The Etymology of a Barista

   By definition a Barista is a "bartender". In the coffee industry, a barista is a person that tends a coffee bar and unlike a bartender that tends to a bar that serves alcohol, mainly at night, a coffee barista has the duty of serving coffee, mostly in the morning. A barista is very much like a bartender in that he tends a bar, but how far do the parallels go?

   In Los Angeles, there has been two heavily documented renaissances amongst baristas and bartenders over the last 5 years. The etymology of Baristas and Bartenders continue to grow but in opposite directions. Bartenders are pushing the limits of component ingredients, developing recipes that equate to the same scientific approach a Barista executes when brewing a cup of coffee. Conversely, Baristas, unlike bartenders, are adamant about creating a culture of less, serving less coffee with less ingredients. In the process the coffee industry hopes to emulate the eminence of a culinary art, but will we ever see the coffee industry and baristas show the valiant an Iron Chef possesses when he tops a Filet Mignon with mushrooms?

   A bartender is an iconic figure synonymous with the joyous threads of nightlife and the drowning pessimism of sorrow. It's been said that a bartender serves the cause of, and solution to all of life's problems, alcohol. If so then a Barista elucidates the path of optimism. Con Ciencia Coffee believes that Baristas can create creative ways of tenderly drawing customers towards artisan coffee by imitating the same approach bartenders have taken when preparing mixed drinks.

Coaxing thoughts.

     Most people can remember having one or a few jobs that consisted of completing mundane tasks in a pre-determined amount of time. This is the type of job, where your role was determined long before your hiring and where your success is gauged by your ability to perform these tasks in a timely fashion, with as little friction as possible to the existing structure of pre-assumed "productivity'. In a similar fashion, seasoned coffee shop employees and baristas like me have been known to attempt designing various training manuals that characterize the exemplary barista and/or coffee shop employee in terms of quality and/or productivity, sort of reducing the role of a barista into a series of programmed executions, if you will. Many of these manuals are made easily available online and others come with a hefty monetary premium from self-proclaimed “coffee professionals”. Con Ciencia Coffee, however, believes that the most interesting and marvelous parts of the coffee industry aren’t found in any manuals.
     A modern barista is asked to memorize count-less drink recipes, manage various coffees and their roast dates, and execute coffee preparation techniques that require have a smaller margin of error than the production of modern flight vessels. They are asked to dial and hone espressos that require monitoring and adjusting barometric pressures, water pressures, water temperatures, TDI readings, and room temperatures, coaxing the coffee to yield its essence in a one ounce shot. A barista performs all of these almost-scientific tasks and techniques and fulfills other responsibilities, while managing to remain sociable to the individual needs of customers.  In essence a barista exercises his/her mind constantly but few coffee shops inspire baristas to further their own intellectual abilities. Few coffee shops celebrate a baristas ability to think freely and creatively in determining a shops overall efficiency and productivity beyond devising creative ways of completing pre-determined tasks in a timely fashion.
     While Con Ciencia Coffee’s identity is a work in progress it intends on innovating within the coffee industry because Con Ciencia Coffee believes that coffee consumers have inalienable and indeterminate rights that should not be compromised. Con Ciencia Coffee believes that best way to engage customers’ palates is by inspiring creativity and innovative thought within the industry. Subscribe to this blog and visit www.concienciacoffee.com to remain informed as details to Con Ciencia Coffee’s innovative plight start to become available more frequently. Thank you for tuning in to www.concienciacoffee.com.

No consumer left behind.

 It goes without much saying that coffee can be prepared with a little bit of science, but what does coffee with a conscience really mean? For decades emerging coffee markets have built altruistic relationships with coffee producing nations at various levels that have advanced the quality of the coffee industry in general. Coffee can be conscionable but how much of it trickles down to coffee consumers at large?
  In the US, the coffee industry is growing and simultaneously evolving. Coffee consumers are now faced with a plethora of coffee shops that serve coffees in various qualities, prepared in a multitude of ways. Early in 2011 many industry analysts forecasted the price of commodity coffee to grow exponentially. In the recent months the price of commodity coffee has shown a significant decline in price increase and in some cases the prices of sourcing coffee has dropped. Going into the year many coffee shops and coffee chains made the usual price adjustments sharing some of the rising costs with consumers. It is yet to be seen if coffee will have a conscience and have the audacity of forwarding price declines to coffee consumers at large as well?
  Coffee can have a Conscience for all; farmers, producers, exporters, roasters, baristas and lastly and most importantly the resilient coffee consumers whose appetite for coffee has been unscathed even in a ghastly economy. Coffee with a conscience is the idea behind Con Ciencia Coffee. It is also an idea that will evolve so stay tuned to www.concienciacoffee.com for more news as Con Ciencia Coffee continues to develop its own identity.