What does "quality" mean to you?
If coffee is promoted as "high quality" (whether as beans or as a drink in a cafe) - what do you interpret that to mean? Good quality beans? Skilled baristas making it? Both?
Would cafe owners charge more for what they consider High Quality coffee? Again, is that because of the skills of the barista you employ or the beans themselves?
Do you think consumers view quality coffee in the same way?
Indulge me here, tis for university.
cheers!
bel
Would cafe owners charge more for what they consider High Quality coffee? Again, is that because of the skills of the barista you employ or the beans themselves?
Do you think consumers view quality coffee in the same way?
Indulge me here, tis for university.
cheers!
bel
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Peter Tam on
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IMHO, those arabica beans of single origin should be brewd best with drip coffee tools. It is not good for espresso, probably excluding few of them.
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Permalink Reply by Daniel Gruska on
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I feel like too many people over-focus on espresso. Drip coffee is so varied and full of wonderful flavors! If you use a vacuum pot or a french press with the right ratio of water to grinds at the right temperature, it is my opinion that great drip coffee beats espresso 9 out of 10 times. Perhaps the difference lies in our technological inability to extract "perfect" espresso?
I've had Panamanian coffees that tasted like Porters, Nicaraguans that were pure caramel and chocolate... the possibilities are so vast with drip coffee.
I feel that drips should always be single origin, and never darker than a full-city roast. Darker roasts pretty much came into existence to mask the undesirable flavors in flawed beans.
And Pablo's right, to enjoy great coffee, you really don't need a barista. Espresso is something different entirely.
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You are partially right, in the inability of extracting proper espresso. When it is well made, it can be "god shot", if not, it will be terrible.
For a good drip coffee, single origins can be rather good, but most depends on the roast. Your description for its roast can be proper for those beans, although the specific roast changes according to the beans.
They are both great, I believe.
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Permalink Reply by Bel Townsend on
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ok, here's an idea which might only make sense to the coffee shop owners and marketers on here, but hear me out. There's a general train of thought (academic) that claims that 'value' can be added to products by making them look more complicated to produce. The perceived quality of something increases if it looks like a lot of work has gone in to making it. On that theory, espresso based coffees are perceived to be of higher quality by the consumers, and as such, valued more, entirely because they are more difficult to make - the showmanship of the barista, the latte art for instance may not actually do anything for the taste of the coffee, but in people's heads, it is better quality, and they are willing to pay more for it. Similarly, drip or filter coffees never command as high a price, at least not in chain coffee shops as espresso based ones, even if the actual coffee is better grade.
Of course, anyone who actually knows about and appreciates good coffee can see through this, but for Joe Average, it tends to work.
Does that make sense? Any thoughts?
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From what I can see in our local market, China, including *$s, the latte mixed coffee drinks can be drinkable but not taste good, at all. Maybe there are some people who like them, but I did not really see too many. If the espresso were not made well, the mixture with a lot of milk can be drinkable but not good.
The normal coffee drinks mixed with milk are already quite expansive and those with latte art could not be sold at higher price. They do not even have good business. It means that the business cannot be survived by latte art, and other similars.
This is what I can see from our local market.
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Permalink Reply by Alex Negranza on
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It depends. If a chef can make a 5 star meal out of a 5 star restraunt, he is superb chef.. If a chef can make a 5 star meal out of a 2 or 3 star restraunt then he's a bad-ass chef. Apply analogy as needed.
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way to go! I'm glad people know the "5 M's"....
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Let me introduce you to a clever little machine...the Clover. At my shop, we use 49th Parallel coffee. They have a wiiiide selevtion of CoE coffees. Obiously, CoE beans are better on a Clover than in a Perc. I don't know if any people that would by Cup of Excellence beans or Best of Panama and then brew it in a Mr. Coffee. Pour over stations and the likes are great for "excellent beans," if you don't have a Clover or use of one.
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.
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"'value' can be added to products by making them look more complicated to produce. The perceived quality of something increases if it looks like a lot of work has gone in to making it."
1 word.... SBUX
also... latte art involves more than a pretty design. It shows that your barista has the knowledge and ability to steam milk properly. I've also had a decent heart, with a crappy spro. I was talking with some different people today, and besides the obvious advantages of the Clover machines we have, it also forces those "Average Joes" that come in wanting a "20 oz Drip." to be involved in the higher quality of the coffee market. I explain to them that we brew it single cup and to browse our coffee menu. They do and they read our Single Origins and it's flavor profiles. Bam. Customer Education. =-D
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Do people really expect to survive off of Latte Art?
Like I mentioned earlier, Latte Art accents the baristas skill and knowledge of proper steaming. Do these customers NOT care about the taste of the milk in their drink?
Hmmm...weird.
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Permalink Reply by Stickman on
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Quoting Alex, "Do these customers NOT care about the taste of the milk in their drink?"
You know that you're onto something when you say that. I credit Starbucks for making coffee a Place To Be. They have not become a place to taste and that's where we fit in: SB raises awareness of coffee and we provide the goods - whether the goods are knowledge, education, flavour or microfoam.
Our little corner of this continent is relatively special as far as specialty coffee goes. We're lucky to have great coffee and great customers.
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As to the original question, "high quality" means from the beans, to grinding, to machines, to brewing skills, and finally to the cup. Not a single of them can be missing.
The "high quality" coffee means the "good tastes", without bad tastes, and for sure it is what consumer cares.
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