresso and water.  At 5 different shops, zero were correctly made, due to a lack of communication (and perhaps proper skill...and zero baristas stopped to ask what I really wanted; they simply made the drink on the ticket.  I thought, "Why can't I just order from the barista?"  The folks at Intelli successfully tackled this issue using baristas who ring you up after they themselves make you your drink.  1 person handles the entire transaction.  Revolutionary.  Thank you for solving years of, "Shit.  This isn't what I ordered." 

And they do things with crazy class, such as their La Marzocco espresso machine, re-paneled with wood, from the original Pike Place Starbucks.  The theme, as proclaimed by certain coffee professionals is "Intelly rising from Starbucks' ashes".  I'd say that sums it up properly.

They feature a single-origin seasonal espresso (when I went, it was pulped natural El Machete Panama), as well as their Black Cat espresso blend, which changes depending on which beans the "coffee scientist-artist" chooses.  As for coffee, they serve only by-the-cup, single-origin, seasonal offerings.  There are usually 2 or 3 to choose from.  And, believe me, they are some of the world's top-rated coffees.

The baristas here are also extraordinarily well-trained.  In order to work there, you have to complete a 17-page test, covering everything from growing conditions of coffee, to what coffee does under pressure at certain temperatures, to processing, to Intelli's own strategies/philosophies.  They also undergo a boot camp of coffee tasting that would scare away even the most attuned coffee pallets.  The barista who helped me, I think his name was Dan, was great, and talked me through the flavors I was processing in the Panama espresso.

Something that I love is that the folks at Intelli want you to appreciate coffee.  They don't leave you hanging if you don't know anything about coffee, they welcome you to coffee tastings and trainings, which are a fairly regular part of the schedule for the shop.  At any level, people appreciate what they are doing here and can benefit greatly from experiencing the artistry of Intelligentsia's latest concept.  

Machines: 5 Espresso Machines, Grinders: 15

4 group La Marzocco GS2, modified.

2 group custom Synesso Syncras, with the ability to set each group to separate temps

2 Clovers   

    

PULL: coffee blog

This is about coffee...all things coffee...but like the Bible, its really about something bigger. This is about coffee, but its about what coffee can do, its about the coffee shops that are doing good in the world, its about how coffee can change us, how it can change farmers' lives, how we can appreciate it more, how we can go to inspiring environments that will bring us all together, how we can find a moment of peace as the warmth of a fresh cup hits the pallet, filling us with thoughts of "yum" or "ahhh". That's what we're about here.

The topics expressed here will appear each monday, and will range from basic barista operation, to new bean varietals, to coffee shops. Check it out, as each week we highlight one coffee shop....no, the shop will never be Starbucks.

The word "PULL" for all you newbie baristas out there, is a verb describing when water is passed through coffee grounds at a pressure, forming an extraction of that coffee. The result of a pull: espresso.

If you have a coffee shop, or topic you'd like us to write about, send an email to pullcoffeeblog@gmail.com