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PostPosted: Mon May 29, 2006 10:47 pm
by CakeBoy
Sounds fair enough if the course is thrown in - very worthwhile :D

PostPosted: Tue May 30, 2006 7:51 am
by Joris
Sounds nice, but I fear this is only about the UK chapter ?

PostPosted: Tue May 30, 2006 8:44 am
by Steve
At the moment Joris your right it is the UK chapter, but if this is sucessful then It would be hard not to roll it out \I guess. And its SCAE members so if you can get to the UK you could participate too.

Steve

PostPosted: Tue May 30, 2006 10:55 am
by Paul L
Steve, I would like o be able to get training and simply learn as others have stated.

My own contribution though would be a request for 'visibility' in coffee shops. By this I mean a good coffee shop should have nothing to hide and be proud to let you see the pour. A bit like the Oriental food in thyis Country for years behind which eventually has seen the shutters lifted and the cooking take place in front of you. The 'Good Earth' takeaways are an example of this.

When I go into a coffee shop I don't want to see a wall of machinery for baristas/kids to hide behind and leave me guessing which they are until the cup arrives. I want them to have confidence and let me see what is going on

PostPosted: Tue May 30, 2006 11:04 am
by CakeBoy
Heads up to Costa on this one. The coffee may not be great but the production is highly visible.

PostPosted: Tue May 30, 2006 1:05 pm
by BazBean
due to the amount of poor coffee shops out there i really think the SCAE efforts would be best placed in trying to induce or help with training as a whole in the small shops out there.As a home enthusiast who then made coffee his job i think i might get away with saying that without the home chaps trying to have me stoned....
Yes we hear the horror storys in here from people who have genuine passion and worked where the owners do not care but i think there are a lot of owners out there who would like to serve better coffee who just do not have the knowledge or even dont know that they can indeed make the coffee better than they presently are doing......
lets be honest, we judge shops on our standards but we are fanatics who in reality find it impossible allmost to get the same standard we produce ourselfes. there in lies the problem as a industry IMHO, the majority serve rubbish based on the fact thats all they have most probably ever tasted themselves!!! ..they look to the chains for example and again, mostly rubbish.
when owners have taken the good sense to get professional training or attend one of the allready organised training schools i would suggest have a desire to serve good stuff but it the hundreds and hundreds out there who watch the DVD rom "how to make coffee" that need the training i think as they represent the industry as well.....the bar can only ever be raised past a person expectation so to speak.

PostPosted: Tue May 30, 2006 1:17 pm
by BazBean
Nope !!!!! :? ...having re-read what i just typed ...i am in for a stoning. :shock:

PostPosted: Tue May 30, 2006 2:12 pm
by CakeBoy
Agree totally Baz old chap.

PostPosted: Tue May 30, 2006 2:26 pm
by Joris
Steve wrote:At the moment Joris your right it is the UK chapter, but if this is sucessful then It would be hard not to roll it out \I guess. And its SCAE members so if you can get to the UK you could participate too.

Steve


True, planning a holiday in the UK around the date such a workshop would be given is definitly a possibility. There is so much to see in the UK that I wouldn't mind spending some time there. Besides the workshops, there's still the info you can get your hands on if you're a member and ofcourse the valuable contacts so it is interesting.....

PostPosted: Tue May 30, 2006 3:22 pm
by kingseven
Paul L wrote:Steve, I would like o be able to get training and simply learn as others have stated.

My own contribution though would be a request for 'visibility' in coffee shops. By this I mean a good coffee shop should have nothing to hide and be proud to let you see the pour. A bit like the Oriental food in thyis Country for years behind which eventually has seen the shutters lifted and the cooking take place in front of you. The 'Good Earth' takeaways are an example of this.

When I go into a coffee shop I don't want to see a wall of machinery for baristas/kids to hide behind and leave me guessing which they are until the cup arrives. I want them to have confidence and let me see what is going on


Of course I would argue that I want the back of the machine to you so I can brew your drink but still interact with you....

But thats just me!

PostPosted: Tue May 30, 2006 3:52 pm
by Paul L
I wouldn't argue with a pro Jim and if folk like you are pouring the shots I would want to watch out of respect, not out of caution.

Solved I suspect by funky angled set-ups or being served with the back of the machine to us if the seating etc. wraps around the set-up a bit or mirrored surfaces or less counter-top and deliberate barrier-furniture getting in the way etc. Charbucks typify this, the kit is a definite wall and you can't see around the sides, you can just about see them working overtime on the milk jugs slopping it from one jug to another, re-heating it and serving it via spoons. I have yet to see what any of their shots pour like or the end result, it's usually well buried in the milk before they serve it. Not that I want it these days but I still walk in there with work colleagues looking forwards to their double-skinny-doppy-iffy-venti-vedi-vici something-or other!

PostPosted: Tue May 30, 2006 5:12 pm
by BazBean
.
.
8) My machine is side on.! 8)
trouble is ....my portly stomach can sometimes obscure most things

PostPosted: Tue May 30, 2006 8:34 pm
by scook94
BazBean wrote:...[snip]...lets be honest, we judge shops on our standards but we are fanatics who in reality find it impossible allmost to get the same standard we produce ourselfes. there in lies the problem as a industry IMHO, the majority serve rubbish based on the fact thats all they have most probably ever tasted themselves!!! ..they look to the chains for example and again, mostly rubbish....[snip]...


True to some extent, but my personal coffee journey started after a trip to the US and a visit to a small coffee shop/roaster. I hadn't previously realised that espresso could taste that good. Several years later and after full coffee geek-ness had set in I was back in the US and in particular Intelligentsia. The espresso they served me blew me away and was a real smack in the face to my efforts. Only now that I have a E61 HX machine are my shots approaching Intelligentsia's.

So my comment is this, if it can be done in the US then it should be happening here too. It's up to us as well as the SCAE to make sure that it does. We should be judging shops by our standards and we shouldn't be apologising for that.

Rant over...

Steven.

PostPosted: Tue May 30, 2006 10:37 pm
by BazBean
exactlly Steven.
untill you had tasted what a good espresso should taste like you have nothing to compare against. you were then inspired to buy and become involved to a greater extent.

PostPosted: Tue May 30, 2006 10:56 pm
by stigin
kingseven wrote:Of course I would argue that I want the back of the machine to you so I can brew your drink but still interact with you....

But thats just me!

:idea: A mirror! 8) :wink: