It has been a few days since the WOC in Athens ended and I would like to share my experience. A few weeks before the Expo, Simona contacted me, saying that they needed a barista who speaks Greek fluently. I immediately agreed to join their team and work with them at WOC. However, I did not realize how stressful it might get for me. I started to doubt myself. After all, it's all more natural behind my own counter where I am my own boss and where I know my customers. Weeks full of stress and questioning my qualities began. Every day I woke up with a feeling of fear that someone would not be happ ..read more

The usual complains we hear from coffee professionals about batch brewing in shops are: 1. "They use the Moccamaster (usually the KGBT-741 or another batch brewer designed for home brewing) and the cup quality suffers from that (flat, weak, uneven and overall low extraction that leads to uneven flavor profile)" The answer here, at least from our experience is: In vast majority of the home batch brewers, 100%  true. The issue can be hacked a little by using hot water in the tank, but the whole process needs barista's attention for mixing the slurry to achieve more even flow and extraction ..read more

Morning's dial-in tasted clean and sweet. An hour and a half later we served an espresso to a customer whom I have known for almost a decade. I saw him taking a sip and making a really unpleasant face, then taking a sip of water. I asked "is the espresso alright?". He said "yes, it's fine". It felt weird, but I wasn't asking anymore. So when he left I made myself an espresso and it was pretty astringent. Then we noticed that the group went from 93 Celsius to 96 without noticing us. There's no display on the DC Mina, you check the settings and flow rate via an app connected to the machine. So ..read more

HOW TO MAKE A DELICIOUS COLD BREW   I always considered cold brew to be one of the easiest methods of how to brew delicious cold coffee. The fact that you can make delicious cold brew from old roasted coffee too is an incredibly valuable point when it comes to home kitchen shelf or coffee shop management. Although cold brew is incredibly simple in essence, as it is a full immersion method where the coffee just sits, it is surprising how very often you can get a really bad tasting cold brew in coffee shops. Weak and watery or bitter and muddy. So here's a simple guide on how to make cold ..read more

1. Talking about it before the tasting is done leads to creating biases in others. The focus is shifting towards looking for what was said. In long term, the palate development is stalling. 2. Trying to find something specific at all cost. "I can't taste it clearly, but it must be peach jam and jasmine." 3. Confusing fruity acidity and underextaction. Confusing sweetness and bitterness. 4. Not tasting blindly - creating bias: Knowing you're gonna taste a washed Kenya or a coffee that scored high will compromise your sensory perception. You'll score higher, because you're aware of the fact that ..read more

SEASONALITY "But the other roaster has my favorite Santos all year long." ... First things first, Santos isn't a producer, but the port in Brazil where a lot of coffee is mixed and sold as Santos grade. And that might be a good point where to start with freshness and seasonality, as it is linked to transparency. In mixed coffees of the C Market grade, you can't tell what's fresh and what is not, as it's all mixed together and it's almost untraceable. ___ To put it simply, one can't make old green coffee taste great. If you're a specialty coffee roaster, you can rehydrate, soak for longer time ..read more

THE 'FREE SAMPLES' CULTURE AND WHY DOES IT SUCK? ___ 1. It costs time. 2. It costs money (coffee, packing and shipping). 3. Coffee shops just might cup the coffees and just might send feedback and just might actually buy coffee. 4. We too don't go to coffee shops to ask for an espresso sample before we buy one. 5. Importers send free samples all the time. We like to say that we'd love to pay for them, but the policy is set - the coffee and shipping are usually for free for some reason. Is this sustainable? Sure, for a big company. 6. Unnecessary carbon footptint. 7. If you're a tiny roaster op ..read more

We do that indeed. Apart from good distribution technique and the impossible of tasting every single shot before serving it, this is my last quality control check before serving. Even if the distribution and locking the portafilter into the group may look perfect, and the shot time and yield went according to plan, checking the puck integrity and seeing no channels after extraction is a crucial step for me. And then I'm aware of the fact that most of the customers don't stir the espresso and drink it as it was served. To connect all the layers of espresso, I gently stir it for them before serv ..read more

I saw and experienced this many times: Barista's motivation to be better and grow just stops and turns into frustration when there's no visible room to grow as a professional and there's the continuous month in, month out struggle of barely paying the rent and other things on time. Minimum wage in the Czech Republic is €4 per hour, majority of baristas live from this + the tips and free coffee, usually without a proper contract and social security. Try paying a €450 rent from that. ___ I can think of just a few (maybe 7) specialty coffee shops/companies here that lead by example in Czech Rep ..read more

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