Coffee Notes from All Over
Posted by deCadmus on 15 Feb 2008 | Tagged as: Coffee
- So long, and thanks for all the coffee. Bloggle notes the passage of the venerable Dr. Ernesto Illy, the son of Illy’s founder, Francesco. Ernesto Illy forwarded the science of espresso coffee more than any individual on the planet. I think Don Schoenholt — a fellow SCAA Lifetime Achievement Laureate — will not mind if I quote him verbatim…
The trade is reduced by more than one roaster today. We have lost an inspirational coffee thinker, a high personality, an early friend of the specialty coffee movement on this continent, and an individual who contributed to our understanding of ourselves by raising our scientific consciousness of coffee. Ernesto Illy, SCAA 1997 Lifetime Achievement Laureate, was an extraordinary gentleman who deported himself with grace and dignity.
– Donald N. Schoenholt
SCAA 2007 Lifetime Achievement Laureate - Starbucks Takes a Mulligan on Training. Howard Schultz is back at the helm of the good ship Starbucks, and in addition to gifting iPods to associates that push bean sales — beans, what are these beans? and do they come in a venti? — he’s decreed that Starbucks baristas everywhere get a refresher course on building espresso beverages.
Starbucks will close 7,100 stores nationwide for three hours on the evening of Feb. 26 to retrain about 135,000 in-store employees and people who oversee the stores.
“We will have all new standards for how we create the drinks,” said spokeswoman Valerie O’Neil. “They will be trained in creating the perfect shot, steaming the milk and all the pieces that come together in a drink.”
Go, Howie, go!
- Robots and Coffee, Redux. Nestle researchers have developed an electronic taster for espresso which purports to rival the palates of trained espresso tasters.
The machine analyzes the gas espresso gives off when heated, translating combinations of ions into subjective descriptions like “roasted, flowery, woody, toffee and acidity.” Called an “electronic taster,” it was created by chemical engineers at Nestle in Switzerland, and will be used as a quality control device in the coffee industry. And perhaps as an evaluation tool for a few coffee snobs (for the record, the machine only tastes ristretto pulls).
Godspeed, Ernesto.
No comment necessary, really. Save for this.
The skinny on… skinny?
Posted by deCadmus on 18 Jan 2008 | Tagged as: Coffee
This one’s worth a read just for this quote:
My regular coffee order at Starbucks sounds ridiculous. “I’ll have a grande, no-fat, sugar-free Cinnamon Dolce Latte, no whip. Please.’’ Once, a customer behind me chirped, “Would you like coffee with that?”
Heh.
Now Starbucks is making it easier on patrons like myself who like to order a little coffee with their adjectives. Coffee drinks made with nonfat milk and sugar-free syrups are now called “skinny.’’ So I can order a “skinny” Cinnamon Dolce and get the same no-fat, sugar-free, no-whip drink without so much effort. There are also “skinny” mochas, “skinny” caramel lattes and “skinny” hazelnut lattes.
This is new? This is news? I’ve heard “skinny” used in coffee shops from Portland, Oregon to Portsmouth, New Hampshire and all points between. And certainly not only at Starbucks. But it would appear that “skinny” has now officially hit the Starbucks lexicon. And some folks aren’t happy about it.
At The Gothamist:
The non-official Starbucks Gossip Blog posted a letter Wednesday that one disgruntled New York employee fired off to the company’s top brass. The barista wrote not to protest Starbucks’s aggressive ubiquity, their resistance to fair trade coffee, or their union busting tactics. No sir, she’s up in arms about the new company policy instructing employees to refer to drinks made with sugar-free syrup, non-fat milk, and no whipped cream as “Skinny.”
Um… yeah. That’s pickin’ your battles.
As a person of estimable size (i.e. a really big guy) let me offer a brief note to reluctant baristas, everywhere: if you think what you call your drink is going to have an impact my self-image — any impact at all — you greatly overestimate your power. If you think that “skinny” is politically incorrect and you’re personally offended by the term, you really need to get a grip. And if this is where you intend to make your stand, well… you might shuffle the deck of cards that comprises your priorities.
And that’s the real skinny.
Barista: Is This the Death of the Espresso Blend?
Posted by deCadmus on 28 Oct 2007 | Tagged as: Coffee
Stephen Leighton (coffee guy, blogger at Hasbean, one of the more permanent fixtures on Bloggle’s list of outbound links) has a featured article in the most recent issue of Barista magazine in which he wonders aloud, “Is this the death of the espresso blend?” In it he notes that James Hoffmann’s World Barista Championship was won with not one, but two single-origin coffees prepared as espresso. That’s a notion that not so long ago would have been unheard of — which has annoyed me for years — but which may be on the naked edge of a trend…
I think those observing the WBC competition this year will have noted that blends have gradually become less complicated and often now have far fewer components than they might have contained in the past. There has been a real movement towards allowing the coffee to do the talking with signature drinks, presentation and blends becoming simpler. This has to be applauded.
This is me, clapping loudly.
I make no claims to be a purist — a snob, yes, but not a purist — but I’m awfully keen to see more single-origin espressos come to the fore; for their character, their unbridled flavors and aromas, and the sheer adventure of discovering what a given grand cru drip coffee can do in the small cup. I want to see more coffee origins — especially Central and South American origins — experiment with semi-washed and dry process coffees to afford the kind of character that would better complement a single-origin espresso (a stellar example being Erna Knutsen’s Santa Elena Tarrazu Miel from a few years back.)
But mostly I want to see more single-origin espresso coffees as an antidote to the sameness, the blandness, the carefully measured and highly reproducible mediocrity that so very many commercial espresso blends strive for. And if you think I’m calling out Illy and LavAzza and their ilk, well… you just might be right. 
Meanwhile, good on you Steve! And you, dear reader, go get yourself a copy of Barista magazine. There’s fine stuff in there. Look for the issue with a very relaxed-looking James Hoffmann on the cover.
