Coffee Snob
I admit it. And knowing it is one of the first steps at Coffee Anonymous. And now dear friends, here it is… I am a coffee snob. For before I left Boston for Switzerland I was spoiled, spoiled rotten in my coffee consumption. You see just down the road from my house is a little coffeehouse by the name of Taste. The owner of said coffee house is one Nik Krankl. You see Nik comes from some serious food and wine roots, and he took over a coffee shop about two years ago which before wasn't worth the grinds that were being thrown out. At least I think they threw them out and not reused them. Though it's quite possible they did. I still remember the first time I walked into the place just after Nik had taken over. At the time I was very tired and really needed a cup of coffee, good or otherwise. My choices were Starbucks or what is now Taste. At the time I thought I must pick the lesser of the two evils, so in I went expecting the same poorly made coffee I had in the past. Well there were a few notable changes. Naturally the first was Nik, and the second big one was the new espresso machine. Gleaming stainless steel, three group Syneso machine with, and get this, portable timers, on top of the machine. Well Helllllooooo Nurse. We have something serious now. Inspired by such improvements, caution was in the wind and I ordered a double espresso. Ordering a double espresso from a barista is much like sitting down at a sushi bar and ordering a single order of Toro. As a customer you aren't messing around, you are testing the mettle of the person behind the bar and seeing what they are made of. Have you ever seen people that are really good at what they do, go through the motions they have done, hundreds, even thousands of time before? It's effortless. Before my order a cappuccino was on deck and here is where I knew something was really up. Nik started his pour of frothed milk into the cup but it wasn't just a straight pour. First was a quick knock of the metal container on the counter, followed by moving the stream of milk all around the cup. The result was something like this. That my friends is a Rosetta leaf. And that is done via a free pour. At that moment I felt like a rookie offensive lineman getting hit by a veteran defensive line. Welcome to the NFL indeed. The espresso needless to say was some of the best I've had. And you certainly do not have to take my word for it. Nik over this past weekend took a consecutive 2nd place finish at the North Eastern Barista Competition. (he missed 1st place by 2 points out of 800) This qualifies him again for the US National Competition, so the guy has some serious chops. This brings me to living in Luzern, for I am now on a hunt for good Espresso. It has been a challenge as most of the machines here are fully automatic. Don't get me wrong, the coffee is consistently and reasonably good; alas it's far from great. So far I haven't seen one Barista and the ones at Starbucks don't count. Spending time with Nik has taught me that great espresso is an art. A balance between not only the water temperature, but the ambient temperature in the room as well. The kind of coffee being used, is it mostly Kenyan or Ethiopian? All of these factors and more require someone at the machine that is watching the espresso as it pours out of the machine. I have yet seen anyone "dial in" an espresso shot yet, honestly I wonder if the majority of the people here even know what that means. You know if I was in the middle of redneckvillagepopulation12, I wouldn't be complaining, but for the love of all that is Arabica, Italy is only a four hour drive away!
