Any good coffee shop should employ the skills of a
professional barista to produce the best tasting coffee to
serve to their customers.
The term originates from Italy where it is a coveted title
and requires significant apprenticeship. No one can assume
the title of barista unless he or she can profess to have
dedicated much time and practice to this art. The title
barista has been somewhat diminished outside Italy where
the term barista seems to apply to any coffee machine
operator regardless of their skill - however unskilled - is
usually referred to as a barista.
There are a few simple ways to discover if the maker of
your coffee is a true barista or not. The first thing is to
ask him or her about the coffee they are serving. Where
does it come from? What bean is it? How is it roasted? If
he or she answers, "Our suppliers, "dark roast", "in a
roaster" - or simply "dunno", I think you can safely
determine that he or she is not a true barista.
If, on the other hand, the response to your queries is met
with much enthusiasm and detail about the country of
origin, type of bean and roasting technique, you will
almost certainly be in the presence of a professional
barista.
If you don't want to converse or perhaps if the operator
doesn't speak good English, you can simply observe how they
go about the job of preparing your drink.
A dedicated barista will grind the coffee freshly each
time, will ensure the china cups are preheated, will ensure
the group handles (the part where the ground coffee is put
in), are kept in the machine and not left lying around,
will only use fresh milk from the fridge and froth it at
the machine, and will tamp (flatten) the coffee in the
group handle using a fair amount of pressure (not lightly
pressed).
The result of this attention to detail is a lovely cup of
coffee, which will be worth every penny.
You wont be surprised to know that the National Barista
World Championship is held annually in Atlanta, Georgia,
USA, but what you might well be surprised to know is that
the current world champion is not from the States nor from
Italy, but from Yorkshire.
Gwilym Davies, 42, is a market trader in the East End of
London and beat off the best in the world to be crowned
world best barista 2009. He is a somewhat eccentric
character and lives on a canal boat and sells coffee from
his stalls in Whitecross Street and Colombia Road markets.
Barista courses are now available in the UK. Just do a
Google search to find your nearest one.
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For further useful information about coffee visit our
Coffee School at http://www.cafebar.co.uk
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