This one time at barista camp…Pt. 1

                

 At the 2010 Roasters Guild Retreat I met a guy called Barista Alex. Alex Negranza is a barista in Seattle and a blogger for WhyNotCoffee.com (which I highly recommend). One of the things that we talked about was the first BGA (Barista Guild of America) retreat “Camp Pull-a-Shot”.  The months went by, and certainly inspired by Alex, I started blogging. One of the first ideas that came to mind was to do a series of interviews with individuals in different stages in the craft of barista, as well as people working in different areas of specialty coffee, and ask them about their experiences at the first ever BGA retreat. Regretfully Alex wasn’t able to attend so I couldn’t interview him about camp but another friend of mine did, what follows is my chat with Rothko Hauschildt (coolest first name ever btw).

 I met Rothko at the USBC (United States Barista Competition) South Central regional competition in Austin last year.  It was the first barista competition either of us had ever participated in and we commiserated about our anxiety and nerves, then basked in shared congratulation for completing our presentations.  Rothko works at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in Austin and is just crazy about coffee.  She was kind enough to do a quick interview with me and report about some of her experiences at Camp Pull-a-Shot.

J.Q. So Rothko, since we were in the USBC south central regional together that counts as at least one SCAA event, was Camp Pull-a-Shot the only other SCAA event you’ve been to?

R.H. Yeah, this was just my second but I’m planning on going to the Expo in Houston Since it’s so close. Hopefully I’ll be able to get my level 2 barista certification there.

J.Q. So I’m not very familiar with the BGA certification program.  Would you kinda give me a breakdown what the certifications are and how they work?

R.H. Yeah, Well the Level 1 is about knowing your basic barista skills, being able to do them well. It’s about knowing the SCAA standards and knowing how to make drinks according to them.  The questions [on the test] are coming out of what you learn in the level 1 BGA classes. Level 2 is a bit more advanced and begins getting into basic equipment maintenance, more advanced dosing, things about origin, bar efficiency, and lots of stuff that as your average barista you might not even be aware of.  

J.Q. So level one is just covering the basics skill sets, and level two gets into more complex subjects. What was covered in origins? 

R.H. Just knowing about the whole process from the seed to the cup.  from farmers, and processors, to roasters and baristas, and baristas being the last point of contact with the coffee. Understanding the supply chain.

J.Q. you mentioned [espresso] dosing, what did that involve [for level 2]?

R.H. What they want to see is if you know your coffee well enough to be able to find the best dose for it. It’s all about knowing your coffee and knowing how to work with it.

J.Q. So I’ve been to several Roaster’s Guild retreats, and the schedules where really hectic, what was the class scheduling like?

R.H. It was intensive and it was really packed. They had twice as many people as they where expecting. They where thinking they would have fifty or sixty people and we ended up with about one hundred and ten. It was really sweet, it did mean though that there were certifications at 2 am which sucked, but I was lucky and got mine early in the evening (laughs) but yeah they where just blown away by the response.

J.Q. Did you find the classes to be really useful?

R.H. Yeah, there was a lot of information packed into them and sometimes it was hard to absorb it all, but yeah they where all really good. I didn’t think there was any fluff in any of them. We where lucky though [Vince Fedele] the inventor of the ExtractMoJo was there and taught a class on brewing and extraction methods, and he had some that we could test, and now I want to drop 300 bucks on a refractometer. But yeah it was great having him there because it brought more depth than just looking at that chart we’ve all seen. What all of it was really about though is knowing your coffee well enough so that you don’t blow it in the last minutes of drink preparation. Not to blow it after the farmer has worked in the sun all day and the processor has taken care and the roaster has put all of his knowledge and craft into it.  And when it gets to you, you can’t be pulling a 15 second shot and calling it good. you have to respect the work of the people who came before you and step up to it, and match that with your own quality. It was really good to be around a hundred other people who feel that way, because you don’t get that every day.

J.Q. Okay so the last thing I want to ask you about it the parties at night. Now at Roasters Guild we have a lot of fun after the days classes, how were the BGA retreat parties?

R.H. Oh my god. Johnny Cassitini from Simoneli did a keg stand. He’s like 73.

J.Q. I’d like a picture of that.                                                                      

R.H. There probably is one online. Yeah for a bunch of baristas it was a heavily beer oriented event. Mike McKim brought like 4 kegs over.

J.Q. That’s more kegs than us!

R.H. And if you had a car there was a liquor store right down the road.

J.Q. Ah, so good location.

R.H. Yeah, but you know I went to bed fairly early; gotta get my beauty sleep so I don’t have the good stories. You might want to talk to McKim.

 Alright, That’s the first of the series, I’ve got a couple more installments in my quest to find out what I missed at barista camp. 

Cheers!

(Footnote: the kegs where also sponsored by Marzocco, and Topeca Coffee)

The Holistic Barista. More Than Great Coffee, A Great Cafe.

What follows is a dissertation that I read earlier tonight to a promising group of young baristas.  

“Certainly it is understood among coffee professionals that barista is an art and a skilled craft.  While it is of chief importance that a barista be an expert in the various ways of extracting coffee and creating excellent coffee beverages I believe that there’s more to the profession than that.  We have a shared responsibility to produce an experience of aroma and flavor in a coffee drink, but I hold that the barista has other responsibility for excellence.  The holistic barista must also be excellent in customer service, and service to the cafe.
 
The barista is employed to serve.  Serve coffee and serve an experience.  To create a full experience the barista must create the environment and context where it occurs. which is to say that the cafe has to be clean and the barista should smile, be courteous, attentive, etc.  It can be easy to forget but the whole point of all our labors is to serve our customers.  It is a simple truth that without customers we would not be doing what we do.  All of the personal edification that may be derived from a pursuit of knowledge and perfection in coffee would be armature without customers to make it a profession.  They deserve cleanliness, attention, and courtesy, and perhaps even thanks.

Responsibilities to ones cafe can be plainly stated as, “part of your job is to be profitable”.  This may seem like a contentious point but I believe that it is crucial and we must reconcile ourselves to it.  We have chosen our employers and our employers chose us.  As a barista you must strive to be an excellent producer for your company.  Excellent customer service is profitable and sustainable for the cafe and is made of of many small exchanges like telling new customers “hey tell your friends about us” and asking repeat customers “do you have any coffee to make at home? I really enjoy ____.” or “do you use a burr grinder at home? the right grinder makes all the difference (if they’re interested explain how)”.  The point is that our collective goal is to make the cafe successfully. Besides it’s also true that larger ticket prices, and a growing clientele will make not only the cafe more profitable but also the barista who will accordingly make higher tips with a higher frequency. Larger ticket prices on up sales and added customers from word of mouth advertising that is gained by excellence in customer service and cafe presentation is good for us all.

Besides one would assume that Sammy Piccilo has great customer service skills, James Hoffman can sell a customer on the merits of owning a burr grinder, and that back in his days spent behind bar Stephen Morrissey probably kept his milk fridge clean.
just saying.”

Just Some Pictures

  Luchador Enjoying Morning Cafe.

   (pictured Connor Garbe, Barista, JoeBot’s Coffee, Dwelling Spaces)

 

Cupping Spoons.