Friday, March 18, 2011

10 things your barista wishes you knew

10. Yes, I did go to school for this. I only mention the word 'Starbucks' for sake of framing my story: Starbucks sends certain "baristas" through a 2 week training about how coffee is grown, and how to prepare certain menu drinks. The total coffee learning portion of this equals about 20-25 hours (including hands-on training). For many good coffee shops--I'm talking third wave specialty shops here--these hours wouldn't even qualify you to be a dishwasher or barback. I know several coffee companies whose educational system involves more than what would be required for a bachelor's degree at a state university. There is an insane amount of science and precision involved in preparing coffee.

9. Buying a bag of whole bean coffee, and then having it ground is a waste of money. Save up for a grinder...no, not the $15 one at Wal-Mart. You need a burr grinder, and you need to save the grinding for right before you brew the coffee. The moment you ground the coffee, is starts a much more rapid degradation process, losing almost half of its flavor within 30 minutes.

8. The Cup of Excellence. This is a competition where coffees are rigorously judged, and the winning coffees are auctioned to the highest bidder. It is a great way for producers to get a livable wage for their good work, as well as a way for consumers to drink what professional tasters (called 'cuppers') have deemed a top coffee in a given country.

7. There is a growing gap in knowledge between baristas and consumers. Don't let this happen. Sharpen up your knowledge with the wealth of coffee information out there. Check out BrewMethods.com for brewing recipes from the worlds' top shops, Stumptown for information about some great coffee varietals, Has Bean for a free 10-day online coffee class, Coffeed for the more intricate and scientific coffee discussions, Home Barista for home espresso info including machine reviews, and Sprudge.com for amazing arabica alliteration accounts, aka news.

6. The coffee descriptors "smooth," "bold," and "strong" are old hat and confusing. Coffee has more possible flavor characteristics than wine. Its time to upgrade. Here are two great threads on terminology and the ongoing discussion about said topic: Nate's top 5 abused coffee terms and Coffeed's "what is bold?" post.

5. No we will not serve your espresso to-go. Its a quality thing, and a culture thing. It is meant to be drunk immediately, thus making it in a paper cup is wasteful and shows that the barista does not want the customer to enjoy their drink properly. Espresso is, in large part, a beverage of immediately decreasing small bubbles, called crema. The layer of crema contains a large amount of the flavors for that espresso, and if left for more than a minute, are dissolved and flavor potential is lost.

4. Bigger isn't better. Rather than ordering a 16-20 oz coffee once in the morning, order a 6-8oz cup, and then another later. This will be better for your appreciation of the coffee, as well as for your body's ability to properly use caffeine. My routine is this: 6oz coffee around 10am, espresso at noon, and occasionally another 6oz cup or cappuccino around 4.

3. If you need your coffee in under a minute, you don't need quicker coffee, but a slower lifestyle. Good things take time.

2. No one is getting rich off of your cup of coffee. There are literally 100 + people involved in the making of one pound of coffee. That's 100 people that need to be paid, not to mention equipment, packaging, buildings, ect. Coffee prices are going up, generally. This is actually a good thing. As it is now, many farmers do not make enough money to feed their families, and are forced to pursue other crops. We are talking extreme poverty here, in many cases. If the prices don't go up, no one will be drinking coffee in 5 years because no one will be able to afford to grow it. For more info about why low-quality coffees forced the coffee prices down in the 1970's and why specialty coffee is a better model for the world, read God in a Cup.

1. Cream was made for bad coffee. Remember in the 90's when you started adding cream to your coffee to make it bearable? Coffee has changed since then. Good coffee actually exists now--coffee that will make you smirk when coming face-to-face with cans and green logos. Any trace of dairy mutes the natural nuances of a coffee, thereby making it flavorless and dull. If you go to a shop who cares about their product (for a list, click on the google map to the right) you aren't doing yourself a favor by adding cream. Lose the habit, and skip the dairy. Its like this: ketchup belongs on hot dogs, not fillets. There is nothing more depressing to us than to see a customer order a $7 Cup of Excellence coffee only to see them pour cream into it without even trying it. Let old habits die. Drink it black.