Skilled Barista, Delicious Coffee

Horrible coffee was established and bubbled along dismally for decades in this country, at least at diners and coffee shops.  Usually, we were sold weak, drab brews where you could taste the coffee filter paper more than the coffee - essentially just dark water.

A few determined coffee lovers who were fortunate enough to travel abroad brought back espresso pots from Italy and presses from France, obtained real coffee beans to grind and savor by rich cupfuls.  They were on to something, but the enjoyment was not widely known on this side of the Atlantic.  

Ever since the 50's percolators sporting glass bubble gauges on their lids brewed Folgers freeze-dried coffee grinds, accompanied by catchy ad tunes and smiling hostesses wearing aprons and helmet hairdos on TV.  Worse yet, Sanka crystals promised to release "that rich just-brewed coffee flavor" into our instant cups every morning.  It was all there was for most of us.  

Then, from the soggy realm of Seattle, Starbucks woke the masses up to freshly ground, richly flavored towers of coffee heaven.  It made the ordinary instant coffees we were swilling all those years literally pale in comparison.  Now, we have become a demanding and fussy coffee-imbibing public that demands perfection in flavor and presentation.

In response to demand for a place in a paradise that includes a good cuppa java, coffee shops have brought baristas to the fore and the best shops have begun competing for honors in coffee presentation regionally and nationwide.  Temperature, flavor balance, residue, foam percentages, and patterns of decoration in the foam on coffee concoctions factor into choosing barista champions.  The bar has been raised again and again by competing specialty coffee bean purveyors to my and all other coffee lovers' delight.  Not only do great baristas understand the difference between different beans and roasts, but they care about the presentation of a great cup of coffee in its many forms and drinks.

In Capitola today, a barista at Verve handled her pots, steamers and frothers with such panache and, well, verve, that I decided to give her and the cafe my unsolicited Five Beans Up award of excellence.  My barista has not competed for awards, she said, but others in the shop have and were awarded prizes, which are display at the counter, an impressive distinction for the shop.

I had only found one barista in Monterey in the past five years who could approach the artistry and attention to detail I found at Verve today, and the shop he worked in has now closed, so my search will continue here.  I hate to think I'm spoiled in terms of coffee enjoyment.  Let's say I'm highly interested in a peak experience when I can find it.

So, that will be a cappuccino double-shot....