Posted by Bel Townsend on October 1, 2008 at 3:22am
I have been asking lots of people what they think "high quality" coffee is. The following quotes are from professional Baristas, coffee shop owners and other industry specialists from Barista Exchange."coffee made from a barista, so he can have the best blend but if he dont know how to grind and dose or he or she are overheating milk, whats the point of 'best beans'?""For me everything start in the coffee bean. At least for my country coffee is an art. We want the best quality all the time, not every once or sometimes. For instance Bell I can have a SHB, and everything has been taking care as planned but if I do the handpicking a day after or a day before , the taste will be different. Or even when we roast the coffee, you can have a SHB or a specialty superb coffee, but if we mess up in the roasting, that's it. An entire year of harvest to the garbage indeed.""1M: select green beans2M: roast3M: blend4M: grind5M: brewingNothing esprecial, but none of them can be missed.""Quality coffee goes along with quality buyers, and quality roasters, and quality shops with (more than likely) quality management and baristas. It's almost safe to say it's in good hands. But as with anything in coffee, it can EASILY be mishandled and ruined along annnny of those steps.""The greatness is in the bean already, I want only to present as much as possible of the bean's potential in my customer's cup. Not to understate the role of the barista - coaxing out this potential is not easy, and doing it well seems to be the exception, not the rule. I think if everybody in the chain, from the plant to the cup, shares the same philosophy, you'll have true quality.""Making something drinkable from lousy ingredients does not strike me as "creating quality". It is a useful skill to posses, but I don't think you can create quality by artfully masking defects."That said, I have also been asking customers in both chain coffee shops (Caffe Nero, Esquires and Coffee Revolution) and independent shops (The Voodoo Cafe, Coffee@Elliots and Gusto Italiano) what their views on coffee quality are - and the differences are quite apparent!"erm, it doesn't taste like crap?""and Elliots - I like itbut its not really what I'd call quality coffee. It's just put cupunder, push button, there you go, there's your coffee, no skill!""good service - so, politness, the coffee not overdone or whatever, not taking too long to be served. All that stuff. And, yeah to be in clean stuff and everything. That's always nice. And, like, essential really.""Freshly roasted beans(of a good quality), properly brewed.""Low quality coffee isvery acidic, it's got things other than coffee in it. I've no idea ofquality comparisons cos I don't take much notice. I don't know wherethis stuff comes from, but I like the way it's made here.""Tasty. A certain thickness. Itkinda warms me, warms the innermost caverns of your soul. It's verybeautiful.""well you must realise,I'm not the coffee aficionado, I'm very much the layman. Neophyte asit were. it'sjust shy of £2 and yeah I enjoy it, it's the coffee, it's theenvironment, it's happy associations.""You've gotta say FairTrade haven't you. I feel really guilty coming in here if it's notfair trade. Organic would be good too.""It should have theconsistency of mud. The best coffee I've ever tasted was Turkishcoffee and you could practically turn it upside down without itpouring out. It's really thick and you know you're probably going tofeel like a lie down afterwards. Until you're actually lying down andyou can feel your heart pounding.""A bit fluffy, but: itdepends who makes it. You know it does make a difference.""I mean the thingwith like, having this kind of a market where there are a lot of bigchains, they are trying to advertise having the same thing at everyone of their stores – there's probably too much in who makes it tobe able to say that. I mean, I don't generally like African coffees,I much prefer Latin American ones and so I'll notice the difference,and how well it's been tamped and how strong it is and things likethat, so you can't really say, one shop over another."Since I am also posting this on Barista Exchange, I'm including some customer views on other aspects of coffee-shop life that the cafe owners and baristas may find interesting....On Latte Art:"It's nice but it takesway longer for them to do it so I'm just 'give me a drink, I want tosit down' you know...""I don't think muchabout presentation – it's completely off the loop for me. If theyput a pretty pattern on, then you're only going to stir it up anywaybefore you start drinking it.""Yeah, the wholething about foam – it belongs there but like, I only just feel likeI'm messing something up. I like Ugly food, ugly drinks, you know,""it's muchmore the taste I think.">I don't particularlycare what it looks like - I don't drink lattes so I don't know aboutlatte art. I'd rather they didn't bother with the little chocolateson the side though! You can have it!""(Having just Googledit) I think it's pretty mint. If it's done right that is. I once wentto get a coffee, and the guy who served me (who seems to think he'sthe coffee king...) says "I've left you something on top."So i looked at my fresh coffee, then back at him saying "Youspat in my foam?!" I think it was meant to be modern art of somedescription, but it did look more like something from the recesses ofhis lungs.""I LOVE THEM. Haha, Iwent to Costa in Darlo once and they did this lovely star pattern inmy mates Latte which was so nice. She didn't even ask, he just did,it was niceeeee. I took a pic of it, they're so cool. But erm, yeah Ilike them, it makes you feel like you've spent money on somethinggood but once the pattern goes away you feel a bit sad."I'm not too bothered about that."It's good, but I don'treally care if they don't."On why they go to coffee shops:"Mostly with coffeeshops...it depends where I'm going. I go to Esquires for the coffee,I probably come here because other people wanted to come here, a lotof the time when I go to a coffee shop is determined by other peoplesuggesting it more than my personal preference.""As a rule I don'tgo to chain coffee shops for the coffee. Like in here, it's not thecoffee, I guess the atmosphere, but I mainly get pulled in by otherpeople, and it's in a convenient location.""Decent tea, nice food,nice people. I want somewhere I can sit, and enjoy myself even if Idon't know anyone there. It's always nice.""I like the place tohave a buzz about it - i hate silent coffee shops because i thinkthey're places for talking, and you can't do that if the place issilent - it just feels oppressive.""I tend to go to Coffee@ Elliots cos they don't pretend to be Italian and you can go inthere and say “I'll have a large black coffee please and you'll geta Large Black Coffee. No bloody Frenchy americano or whatever it is.""It's like ahabit – it's the going in and sitting down, not the coffee itself. I think I'm justlazy. By the time I've walked all the way in to town, I just want tosit down somewhere. Coffee just comes with it!""I go out to cafésfairly regularly, for good coffee. I come in here probably once aweek at least, cos the coffee is very good. I avoid Starbucks andCosta, Starbucks cos it's shit, Costa cos it's too expensive.""I do go to coffeeshops, for lunches generally, um, for Cake. Definitely Cake. I'm notsure beverages come in to it too much! I tend to go for moreaccessible places. Where in particular? Where my friends happen tobe. Again, places located around where I live in Broomhill, or in theUnion area. If I happen to be in town shopping then it might be thatI'll pop in somewhere and get a piece of cake. And a drink to go withthat."And finally, on value for money:"Total rip off.""It's why I don'tusually go to chains, cos I find they generally charge more thanlike, more independent ones.""They don't paytheir staff that well either, as far as I know.""I assume you arebuying the ceramic as well, so I usually take that with me!""The prices have gone upand the cups have got smaller!! This is now £1.95 and the cupis smaller than the ones you used to get for £1.60! It issmaller! I swear it!""They are just trying to sell you the brand though aren't they? The atmosphere! You are paying forcoffee but you're also paying for a pleasant environment to sit in.""I think, in here youcan expect it to be reasonably expensive, just by the appearance ofthe place, If you like thatsetting then you'd pay for it, I mean for me, I just like the safas""It's probably about 10pisn't it? The fact that they're giving it away... I mean, you can'tbuy ten cakes and get a free cake, can you? Or juice or anything, soit must be the cheapest thing.Rachel: Well I've seenpeople in here give them away to their friends and so on so theycan't be that expensive.""You know, theysay that, like, people don't like things if they are cheap, like theythink they're not good. We've all had the wool pulled over on us, inthat this is better than filter coffee or something.""It's justmarketing though, isn't it?""i think that espressosare a rip-off, but i wouldn't have it any other way. A coffee shoponce tried to give me my money's worth of a espresso - a cappuccinomug filled to the top with double espresso; but it just felt wrong.""I actually think theyare [good value for money], cause they give you a variety of things and are veryprofessional about it all - plus the service is nice and fast. It'sgroovyThat will do for now - but there is plenty more. And I have another group scheduled for tomorrow. I will add my thoughts in soon when I've had a chance to digest it all. Until then, please feel free to add your comments and suggestions! All feedback very welcome!
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