Like most cultures, java culture is no different indeed. A group of people brought together by a common interest. What better location than a coffee shop. It attracts in certain ways, so many like-minded folks, and in other ways such a number. From teachers to housewives, teachers. Hundreds of years back, they have been popular meeting places for musicians. A few decades back, Wine Masters were popping up everywhere, and now the latest trend seems to be becoming a Barrister. We were lucky enough to have the ability to interview Winston, one of the top up and coming Barristers in the nation.
Nowadays no matter where I am, or what I am doing, coffee seems to be crying out! Coffee culture, coffee culture! The majority of people have coffee producing machines and there are stores specializing in selling only java. We are so spoilt for choice, that it is tough to know that coffee to drink, when, where and why? I’m attending a Barristers course early next month and will be back with plenty more info on what all of the different coffee beans are, and how to select between these.
Meanwhile, not sure about you, but I am getting extremely confused between different ways to drink coffee. Gone would be the days when we just had the choice between an espresso and a cappuccino. And worse still, once I climbed up, we either had instantaneous or percolated coffee. Now We’ve Got a whole range of ways to drink our coffee:
- Latte: A coffee blended with a frothed milk foam. – Americana: Produced by adding hot water to some mug with a great deal of espresso coffee in it. – Iced Coffee: Chilled java with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. – Cappuccino: A cup of java covered in a layer of frothed milk foam. – Skinny Cappuccino. Exactly the same as a cappuccino, but made with fat-free milk. – Horizontal white: A cup of coffee with milk. – Frappe. A coffee with ice functioned white or black.
And to make coffee even more enticing, many Countries around the world have their own unique coffees, such as:
To top it off we have alcoholic coffee drinks, like an Irish coffee, Bavarian coffee, Café Royal, Kalua coffee, and even java liquors.
I have to mention my favorite is still a cappuccino. It needs to be produced with the highest quality coffee beans and also sprinkled on the surface of the mug with foam. If you can convince me, then please share with me exactly the way you love your coffee.
No, it’s not repetitious. It may seem like that as, on the opposite end of this bar, it looks like we are just pouring coffee daily but that’s far from it. We’re using different coffees daily so there’s a good deal of tasting involved, the weather is always changing so the coffee pours differently during the day so we must work accordingly, we meet different people daily, face different challenges on a daily basis etc.. And that is exactly why I continue to work as a barista.
I find my inspiration by looking at most of the people involved with the java cycle. From the farmer into the green coffee buyer, the roaster, barista and finally the consumer. To justice to people who have played their role before me.
To be honest I think that quality is now the new”in” from the coffee market. More and more café is attempting to produce better coffee, which makes things very competitive in terms of quality. This pushes the industry in a positive way. More cafés are also starting to utilize a filter or alternative brew techniques like the Aeropress and v60 pour to make filter coffee. This is best appreciated black without sugar to ensure the nuisances and characteristics of the coffee can be picked up.
I like making all sorts of java. There are espresso-based coffees like your typical Americano and latte and there’s filter brew such as the French press or Aeropress. I can’t say I dislike producing particular types of java but I do occasionally cringe when customers need an unconventional arrangement that takes away the accent of this coffee. For example, a massive milk based using one taste and soya milk will totally overshadow the flavor of the coffee. But at the end of the day, java is subjective and we cannot tell the clients what it is they like or dislike, we can only give advice and hopefully direct them.
I would say the filter approaches we utilize in our café is easily the most time-consuming. The French press takes about 5 minutes to finish. Whereas espresso takes about 2 minutes.
Coffee Culture. Where do I start? Well right now in the coffee industry (worldwide) we are experiencing what we call”Third Wave.” “The first wave” will be described as the way our parents might’ve had their coffee. Instant coffee or a dark roasted Italian combination in the household filter system. There was no true coffee or café culture. Subsequently, with the advent of Starbucks and other commercial coffee chains, the”Second wave” of coffee individuals evolved. People became more aware of what they had been drinking and also the trend of takeaway espresso-based drinks as lattes and cappuccinos started.
Right now we’re experiencing”Third wave” where folks in the coffee have become more aware of the quality of the coffee they buy. Some companies going as far as establishing direct trade with farmers so they contribute to improving farming techniques, exporting etc..
Green coffee beans have been roasted with accuracy and a great deal of care is required in preparing the two espressos filter and based drinks. Along with this, consumers will also be conscious of the quality of coffee in cafes. Consumers know what they need when purchasing coffee, more than previously. And they’re also far more educated. Because of this, you find more cafes opening and much more customers visiting cafes thus a developing café culture. Bigger than before.