A reader emailed recently and asked:
I am wondering if you have ever had posts or articles or advise columns on “how to become a barista.” etc. I would LOVE to work in a coffee house, but lack the experience. I am wondering if there are any resources for learning/training/breaking into the industry.
I can’t think of any articles written on this site that specifically address this topic, and so figured it would be a great question to pose to the community. What tips do you have?
In honor of Thanksgiving, I present a recipe for Turkish Coffee (yeah, I know, it’s a real stretch).
Ingredients:
17% of visitors to arizonacoffee.com in the last month have accessed the site with a mobile device (with iPhone being the clear winner). That’s really cool, considering the fact that this site is a local site. I’ve considered creating a mobile version. I will hopefully do that in 2012, but before I do I need to ensure it has room for sponsor ads, since they make this site possible. Thanks for being a reader!
Stumbled across this recently and liked it. This would look really great as a poster.
Here’s a photo from Lola Coffee’s downtown location. This is a small cappuccino. Look at that foam.
The Southwest Regional Barista Competition (HI, CA, NV, AZ, UT, NM, CO) will be held on March 8-11 in Santa Cruz, CA at Verve Coffee Roasters. More details are available here.
What are some ways that coffee culture and the coffee experience are different in Arizona (or unique) compared to other major markets?
This new video from Cartel Coffee Lab has cool written all over it. The data pop-ups reminded me of one of my favorite films: Stranger Than Fiction.
Cartel Coffee Lab from Cartel Coffee Lab on Vimeo.
Music is really important in a coffee shop. What songs / musicians / groups do you like to hear the most when you are out at a coffee shop?
The Yama Cold Brew Tower has to be the most unique coffee brewing method I’ve seen – it claims to make a cold brew over 8 hours, and uses ice water.
One of my favorite coffee shops in the Phoenix area is Copper Star Coffee. The location on 7th Ave is not far from my business, so on a recent morning I stopped in and did some work. In contrast to many nearby coffee shops (such as Lux), I found the environment to be completely peaceful. The music was nice (and quiet), there was enough open space and empty seats that I could choose where to sit.
In addition, they have that amazing garage door that opens in the winter — did you know their location used to be a vehicle repair shop?
Cozy environment – and they bake amazing muffins and cupcakes. And pies, too.
I was recently given a coffee-themed game called Coffee Talk. The game doesn’t have anything to do with coffee except for the graphics and game play.
The game follows the trend of others (Scattergories, for example) where you choose a category and you have to think of similar words and write them down. The person with the most unique words (within 45 seconds) wins that round.
The game comes with a ton of category cards, and they’re double sided. They had a lot of pop-culture, and U.S. themed topics. My wife and I played and had a good time with it.
Emily with some off her favorite things. Coffee! From Press Coffee Roasters.
There is an interview with Cartel Coffee Lab owner Jason Silberschlag in the Arizona Republic, and it details their expansion into brewing beer.
Silberschlag said his first two beers, an IPA and Amber-style ale, are on track to be brewed and sold to customers at his Tempe location by next March. The beer will eventually be sold at Cartel’s Scottsdale and Tucson shops as well. Initial production is slated to be 600 gallons a month, he said.
In addition to the microbrewery, the expansion will include a second coffee-bar area developed around what he called a “slow bar” concept. The menu will consist of a few select coffee beverages served only in for-here cups by a barista who will chat and interact with customers in a more relaxed environment where customers can sit, linger and enjoy their coffee. The plan is for the slow bar to open in January, Silberschlag said.
“It’s designed to be more like a bar experience than the traditional coffee experience,” he said. “We mean for you to come and hang out.”
Creating another reason for patrons to make themselves at home is Silberschlag’s strategy.
