WANT
I hope these guys get filthy rich.
As of this writing, they’ve achieved almost 300% of their goal with a little over a month to go. I’m seriously debating dropping the mere $200 on one of these little babies. Too bad they won’t be ready THIS holiday season. Check out the FAQ at the bottom of the page if you’ve got questions.
Copied and pasted from an e-mail:
We’re excited to present dates for upcoming opportunities to complete the Customer Service course requirement (CP103 of theBGA Level 1 Certification program) online! We recognize that baristas have busy schedules and often have limited availability during normal office hours, so we are offering this webinar four (4) times over the next few months at various times. With no travel expenses or the need to take time off of work, baristas will be one step closer to Level 1 Certification.
Webinar Information
CP103: Customer Service
Description: Required class for BGA Level 1 Certification. Outstanding customer service is a critical component of creating the specialty coffee experience. In this course, students will discuss customer service strategies with a focus on the specialty coffee barista but relevant for all members of the specialty coffee community. Students will be prepared to identify common steps of customer service, including differentiating between good and bad service, and discuss strategies to improve customer service interactions.Wednesday, December 7: At 10 pm Eastern (7 pm Pacific, 11 am Seoul, 1 pm Melbourne, 4 pm Auckland) | Instructor: Dan Streetman | Register Now
Saturday, January 7: 3 pm Eastern (12 pm Pacific, 5 am Seoul, 7 am Melbourne, 10 am Auckland) | Instructor: Sarah Dooley | Register Now
Monday, February 6: 11 am Eastern (8 am Pacific, 5 am Auckland) | Instructor: Dan Streetman | Register Now
Saturday, March 3: 7 pm Eastern (4 pm Pacific, 8 am Hong Kong, 11 am Melbourne, 1 pm Auckland) | Instructor: Sarah Dooley | Register Now
It’s a required course for the Level 1 certification, and it’s FREE for BGA members. Yes, yes, of course, having worked in retail/customer service for 12 years, I roll my eyes at the idea of sitting through another lecture on customer service. BUT I also think that many of us could really do a better job of consoling people after telling them that they can’t get their espresso to go.
Bustin’ a Cap in MadCap
For a hot minute, Michigan was home to a lot of Hollywood activity. Before their recent appearance in Barista Magazine, MadCap Coffee Company was shot-up in the straight-to-DVD film Set Up, starring Bruce Willis and 50 Cent. The shooting takes place around the 8 minute mark, and is available streaming on Netflix. While the film is not terribly original, it actually has some nice footage of Grand Rapids and Detroit, and it’s not every day you get to see one of your favorite coffee shops being beseiged.
Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!
Anthology Coffee will be doing another (I suppose I forgot to mention the previous ones…) pop-up cafe at The Red Hook in Ferndale, MI this Sunday. I will be there to help make drinks (and practical jokes) from roughly 11-6. Anthology Coffee is roasted by Josh Longsdorf, and it is delicious. Swing by on Sunday and say hi and have a coffee with us. If you like it, there will be bags for sale, and Anthology also offers various mail-order subscriptions, so you won’t have to worry about remembering to buy coffee ever again.
Here’s a peak at the menu for Sunday:
Hope to see you there!
-sandy
Last year I had the amazing opportunity to attend the Barista Guild of America’s first annual Camp Pull-a-Shot. Once again, the wonderful people at Barista Magazine will be sponsoring another lucky soul to attend this years Camp Pull-a-Shot for FREE. I made a lot of friends and got to play with a lot of new toys. I didn’t think there was a chance in hell that I would win the contest, but once I saw how few entries had been submitted, I knew it was possible to get enough votes. This year the voting will be done by the Barista Guild of America’s Executive Council, rather than just e-mail votes from the general population. Voting will be based solely on the message of your video submission, rather than professionalism of filmmaking. There have been very few entries to the contest so far, so you’ve got a really good chance of winning. I can’t recommend this opportunity enough, even if you’ve been barista-ing for years and years. So many great people and so many good memories. Do yourself a favor and take a few minutes to enter the contest, by following the instructions posted here on the Barista Magazine blog.
Astro Coffee Liftsoff!
I made the trip to Detroit a little while back to say hi to the friendly folks at Astro Coffee on their opening day. The space is absolutely beautiful, and the coffee is delicious (some of the former staff from Mercury Bar and Comet Coffee). But the baked goods were what completely floored me; they’re baked in-house and they are amazing. I had a slice of the coconut bread that in itself was worth the drive to Detroit and back. Such a great location, and so close to so much other great stuff in Detroit. Check them out!
Astro Coffee
2124 Michigan Ave
Detroit, MI 48216
313.638.2989
Hours:
Tu-Fri 7:30a – 5:00p
Saturday 8:30a – 6:00p
Sunday 9:00a – 4:00p
Monday Closed
The fine folks at Astro Coffee on opening day.
They’re probably going to take away my Barista Guild of America certification for saying this, but today I pulled a shot of espresso that weighed 50 grams and liked it. The recipe looked something like:
- 17.5g of 49th Parallel’s Epic Espresso
- 200 degrees Fahrenheit
- 31 seconds (!!!)
- 49.5g of yield
How could it have come to this? It seems like only a few weeks ago I was talking with Vince Fedele about the debut of these baskets at the SCAA conference in Houston. Before and after the conference, the internet was on fire with talk about these baskets. We got a few in at work, and a slow night at the shop seemed like a great opportunity to try them out. Initially, the baskets were mind-boggling, and a cruel reminder of how little I actually understand espresso.
One of the first things I noticed about the VST baskets was how much easier it was to use an actual 18 gram dose. Our Synesso baskets had always favored at least a 19.5-20g dose to feel like I was effectively distributing the coffee. Good dosing and distribution is arguably more important with the VST baskets, and the shots seem to flow pretty peculiarly if the grind and dose are off.
Over the last week we’ve made an informal switch (nobody at work seems to openly hate them enough to put the Synesso baskets back in, but nobody really seems interested in discussing or reading about the new baskets much either), and I feel like I’ve noticed a lot less of what looked like channeling in our pucks. This is certainly a good sign.
But the most shocking realization that first day with the VST baskets was that the extraction tasted more even. Uneven extraction manifests itself in some weird tastes (like that weird cereal grainy/brown rice water thing going on in every Hario v60 coffee I’ve ever had), and in a lot of cases, as an industry, we’ve simply lived with it. But once you taste the absence of that, you will never not notice it again. (This requires a separate conversation on the importance of agitating brewing slurry, and problems with a lot of people’s understanding of refractometer readings.)
Rereading the Professional Barista’s Handbook again (it becomes more and more valuable each time I read it) had me staring at Andy Schecter’s handy brewing ratios chart and wondering. One of the things that I’ve noticed about the VST baskets is that it’s much much easier to make a delicious espresso with yields that I wouldn’t have been comfortable with in the past. I’ve developed an affinity for brewing espresso on a scale, and turning off the group once I reach my desired yield. I’ve been pretty happy with 18g doses and 30g yields, but I realized that in the final seconds of the brew cycle (at least with the VST baskets), the yield rises more rapidly on the scale (several grams each second or two) than I would have imagined. The beverage doubles in weight in the last 5 or 10 seconds!
So, I got curious. How much difference would a second make? How much difference would 5 seconds make? As I tacked more and more time onto the brew cycle, I was still enjoying the espresso. Eventually, I found myself limited only by the size of my espresso cup, and killed the pump right near the brim. 49.5g of yield (Almost 3 times the 17.5g dose) in 31 seconds. I had always been under the impression that a “longer” shot of espresso was going to be bitter; surely this would be disgusting? Actually, it was completely drinkable, with lots of ripe fruit, and a very palatable sweetness.
Some tips with the (18g) VST baskets, which, if you can’t tell, I recommend getting:
- You’ll need to grind finer. If the grind or dose is off, you will notice it much more apparently in the flow of the espresso than with other baskets.
- 17.5-18g has worked best for me, but as low as 16.5-17g has worked and so has 18.5-19g. But the baskets have a pretty specific 17-19g tolerance.
- Distribute well (“don’t center weight the dose” as Mike Jones warned me). It sounds stupid to say “try to be as consistent as possible” but good dosing and distribution techniques honestly seem to have fallen out of favor lately.
- Keep an open mind. You might be quick to assume that the baskets are weird, or they suck, and tuck them away under your espresso machine with all your junk and cleaning supplies, but the reality is that you might have to take a sobering look at your technique, and even your coffee. Don’t give up!
- Be scientific. A few people out there are sick of hearing this, but weighing your dose and your beverage will save you a lot of time and coffee. It’s a more meaningful way of talking about and troubleshooting your beverage, your brew recipe, and ultimately your product.
For more information, check out the VST website (be sure to check out their prestigious credentials under “About VST”), and the Barista Magazine article written by Vince Fedele in the April/May issue, starting page 74.
No Sleep Til Houston
Pulled an all-nighter getting packed and boxing up my bike. Currently laidover in Denver International Airport for a few hours before arriving in Houston for the 23rd Annual Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) Exposition and the 2011 United States Barista Championship.
I’ve yet to really flesh out any thoughts on barista competitions–certainly a topic for a future post–but I’m extremely proud of my friend Mike Jones for competing and I am excited that I will be able to see his set, as well as a number of other awesome baristas as well.
I’m generally just looking forward to seeing a number of other coffee folks that I’ve met over the years, especially the wonderful people I met at Camp Pull-a-Shot back in October. It was in this airport that I said goodbye to Jason Dominy and Daniel Thompson (both from the roaster Batdorf & Bronson) back in October, and it was at that moment that Camp Pull-a-Shot had officially ended for me. Can’t wait to see them, and many others in Houston.
I’m sure many of you are aware of the correlation between bikes and coffee, and I’m not ashamed to say that this stereotype describes me very well. Frontier Airlines has scrapped their bicycle fee, and now simply consider them as a checked bag! So, I spent several hours last night disassembling and boxing my bike, and was able to check it with little hassle… for only $15 (a tenth of what some airlines charge for checking bikes)! After the convention, Ill be doing some bike touring around the Houston / Austin / San Antonio area.
Needless to say, I’m very excited about getting the hell out of Denver; seeing some friends; having some nice coffee times; learning, learning, learning; and riding my bike around in 95 degree heat. These next 5 hours can’t go by fast enough!!!
In Defense of Starbucks
I really don’t mind Starbucks. As a matter of fact, despite their over-roasted, over-sweetened product, I think Starbucks has ultimately been a force for good in the coffee industry. Anyone who wields a portafilter for a living may owe them a debt of gratitude.
Though they buy a lot of coffee, I’ve seen claims on their bags that only 3% of the world’s coffee is good enough for them. I’m not familiar with their buying practices, but if anyone has any information about that, I’d like to check it out.
I remember this quote was one of the first things that made me start to rethink my opinion of “The Mermaid”:
“Starbucks is very concerned with quality, said Peterson [of renowned Hacienda la Esmeralda], which makes Panamanian coffee a natural choice. Peterson pointed out that when coffee prices were very low during crisis a few years ago, Starbucks would still pay around $1.20 per pound for good specialty coffee, which helped keep a lot of people in business through hard times.”
Despite Starbucks’ confusing use of the word “macchiato”, I have to wonder… Why do so many people know (roughly) what an espresso is? Why do so many people know (roughly) what a latte is? A number of people come into Comet Coffee and ask, “What’s a macchiato?”, but nobody comes in and asks us to define espresso or cappuccino. They already have a rough idea of what those are. Can you imagine having to explain that to every person that came in to your shop? Thanks, Starbucks!
While in Kobe in 2009, I had daily conversations with the proprietor of Espresso Bar Plus about coffee. One conversation, which apparently was memorable for him, too, was about Starbucks. We talked about the lack, but perceptible growth, of espresso culture in Japan. His business had a lot of success with foreigners, particularly Americans and Europeans, but difficulty getting Japanese people to simply drink espresso, though things were getting better.
My friend/colleague/mentor, Jason Dominy, posted a link on Facebook to the “new” Starbucks “Cocoa Cappuccino“. The link received a number of generally anti-Starbucks comments, and it was then that I formulated the bulk of this argument, and wrote what became the inspiration for this post. So thanks to Jason,for being the catalyst on this one!
Starbucks pays it’s employees better than most of it’s regional clones (Espresso Royale, Biggby, and Bearclaw, are the big ones near here) and offers better benefits. There are also more career opportunities within Starbucks than any of these chains.
Yes, they over-roast their beans, but I can understand that as a consistency issue, so that each cup at each of their stores tastes the same. There are a lot of other “artisan” roasters that I think should know better that deliver an equally over-roasted product (cough Lighthouse Roasters** cough).
These are the places that really drive me nuts. Either you honestly don’t know what good coffee is, or you don’t care what good coffee is… so why do you own a coffee shop?
At the end of the day, No, I don’t go to Starbucks (unless maybe I’m dying of a headache in an airport). I don’t enjoy the coffee, but I also don’t appreciate the tone many people take when discussing them in general. Yes, they’re part, if not a leader, of the homogenization of American cities and American culture, but haven’t they also been a trailblazer for all of the awesome coffee shops scattered around the country where so many of us have the privilege of working?
I’m grateful for Starbucks. There. I said it.
*Australia seems to be an exception to this theory. From what I’ve heard, they appear to have enjoyed a strong espresso culture, even without the popularity of Starbucks.
**I haven’t been there in 3 years, but they were the first company that came to mind. Are they still terrible?
“The Usual”
One of our regulars wanted to film a video of a cappuccino being made for a Gizmodo video competition. I had no idea what to expect when he and two other guys showed up at 7am on Saturday to film, but here is the finished product! Beautiful! I didn’t even realize that the music was going backwards at first…
I have been focusing so much on extraction ratios and what’s happening “in the cup”, that seeing this video was a really refreshing reminder of how things might appear to people on the other side of the counter, and how beautiful the whole ritual can be. It’s awesome to have a sense of wonder injected back into something that I felt like I had become so familiar with. (On the same note, Charlie has another video with some unusual perspectives of Ann Arbor that’s really fun to watch.)
