Professional Baristas

There is a certain small, but growing, segment of the coffee industry that began looking at the barista position as more just a short-term, get-me-through-college job. We have taken seriously an art-like approach this drink - calling ourselves coffee professionals and professional baristas. However, just because we're serious about coffee, doesn't mean we need to take ourselves too seriously. I've seen this too much in the coffee world - excellent coffee craftsmen who are less than excellent hosts. There is this air of superiority, "I can brew better coffee than you. That makes me more valuable than the rest of you peons." This needs to go.


So, here we find ourselves - professional baristas - taking the art of coffee very seriously. But let's not mix our egos into our craft. There is a time to poke a little fun at ourselves, because - let's face it - we're just nerds.

 

Coffee Tastings - a Video by Nobu

My roommate's name is Nobu. He does video. This is his work highlighting the amazing team of baristas at Broadway Coffeehouse.

We are passionate about learning everything we can about coffee, and passing on that information to people who are interested. The result is four coffee tastings every week - free to whoever wants to come and dialogue and drink the best coffee we can brew. This is a window into those tastings. If this sparks your interest, we invite you to join us.

And if Nobu's work interests you, shoot him an email - nobuyoshi427@yahoo.com

Cupping Coffee with Stephen Vick

Last month I get a tweet from Stephen Vick saying, "hey, I'm in town. Have some coffee to cup. Interested?" To which, of course, I replied... "YES!" It was a good chance to learn from someone who's been in the industry for a decade, to hang out with a friend, and to taste some bomb coffee. Intelligentsia, Ecco, Blue Bottle, and Four Barrel represented on the table, including an coffee from Ethiopia Stephen helped source. Incredible coffee and enlightening conversation - what could be better?

Best of luck in your transitions these coming weeks, Stephen. I appreciate your willingness to pass on your knowledge and your friendship.

Baristas as Models

Christmas was a good excuse to be goobers and strike a couple poses. I thought I'd share a few of those poses.

Stumptown's Grand Cru Cupping

This is why we love working with Stumptown. Matt Brown and Skip Colombo came down packing five Grand Cru coffees from their new coffee release for us to cup. 


Minds were blown. 


These are some of the best coffees in the world, and we feel so privileged to be able to taste them. The astonishing care behind El Injerto's Peaberry, the surprising single side of the spectrum La Cima brought as a micro-lot of a coffee we know well, the gorgeous complexity of the Gaturiri, the crowning achievement of El Salvador's coffee rock star, Aida's Grand Reserve, and the fabeled Esmeralda.


It's coffees like these that will push the limits and change the face of our industry.

Siphon - Brewing Coffee in Salem

My friend, Eugene (Eugene Pavlov Photography) recently took some pictures to document the Siphon pot. Here is what he created:

Broadway Coffeehouse Serving Single Origin Espresso - October

Here it is, our second Robur E!

Jacob and Nick, showing off the new setup. Pulling a single origin espresso option all day every day!

Matt Brown, playing Santa Claus. Delivering our swanky new grinder. Christmas came early!

Good thing we've got skills.

Yup. Pulling two coffees as espresso. This has really pushed us to improve our skill as baristas. We now have to be dialed in to taste on two different espressos at all times.

This is my angry face.

Tastings, tastings, and more coffee tastings.

Cate, Justin, and Karyn. And a mountain of coffee.