Rant: Specialty Cafés should really train their baristas well

Rant: Specialty Cafés should really train their baristas well

An In-Depth Look at Gruppo Cimbali’s Coffee Technician Wheel

The Coffee Technician Wheel is a new tool that helps technicians understand the complexity of coffee extraction. BY VASILEIA FANARIOTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos courtesy of Edgardo Ferrero and Espresso Academy Coffee technicians are responsible for a complex set of tasks related to the production and extraction of coffee. They manage customer requests and need to […]


Out Now: The February + March 2023 Issue

The February + March 2023 issue of Barista Magazine features New Zealand coffee & chef champion Sam Low on the cover. Also inside: a special section on branding, understanding trademark law, an interview with Laura Sommers, field reports from Kansas City, Indonesia, and Hong Kong, and much more. BY KENNETH R. OLSONBARISTA MAGAZINE We’re excited […]


Test Drive: Update Your Grinding With More Comandante Grinder Accessories

The popular hand grinder has more to offer with a new line of tools and accessories now available. BY TANYA NANETTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Feature photo by Tanya Nanetti To brew the perfect cup of coffee, it’s important to choose the right coffee equipment. One essential is a reliable coffee grinder. Most coffee lovers start with a […]


Toronto’s Pilot Coffee Roasters Acquiring Bridgehead Coffee for $3.6 Million

Toronto, Ontario-based specialty coffee roaster and retailer Pilot Coffee Roasters is acquiring Ottawa-based Bridgehead Coffee in a deal worth approximately US$3.6 million.  Bridgehead, which has 21 coffee shop locations throughout…

Rant: Specialty Cafés should really train their baristas well

10 (More) Minutes With Helena Oliviero

Today we continue our conversation with Helena Oliviero about her coffee career and life on a Colombian finca. BY TANYA NANETTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos courtesy of Helena Oliviero Barista Magazine: Let’s talk about living on a Colombian coffee farm, Finca Palma Roja. How do you spend your days? What’s usually happening on a busy coffee […]


Get Ready for The Barista League’s 2024 Season

The Barista League has announced 12 competitions across four continents. BY J. MARIE CARLANBARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Photos courtesy of The Barista League When The Barista League announces new events, it’s worth paying attention! This year, the schedule will be organized by geographic location, bringing together coffee people in various communities. At The Barista League in […]


What I Learned from My First Tea Ceremony

After taking in a brief moment of a tea ceremony in Thailand, I finally had the chance to participate in the full experience recently in Malaysia. BY TANYA NANETTI SENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos by Tanya Nanetti In the years that I worked as a barista in a café, tea always played a marginal role in […]


A Recap of The Barista League’s Mystery Coffee Vacation in Colombia

The Barista League’s Mystery Coffee Vacation in Colombia is over, and we’ve got the scoop on all the fun! BY VASILEIA FANARIOTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos courtesy of Vasileia Fanarioti and Juan Henao During the last week of February, the 2022 Barista League champions gathered in Colombia for this year’s Mystery Coffee Vacation. It was an […]

Rant: Specialty Cafés should really train their baristas well

How do you roast coffee for milk?

It’s impossible to deny just how popular milk-based coffee drinks (such as the flat white, latte, and cappuccino) are in coffee shops around the world. According to 2020 data from Project Café USA, the latte was the most ordered drink in the UK, and the third-most popular beverage in US coffee shops. In line with […]


3 Elements Coffee: Supporting Veterans, One Cup at a Time  

The Australian roasting company helps to create opportunities for veteran communities.  BY VASILEIA FANARIOTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos courtesy of 3 Elements Coffee  Brisbane, Australia-based 3 Elements Coffee, founded by Navy veteran Terry McNally in 2016, has a mission to support the transition of ex-military personnel into the commercial workspace. To help achieve their goal and raise […]


Joven and Atucún Join Forces to Empower Young Farmers

The two brands have collaborated to create a unique coffee bar and support young farmers in the coffee and cacao industries. BY VASILEIA FANARIOTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos courtesy of Joven Coffee  For their first-of-its-kind bar, Joven Coffee and Atucún Chocolateria combined coffee beans, extracted cocoa butter, and organic cane sugar. Committed to supporting young farmers […]


The Color of Coffee Collective Symposium Returns for Its Second Year

The collective and the nonprofit Koffee with Keith will hold their second annual symposium in Houston on March 10-12. BY J. MARIE CARLANBARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Photos courtesy of the Color of Coffee Collective The Color of Coffee Collective (COCC) is an organization that seeks to promote equity and opportunity for people of color in the […]

Rant: Specialty Cafés should really train their baristas well

Rant: Specialty Cafés should really train their baristas well

minimum dose size?

Jan 31, 2024 |

I use the Hario switch to brew my coffee and am trying to reduce my caffeine consumption. Hence I would like to brew smaller cups of coffee. I am currently using 10g of coffee with 160g of water. (1:16 Ratio) I am wondering if there is a minimum amount of coffee...

Rant: Specialty Cafés should really train their baristas well

I just had possibly one of the worst cups of filters in my life. I ordered a cup of Ethiopian coffee from a new specialty cafe that opened up near me. I was quite excited since the next closest one was around 7 km away. I saw that they had a gooseneck kettle and a V60, so I thought it couldn’t be that bad. The barista haphazardly chucked a heaped measuring cup full of coarse coffee into the V60. Then they poured all the water straight into the V60. The result was an overly hot cup, completely lacking in complexity, with an extremely unpleasant sourness, not acidity, but sourness. It was really a let down.

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Rant: Specialty Cafés should really train their baristas well

Perfect Little Beans

Chinmey Hill Coffee uses specialty-grade beans with zero primary defects (such as black beans or sour beans) and less than five secondary defects (such as broken beans). This is important because primary defects will greatly affect the taste of the coffee. Having zero defects allows the coffee to be the most optimal flavor.

Window for Optimal Flavor

Chimney Hill Coffee ships our coffee the same day it was roasted, so you will receive it before it enters the window of optimal flavor.  This means you’ll never miss the opportunity to enjoy the coffee’s peak flavor.

Coffee Ratings

Coffee undergoes many scoring processes by professionals who achieved their Q Grader certification. Coffee is first graded when it’s green. If there are defects the coffee is determined to be “not-specialty grade”. For those coffees that pass green grading, they are sample roasted and cupped. (Cupping is the official term for critically tasting and scoring coffees. The official cupping form is standard worldwide, and where the 100-point scoring system comes from.) A coffee’s dry fragrance, wet aroma, flavor, aftertaste, body, acidity, balance, and overall impression are taken into consideration while uniformity issues and defects, will lower the overall score.

Specialty Coffee

Specialty coffee, coined by Erna Knutsen in 1974, refers to a coffee that receives a quality grading score of 80 percent or higher. While “premium” or “gourmet” seem like they’re synonymous with “specialty,” they simply are marketing terms with no defined standards. Specialty coffees are grown in specific and ideal micro-climates, and have distinctive and unique flavor profiles, with little to no defects.

Third-Wave Coffee

We’re currently in the third wave of coffee. The first wave of American coffee put pre-ground, vacuum-sealed cans in kitchens across America. The second wave started with the late ‘60s introduction of Peet’s coffee (by Alfred Peet) through the proliferation of Starbucks. The third wave of coffee focuses on origin transparency, nuanced flavors, and artisan roasting. The term “third wave” is synonymous with specialty coffee.

Rant: Specialty Cafés should really train their baristas well

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