Purism or Pretense?
We all know the indescribable feeling of holding a warm mug with fresh steaming coffee, unhindered and unfettered by any hint of "pralines and cream" or "cinnamon apple turnover. We have all delighted to watch as the freshly extracted puck rises like a the star in a play to center stage on the Clover and we are handed our fresh CoE microlot coffee. On the other hand, we have all cringed when we hear customers request things like "extra caramel" or when we hand a customer a drink with a beautiful rosetta only to hear "you forgot the whip cream". Given that, I have begun to wonder if our protective nature towards coffee is one of a desire for purity or simply a deep pretensiousness.
Let's face it; we're snobs. Not only are we snobs, but we are excedingly proud of our snobbery. I met a barista from Intelligentsia who dealt with a customer who wanted to buy Panama Esmaralda and add a shot of vanilla to it. Without mercy or hesitation she curtly replied, "No, I won't do it." We are obviously emotionally connected to the coffee we drink and serve and we often fear the tainting of something so raw and pure. The very thought of introducing anything that would change the flavor of our coffee causes us to think of our white trashy family reunions where our aunt Alice takes sparkling wine and adds sprite to it to "make it taste better".
Some of the most respectable baristas hold to this mantra of "the coffee stands alone" even when they compete or run their coffee bars. Billy Wilson, in an interview with Nick Cho, said that, in presenting the coffee in competition, his goal is to showcase his coffee without causing the flavor to change largely. This has led to his gutsy rosewater americanos and single espresso signature drinks.
On the other hand, I can't help but wonder if, in our mission to save the quality of our coffee, we neglect the possibilities that coffee offers in enhancing and being enhanced by appropriate flavors. I think that, in theory, most would agree with me, but even the idea of adding chocolate to coffee anymore makes a lot of people cringe. But let me pull from my knowledge and experience, although somewhat limited, of the culinary world. I think that most any chef would say that the world of flavor has a web of interconnectivity. We even see that very web on our cupping charts and flavor wheels, and if you had time to take a glance at it there was a great break down of how flavor develops. While I appreciate the love of pure coffee, there might be something amiss when it comes to appropriately pairing coffee and infusing coffee with other culinary elements.
My friend and fellow barista, Chris Deferio, has done much to enlighten my mind in the buildout of a signature beverage and, in general, in the possibilities that coffee has in unlocking a whole new aspect of the culinary world. He seems to fully embrace coffee as a complimentary flavor in food. When I asked him how he came to the place he came to the point of understanding that he has, he simply told me, "I had help from a chef." I believe that it was his interactions with the chefs at Carriage House Restaurant that let him to create a feast of delicious food and coffee combinations for the judges at NERBC (see Barista Magazine for article and pictures). It has been his inspiration that has pushed us to looking to install equipment on our bar that will aid us in preparing signature beverages as a regular part of our menu.
All my ramblings are to say this; there is a great value in our desire to keep coffee from being spoiled by the ignorance of those who care less than us about such a high quality item. At the same time, we must be open to earnestly seeking out new levels of understanding coffee, and until we are willing to sacrifice a bit of our sacred beverage to the altar of innovation, we will be amazingly myopic in our understanding of coffee. But this is just one mans view.
Let's face it; we're snobs. Not only are we snobs, but we are excedingly proud of our snobbery. I met a barista from Intelligentsia who dealt with a customer who wanted to buy Panama Esmaralda and add a shot of vanilla to it. Without mercy or hesitation she curtly replied, "No, I won't do it." We are obviously emotionally connected to the coffee we drink and serve and we often fear the tainting of something so raw and pure. The very thought of introducing anything that would change the flavor of our coffee causes us to think of our white trashy family reunions where our aunt Alice takes sparkling wine and adds sprite to it to "make it taste better".
Some of the most respectable baristas hold to this mantra of "the coffee stands alone" even when they compete or run their coffee bars. Billy Wilson, in an interview with Nick Cho, said that, in presenting the coffee in competition, his goal is to showcase his coffee without causing the flavor to change largely. This has led to his gutsy rosewater americanos and single espresso signature drinks.
On the other hand, I can't help but wonder if, in our mission to save the quality of our coffee, we neglect the possibilities that coffee offers in enhancing and being enhanced by appropriate flavors. I think that, in theory, most would agree with me, but even the idea of adding chocolate to coffee anymore makes a lot of people cringe. But let me pull from my knowledge and experience, although somewhat limited, of the culinary world. I think that most any chef would say that the world of flavor has a web of interconnectivity. We even see that very web on our cupping charts and flavor wheels, and if you had time to take a glance at it there was a great break down of how flavor develops. While I appreciate the love of pure coffee, there might be something amiss when it comes to appropriately pairing coffee and infusing coffee with other culinary elements.
My friend and fellow barista, Chris Deferio, has done much to enlighten my mind in the buildout of a signature beverage and, in general, in the possibilities that coffee has in unlocking a whole new aspect of the culinary world. He seems to fully embrace coffee as a complimentary flavor in food. When I asked him how he came to the place he came to the point of understanding that he has, he simply told me, "I had help from a chef." I believe that it was his interactions with the chefs at Carriage House Restaurant that let him to create a feast of delicious food and coffee combinations for the judges at NERBC (see Barista Magazine for article and pictures). It has been his inspiration that has pushed us to looking to install equipment on our bar that will aid us in preparing signature beverages as a regular part of our menu.
All my ramblings are to say this; there is a great value in our desire to keep coffee from being spoiled by the ignorance of those who care less than us about such a high quality item. At the same time, we must be open to earnestly seeking out new levels of understanding coffee, and until we are willing to sacrifice a bit of our sacred beverage to the altar of innovation, we will be amazingly myopic in our understanding of coffee. But this is just one mans view.
Comment
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Comment by Chuck Gutilla on June 12, 2008 at 10:48am
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Yikes. Could Texas be next? I can't imagine.
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Comment by Brian Bergman on June 12, 2008 at 10:36am
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And snobbery has somehow crept its way in even here in Oklahoma.
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Exactly. There's a time for the pure art and science of coffee, and a time for a graceful teaching spirit towards the less initiated. But I don't think elitism and snobbery are ever a good idea.
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Comment by J. David Sapp on June 12, 2008 at 10:05am
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It's "David." Thanks.
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Couldn't agree with you more David (Or J, or whatever it is that you go by)! ;)
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Chris, you've articulated some great points! I agree with you mostly. The two cents I'd add are that I do think purism is a good ideal, and it should be practiced and enjoyed by those of us "in the know" (at our own levels of development of course). One reason I like purism is that it gives us a standard by which to judge the value of each coffee experience. If we think the purist's standard is a cup of "fresh [clovered] CoE microlot coffee," we can think of that as 100. Everything else is presumed lower (e.g. french pressed coffee might get an 85, drip a 50, etc.).
The value of this way of thinking is that it helps us to better serve the customer. We know our customer's names and what they like to drink. We are right to cringe when they add flavor to an otherwise perfect cup of coffee, but we have to meet them where they are. If they're used to drinking coffee on the "50" level, be patient with them. Seek to take each customer to the next level of development in the enjoyment of coffee, whether you are turning them on to whole milk ("wanna try it with whole today?"), or are trying to wean them off cream. We can cringe all day, but when it comes right down to it, they keep us in business.
Use your purism as a means of evaluating the individual customer's level of coffee development and train them into higher levels of sophistocation over time.
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Over a quarter of the points available on the USBC score sheets are devoted to signature drinks. If the drinks are made with great coffee, they'll lead people to great coffee, not great caramel or great vanilla. "May we all be granted the opportunity and time to fully explore what coffee has to offer, in its own glory, as well as combined with other quality ingredients." - Old Italian saying I just came up with.
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Comment by Noelle on June 11, 2008 at 3:18pm
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I have contemplated this debate long and hard in my relatively young pursuit of coffee knowledge. My friends have often criticized me for my new and aggravating 'snobbery,' and I truly appreciate your insight and honesty on the subject. I think you are both right - it is important to contemplate the idea that coffee may be enjoyed on many different levels. I have learned somthing here. haha thank you.
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Comment by Dale Harris on June 11, 2008 at 3:15pm
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love this post!
how about milk. When someone asks me for a skinny drink it is my deepest desire to sit down with them with a skimmed and a whole milk capp and discusss the pro's and con's!!!
I'm beginning prep for my first competition now (hope to be meeting lots of people from here at WBC '09!!!) and sig drinks are my biggest unknown. a 2 michelin star chef has offered his help and yet I'm afraid of someone outside of this industry thinking of coffee as a specific flavour- coffee goes with vanilla or choc etc! in a competition we have to do more than this so why should we not go to such lengths to impress/delight a customer? should we give them less because they don't know as much as a judge?
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I'm sure that I don't fully understand all that you're thinking/proposing, but I like a lot of your thoughts. In the midst of our purism and neo-religious zeal for this beverage it's easy to lose track of what's most important. Is the ultimate point to have the ultimate mixture of coffee and hot water at the perfect extraction or is the point to serve a delightful beverage to a person? Different people have different tastes. Are we so sure that ours is right and theirs is wrong that we feel the insecure need to correct them?
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