Starbucks has the most "skilled baristas" in Charlotte!
Alright, so this may turn into a rant. Let me warn you in advance. I didn't get much sleep last night. I was angry, and frustrated, all in one. Couldn't stop thinking about it. ("Thinking about what already?" you ask. Well, Creative Loafing's Best of Charlotte came out this week, and it wasn't who won that surprised me, it was what the food editor wrote. The Reader's Pick went to a small indie shop in a real cool, vibrant hip part of Charlotte, and although it wasn't one of the shops that brew our coffee, I could understand the pick. It's a loyal crowd, that hip crowd. So, what got me so worked up?
The Critic's Pick for Best Coffee in Charlotte went to the 3rd Ward Starbucks. Well, there are alot of people that visit that place on a regular basis, and lots of editor-type people frequent it as a place to work on their articles and such. So, the Food Editor picked Starbucks. Well, it was the description of the shop that sent chills up my spine. And I quote, “Many of the skilled baristas are J&W students who take coffee seriously.” To which I said, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????" "Skilled Baristas"??????? It was obvious three things at that very moment. One, I was going to have to check that place out to see if they are doing anything different than any of the other gazillion Starbucks there are out there. So, I went there today, and you know what? Same store, different address. Workers still same "faux-friendly," emphasis still on smoothies, I mean, Vivannos.
The second thing was that I was going to have to let the food editor know she had made a mistake with her use of the words "skilled baristas." Which I did, respectfully, and with as much passion and gusto as I could muster at what a real barista does, and how it's different than what some call "button monkeys." I then gave her a personal invitation to visit one of our shops, and I would buy her a drink and let her be the judge of whether or not the drink a real barista makes tastes better. (And yes, I know that to most the drink one gets at Starbucks or McDonalds for that matter, are adequate drinks. My wife, unfortunately, agrees.) But there's so much to be said for the skill of becoming a real "barista." Of learning the craft of making proper espresso, and steaming milk the correct way. Of making drinks your customers crave.
The third thing it told me right then was, although I have done alot of work in this area to try and push a better barista culture, there is much work to be done. I will actually be laminating the article, and putting it at my desk as a motivator, a reminder of the work that needs to be done. Of the person who doesn't know or appreciate what a real barista does on a daily basis, one drink at a time. The barista that knows the right amount to dose, the right pressure to tamp, and when the shot is done. There are many people out there just like this Food Editor. Probably the majority, and although we won't get to all of them, we will get to some of them, and when we do, we must be prepared to make the better drink. The ball's in our court. Let's all work to be the best at what we do, and a long coffee life be ahead for us all.
BTW, J&W students are Johnson and Wales students, an award winning culinary school here in Charlotte.
http://charlottehappenings.creativeloafing.com/gbase/BestOf/BestOfAwards?Award=oid%3A153961
The Critic's Pick for Best Coffee in Charlotte went to the 3rd Ward Starbucks. Well, there are alot of people that visit that place on a regular basis, and lots of editor-type people frequent it as a place to work on their articles and such. So, the Food Editor picked Starbucks. Well, it was the description of the shop that sent chills up my spine. And I quote, “Many of the skilled baristas are J&W students who take coffee seriously.” To which I said, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????" "Skilled Baristas"??????? It was obvious three things at that very moment. One, I was going to have to check that place out to see if they are doing anything different than any of the other gazillion Starbucks there are out there. So, I went there today, and you know what? Same store, different address. Workers still same "faux-friendly," emphasis still on smoothies, I mean, Vivannos.
The second thing was that I was going to have to let the food editor know she had made a mistake with her use of the words "skilled baristas." Which I did, respectfully, and with as much passion and gusto as I could muster at what a real barista does, and how it's different than what some call "button monkeys." I then gave her a personal invitation to visit one of our shops, and I would buy her a drink and let her be the judge of whether or not the drink a real barista makes tastes better. (And yes, I know that to most the drink one gets at Starbucks or McDonalds for that matter, are adequate drinks. My wife, unfortunately, agrees.) But there's so much to be said for the skill of becoming a real "barista." Of learning the craft of making proper espresso, and steaming milk the correct way. Of making drinks your customers crave.
The third thing it told me right then was, although I have done alot of work in this area to try and push a better barista culture, there is much work to be done. I will actually be laminating the article, and putting it at my desk as a motivator, a reminder of the work that needs to be done. Of the person who doesn't know or appreciate what a real barista does on a daily basis, one drink at a time. The barista that knows the right amount to dose, the right pressure to tamp, and when the shot is done. There are many people out there just like this Food Editor. Probably the majority, and although we won't get to all of them, we will get to some of them, and when we do, we must be prepared to make the better drink. The ball's in our court. Let's all work to be the best at what we do, and a long coffee life be ahead for us all.
BTW, J&W students are Johnson and Wales students, an award winning culinary school here in Charlotte.
http://charlottehappenings.creativeloafing.com/gbase/BestOf/BestOfAwards?Award=oid%3A153961
Comment
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Comment by Wilson Hines on September 27, 2008 at 6:55am
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Your exactly correct, save the $B rant. If Brady's shop was right across the street it the author would have written the same story with a different shop named: Brady's!
Jason in all reality wasn't this author a STUDENT at said college? The author can't take this style of gorilla journalism into the "real world" as we would have the birth of another Dan Rather! Maybe you should, at the least, take this (Not email) to the editor. He/She deserves to know about who is lazy in their organization. If nothing happens then, you KNOW your dealing with jerks!
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Comment by Jim on September 27, 2008 at 5:48am
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I am new here and really a lurker only. But it appears that this is simply a case of misuse of authority. It just occurred to me that the word author is entymology of the word author.
This author probably really feels at home there and felt like she was doing something nice for folks she admires and feels connected with. Taking a position of slight is understandable but counterproductive.
This author who used her authority and influence without understand her domain simply needs to be brought into the realm of the independent coffee house and the professionalism and dedication needed to compete against a multi-national like *bux.
She needs to just get a glimpse of the coffee industry through the eyes of some of you here.
The glimpse needs to include the light and love that you folks have for one another without the negativism toward *bux.
Just my .02
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That is real poor journalism. Every shop in CLT is smeared based on lazy journalism.
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Comment by Jason Dominy on September 26, 2008 at 5:24pm
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Nope. I have recently found out she sits on the staff at Johnson and Wales, and the mentioned Starbucks is across the street from the school and next to the campus bookstore. Makes perfect sense now. Convenience. Nice.
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Comment by Brian Muller on September 26, 2008 at 4:35pm
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Jason, did you get a response from the critic? Did she take you up on your offer?
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Comment by mike cubbage on September 26, 2008 at 10:31am
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i like the idea of laminating it and using it for motivation. good job.
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Agreed. Most of the time worth just enough to wrap fish with.
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Comment by Brady on September 16, 2008 at 6:05am
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Sadly, this is one more example of the writers at "the loaf" continuing to deliver exactly what the name promises. The publication has a long way to go to be as good as some of the other indie/alt papers around the country. I rarely finish a story feeling like my time was well spent. Oh well.
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Comment by Anthony Epp on September 15, 2008 at 11:35pm
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I see some of the problem right away. They were saying "Johnson & Wales" students taking coffee seriously, (I graduated from the CIA) or any chef for that matter, serious about coffee. That's not to say that some there do care about what they are doing, but as someone spending that much money on schooling, and putting in the time, and all the other indoctrination of using the "freshest, best," of everything.......
But the point is that coffee is unfortunately the last thing on most chef's minds. I know it was true for me when I was in that position. And that is very sad. For people that spend that much time, energy, and emotional energy producing meals they are proud of, to think so little about the last thing most of their customers will consume before they leave the restaurant. Sad.
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Just sooo painful, isn't it? I regularly find that the press gets it wrong on almost everything they write with stuff like this, not just coffee, anything in the "life" section.
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