These thoughts require a little background reading of one of the most important threads on Coffeed.com: The Third Wave and Milk-Based Drinks. The ostensible topic of the thread isn't what I'm thinking about, but where the discussion turns to whether or not cafes and coffee shops could stand up to competent critics, much like restaurants must.
Really this discussion cuts to the quick of my marketing whining (as seen in the last post)--we have no baseline definition of quality, whether in drinks or in ambiance. One question that I'm confronted with often from my staff is "what should it taste like?" and we spend hours each day thinking about it. The impression of what coffee and espresso should taste like from a consumer standpoint makes my head hurt. Not to mention the often obtuse tasting notes from "quality-oriented" roasters (note: I have had coffee that tasted like pink grapefruit and one that tasted like fresh-roasted peanuts, but those flavors were so overwhelming that the descriptions were more than apt). Same applies to roasting level--I've only met two people who *actually* like dark-roasted coffee, most folks I've met think dark roast is better because they've been told by some self-proclaimed coffee "authority" that dark is best for everything and everyone. We have no baseline.
Part of the problem, I think, is that we have assumed that coffee tastes a certain way and espresso tastes a certain way. Considering the sad state of coffee in this country (analogous to the state of tea and food in general), it is no surprise. I get chided for not carrying Lipton in the store, because it means "I don't sell tea". Same as when a gentleman tried to get us to sell Chock-full-o-nuts (one of the cheaper coffee brands) because, "They make it with 100% Colombian, which everyone knows is the best in the world!" Same as the marketing from the local gas chains coffee being "100% arabica beans", which they want people to interpret as "Our 99 cent coffee is made from the best beans in the world" but which actually means "We hope you don't realize that our marketing obfuscates much more than it clarifies and we hope you are too stupid to notice". With that sort of thing, Big Cream and Big Sugar team up with Big Coffee for Big profits. We have no baseline.
Building a baseline, though, whether in drinks or ambiance, is difficult. Not all coffees taste the same and even similar coffees, from similar regions or sometimes the same farms, taste different from season to season. Blends change from roast to roast. Percentages in each brew are contingent and ever-shifting.
The lack of a baseline is so frustrating because I've seen so many shops here and elsewhere that have attached themselves to a substandard of coffee because the owners/baristas have never had good coffee. Their baseline is so low (and often driven by dreams of profit--ha!) that it is no wonder that people still don't like coffee...even owners and baristas.
They say you can't beat something with nothing. So, what should the baseline be? I don't think I can give a definitive answer, but I've got hints in a direction that we are following here. Coffee, regardless of brew method, should be (at least) palatable with cream, sugar, or additional flavorents. If not, something is wrong and (as an owner/barista) you need to find out what and change it or (as a consumer) you need to send it back and create the demand for the owner/barista to do their part. If your espresso blend does not taste good straight, but shines in milk drinks, let your customers know that. If your espresso blend does not hold up well in milk, but shines as a straight shot, let your customers know.
I would love to hear your opinions on this, whether you are a drinker, an abstainer, or a professional. Let's build the baseline here in Beaver County.
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I'm not sure this is on target to your debate but I felt like sharing. I just spent a brutal 5 days traveling Guat between dry mills and exporters trying to A: break lots down to find the best quality portion of said lot B: approach the concept of actual traceability C: better prep and sorting D: Progressive packaging such as vac sealing
Beyond the fact that many looked at us like aliens and could not believe many of our questions saying things like 'Why would you want less than 5 defects?', there were some incredibly productive moments.
Even within one region I found coffees that were amazingly different. One Atitlan that was heavy fruit mid tone and nice jammy aroma while another was distinctly darjeeling tea with a sickly sweet rose aroma. That amazing variation was found even within a lot which could be broken down into smaller receipts with some convincing and a little ego stroking.
The reality is that only one third of exporters had respectable sample roasts and many had old grinders so burnt out, they could hardly do a cupping without heating the grinds. This came to our advantage as one of the best coffees I saw cupped well on their setup but once we established the grinder blades were shot, we took the samples back and used the hand mill to find it was an amazing score.
There are a lot of amazing coffees out there and the fact that a few are identified and not dumped into large blends sold to huge corporate machines is wonderful. The fact that a few of those separated lots survive the boat and the jute over the next 3 months in travel to the US is also equally impressive. Then that whatever is left in the cup may actually survive a few dedicated roasters profiles is simply amazing.
What intrigues me right now is beginning a movement towards more than just marketing. We've been thinking a lot about these scorings everyone does and how silly it all seems. I cupped a few solid 90pt coffees on this trip but the question is how many will ever make it to the final brewed cup and still be 90pts?
Add to the complexity of all I just witnessed the fact that the marketing here is so heavy, how can a consumer much less a small budget roaster cut through all this nonsense?
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