19/08/2017
Over educatie en bacteriën en baristi die niet begrijpen wat er nu echt gebeurt op sensorisch gebied als je espresso drinkt....leerzaam, ook voor ondergetekende eindbarista uit de Second Wave 🙂
I hear baristas talk about “educating” customers all the time. It’s my least-favorite phrase in coffee— not because I don’t believe in education, but because too many baristas uttering those words seem to mean it condescendingly. Memorably, a barista once said to me “I have to keep educating my customers that our coffee isn’t sour.” To which I replied “but your coffee is sour.” That shocked him, but upon reflection, and to his credit, he ultimately agreed and worked on it.
To be good educators, we have to be a good listeners. If a customer says a coffee is too sour, too bitter, or expresses an interest in more caramelly flavors or less acidity, it’s a good idea to meet them at least halfway in the discussion. If we just want to intimidate or scare off anyone who doesn’t already share our taste, we should keep doing exactly what we’re doing.
I recently spent a week in Italy, where the difference between the third-wave palate, if you will, and the palates of the rest of the population, couldn’t be more pronounced. The average Italian coffee drinker prefers robusta to arabica (not a misprint), dark to light, espresso to everythin