kingseven wrote: There is no coffee mixologist, no coffee chef. Just a bar man.
Yes there is! There is the barista! The term does come from italian for bartender, but I think the bartender traditionally has had a different status in italy than in england? (I'm neither italian or english but just a guess.) The italian bartender/barista has always had espresso as an integral part of his job, so when the coffee community outside of italy needed a title to describe the new specialized coffee making profession "barista" is the term they adopted. it doesn't go back that far, so no wonder the title isn't that well known or recognized. When I tell people I'm a barista they think it's spelled barrister and that I wear curly wigs and black cloaks to work. To explain I sometimes say that it's like a bartender only with coffee instead of alcohol.
The professional barista faces a lot of challenges in getting his or her title rcognized and respected, taken seriously if you wish. First of all it's a very new thing, although most people know what a cappuccino is they don't realize that it takes a certain skill to make one, and that there is so much more beyond pushing a few buttons to being a barista. It is a craft, a skill similar to being a chef.
The second is that we face a culture of coffee houses and chains that produce factory coffee, not hand made coffee. Bless them for promoting coffee drinkage and making it hip and cool, but I don't think swithcing from manual to automatic machines does much to promote the barista's skills. It's a job that attracts young people, for better and for worse, it's usually not amazing money, and it's a hard job! People don't stay in the profession long and excellence takes long to develop.
The mixology in coffee is out there, it's just not sexy! Order a vanilla latte in any coffee shop and you don't get the flares, the shaking, the showing off of drink building that you can get in some flashy bar. Coffee isn't flashy, but I dare say that it IS sexy, it is sensual, and you can make a show out of building your drinks that tells people that there is more to coffee than instant and mate. That's what latte art is all about, it's demonstrating skills, it's setting a standard. that's what the signature drinks in the championships is about, composing your drink like a chef composes his meal, presenting it with pride, creativity and style.
The way baristas are seen does need to change. It's hard, it's drawn out but it's coming. Ask a thirteenyearold in Norway what he wants to become when he grows up and fourth on his list is a barista. Why? Because it's cool. It's cred. It's because they see that the baristas get all the girls!
(Right?) It's because the media takes an interest and puts the baristas on tv, in the morning shows demonstrating how to make espressos at home and in the newspaper covering the championships. My old boss was on the side of milkcartons in every household in the country giving tips on how to make iced lattes! In the states they have a barista guild, establishing that their job is a profession like any other. Other countries are doing the same. Maybe the Uk will get there too. Maybe we need more media attention, maybe we need to work even harder for excelling in the job, educationg customers and the public in what we do and proving through quality that what we do is a craft that takes talent, training, dedication and deserves recognition for it.
I want my passport to say I'm a barista.
And now I need to get back to work.