THE ROASTER Vs THE BARISTA

ristretto

Who makes the biggest difference to the cup the customer will ulitmately enjoy:

I say the barista, so why do roasters spend so much time perfecting their blends when sub-standard cafe's destroy it?

Go figure, a mystery of life maybe :-/ :-/ :-/

over_extracted

And sales reps telling so much crap as to how their blue mt ethiopian robusta blend is so much better then coffee X. :P :P :P :P :P :P :P where do they get this people from 8)space....as to your question every roaster should have a barista stuck to their backs(sounds like a mutant). :P

Unknown

from what i can see both play an important role in making a great cuppa. I think the barista and the roaster both go hand in hand, and each individual job complements each other. eg. If the beans are roasted too dark or too light, it effects the taste of the coffee and limits the quality that of the eventual coffee. In reverse, if the beans were roasted perfectly, and the barista was not so talented, then it would be wasted perfectly roasted beans as the barista wouldnt be able to bring out the true flavour of the coffee. You can't have one without the other, each makes an equal contribution. Waz

Unknown

Got to agree with you there, Waz My favourite coffee bar searched high and low for a roaster that would help them find JUST the blend they were looking for. While all others roasters would only give a choice of whatever they were already producing ???, they found one roaster that worked with them, gave them input, and together they came up with a blend which delivered exactly the product they wanted to give the public ;D. The result was a big success, and I hear on the grape vine that at least one other roaster has now adopted a similar policy with it's highest profile customer. JB

KN

Many valid points have been made about quality blends being destroyed at the hands of unloving coffee makers.   I'm not sure that experience makes the difference, it's the passion for making a great cup of coffee every time. A barista is only as good as their last espresso. I think there is a place for the big roaster who has a limited range of blends. They provide a solution for the many, many cafes out there who know next to nothing about coffee. The idea of consulting to a cafe and finding the blend that is right for them is a great one - for those cafe owners who know something about coffee. This is not the solution for the many cafe owners out there who can't taste the difference between 100% arabica blends and arabica & robusta blends. I think there is enough room in this industry for both types of roaster. This way the industry can cater for all types of businesses. After all, they're the ones who keep the roasters in business.   KN

admin

revived for New Year discussion... Admin

Unknown

Without us roasters, the baristas would be stuck with a 150 lb bag of green beans. Try to pull an espresso with that!