the perfect coffee

When it comes to coffee preparation, it is not an easy process. Every barista who is going to serve coffee to the customers should know the important information about proper coffee preparation. Some cafés train their baristas or organize a workshop to serve the best coffee. But how many cafés do that? 

According to Eversham (2013), more than 50% of baristas cannot prepare the right espresso according to the set criteria, which is a liquid volume between 25-30 ml with good crema, extraction time of 20-30 seconds, and a temperature between 63-67 degrees. The research was conducted by BSA (Beverage Standards Association) on 100 entrepreneurs nominated for the BSA Awards 2013. The evaluators secretly marked baristas for preparing the right espresso. (Eversham, 2013)

This leads me to a question - what information should include baristas training to get the proper coffee?

Every barista should know about coffee, including the basics of production, roasting, and brewing. This knowledge can help them to understand how the industry works. Even though the history of coffee and the theory of brewing is important, their technical skills are the most important thing. There is a lot of practice needed. A good piece of advice would be to provide time for a barista to practice without the pressure of a customer waiting. There should be a practical test at the end of every training proving that baristas fully understood and mastered skills at that level. 

A big part of being a barista is, of course, customer service skills. People without being professional and friendly at the same time shouldn't be working in a café at all. During the theoretical part of the training, real-life examples of the everyday life of a barista should be included so they can be better prepared for the customers. The baristas should be able to know how to greet a customer, what information to offer, and how to make suggestions to people who are undecided on what to order. (Maharjana, 2019)

According to Hand Ground (2016) research, the main reason why customers decided to visit a coffee shop is the quality of coffee. Another reason is attitude of staff, comfortable seating, great latte art and last but not least, speed of service. 

According to respondents, three most important factors are unique flavor, the finish (aftertaste) and the body (mouthfeel). When asking what quality of the coffee mean to customers, more than half of them answered things like taste and flavor. 

Some interesting facts has been found out recently - cup height and diameter have a lot to do with customer’s expectations of coffee’s taste, temperature, aroma and cost. 3000 volunteers from UK, CHina and Columbia arranged photos of mugs on a screen in response to a series of questions. They were asked to place the mugs of different sizes and thicknesses in order of aroma, bitterness, energy, temperature, intensity, individual liking, sweetnes and how much they’d be willing to pay. People from all 3 countries expected that coffee in short a narrow cups will be more bitter, more aromatic and more intense. People from Columbia and UK were willing to pay more money for wider and taller cups but people from China were willing the pay the same from all of the above. The point is that café owners, baristas and crockery manufacturers should consider the diameter and height of the cups in order to manipulate people’s expectations. (Weiss, 2017)

I wanted to check this research so I addressed 10 cafés in Derby asking about their barista training. Cafés I addressed were: Kava coffee bar, Grand Cafe Caruso, Rask, PLANT Cafe&Bar, Vedi, BEAR, Katherine's Coffee Bar, Elements Tea and Coffee House, Brownie Points Bakery, and Bean Caffe. Only Kava coffee bar responded to me that they provide training for baristas in Nottingham. Grand Cafe Caruso responded to me that they are a family business and they do not train baristas. The other 8 cafés didn't respond at all. I don't think I can make some conclusion based on this information. 

Reference list:

Eversham, E. (2013) Big Hospitality. Available at: https://www.bighospitality.co.uk/Article/2013/07/23/Calls-for-ongoing-barista-training-as-research-shows-54-can-t-make-an-espresso?utm_source=copyright&utm_medium=OnSite&utm_campaign=copyright (Accessed: 22 of November 2020). 

Hand Ground (2016) Available at: https://handground.com/grind/how-customers-and-coffee-shops-define-quality-differently (Accessed: 2 January 2021).

Maharjana, H. (2019) Perfect Daily Grind. Available at: https://perfectdailygrind.com/2019/05/how-to-design-an-effective-barista-training-programme/ (Accessed: 1 of December 2020)

Weiss, S. (2017) Refinery 29. Avaliable at: https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2017/01/135198/coffee-mug-size-affects-taste-expectations (Accessed: 4 January 2021)