Just saw Simon's finished remodel and it looks like a change for the better. It was progressing in several stages but we helped a bit tonight in passing by taking some shelving down. His standing bar on the side adds a lot to the space and really opens it up with better light and a more comfortable feel without the shelving adding shadows. That and the new paint job is really helping.
Knowing how cafes run and having ideas on how the lines flow is a tricky business. The design Simon originally had was not his own, he took over another shop and did only superficial changes. After years of watching the customers cluster and have trouble moving the line, he made some nice changes in this remodel. In an interesting way, it is a parallel to what we are going through in the lab right now.
Ben Chen pointed out to me today that the barismo layout is pretty symmetrical with our new counter installed. It still lacks a counter top but his estimation is correct. When you first walk in the door, you walk right up to the counter where ordering happens. It's a subtle thing but it influences the flow. Order with the person pulling shots, pick up on the other side of the machine down the counter, then pay a little further down the counter. At each of those moments, a step forward. Don't underestimate the psyche of a customer. Something as little as making a step forward every now and then feels like progress where as standing and waiting can feel frustrating.
The worst thing I see in cafes is when a line backs up at the drink pick up point and there is a small group of customers waiting for drinks. There will always be the person who hears exactly what you said and will still pick it up regardless of how wrong the size is querying 'Is this mine?' More times than you would like, this person will walk off with the drink forcing the staff to remake drinks and do damage control.
The second worst flow is the criss cross design. A condiment station or drink pickup area that forces customers to flow back through the line that moves forward to access the station. Having a register past the espresso machine but drinks are ordered at the register is always a fun thing to watch as a customer. The old shout out to figure out who went and sat down leaving the abandoned drink for half an hour only to come back later confused they did not have their drink yet.
Shop design is tough and there are few places that really nail it. I guess we are looking to maximize customer space in a tiny shop and move the line. I have learned some lessons from the other shops I've worked at or visited and I decided to keep it tight and efficient. No barista self indulgence this time around. Resulting success still to be decided.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Changes on the horizon
Silas is back in town for a little while and we just picked up a sales person to help work on account building later in the month. We are growing slowly and making certain we focus ourselves well as we expand.
Part of that means the shop is an incredible mess but the barismo remodel is at a stopping point for a few days. That means after a cleanup, we will have a few days to catch up. A new counter, shelving, and a multitude of little organization projects will keep me busy pre World Barista Championship travel. After that, we should be up and running to get the kiosk cranking. Shots, cappuccino, cloth pour overs, and Syphons oh my!
Simon's has a custom version of the L. St. espresso blend forhis main espresso more focused on body and mid tones. Ask for it short and you will be rewarded. I am pretty excited by some of the shots Lauren has pulled me there lately and I recommend looking for her to pull your shot. She really seems to be an up and coming barista to keep an eye on. This week, Hi-Rise on Brattle St. will have Nimac by the cup in pour over. Judson is slowly developing his mix of coffees for per cup offerings there and it will take a little time to see it expand but I am hopeful that it will be something special. My former workmate already has good espresso (classic Linnaean St.) and teeny tiny cup sizes but the per cup program looks like the real wild card. On the other side, Vicki Lee's is half way through a long training schedule and will be an interesting test of what we can do in a lunch type setting. In time, we hope to do something very creative with them but they are just some of a few projects we have right now that we are very proud of.
Things in this town change quick and the barista jam was one of those that shows there is promise here. This town isn't locked in yet to any one style and there is much more yet to be written. Who the players are is the real question to be answered in the next few months.
Part of that means the shop is an incredible mess but the barismo remodel is at a stopping point for a few days. That means after a cleanup, we will have a few days to catch up. A new counter, shelving, and a multitude of little organization projects will keep me busy pre World Barista Championship travel. After that, we should be up and running to get the kiosk cranking. Shots, cappuccino, cloth pour overs, and Syphons oh my!
Simon's has a custom version of the L. St. espresso blend forhis main espresso more focused on body and mid tones. Ask for it short and you will be rewarded. I am pretty excited by some of the shots Lauren has pulled me there lately and I recommend looking for her to pull your shot. She really seems to be an up and coming barista to keep an eye on. This week, Hi-Rise on Brattle St. will have Nimac by the cup in pour over. Judson is slowly developing his mix of coffees for per cup offerings there and it will take a little time to see it expand but I am hopeful that it will be something special. My former workmate already has good espresso (classic Linnaean St.) and teeny tiny cup sizes but the per cup program looks like the real wild card. On the other side, Vicki Lee's is half way through a long training schedule and will be an interesting test of what we can do in a lunch type setting. In time, we hope to do something very creative with them but they are just some of a few projects we have right now that we are very proud of.
Things in this town change quick and the barista jam was one of those that shows there is promise here. This town isn't locked in yet to any one style and there is much more yet to be written. Who the players are is the real question to be answered in the next few months.
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Flawed brews and the benefit of understanding
I have been thinking a lot about how quickly methodology can become inherently flawed by a series of estimations. Empirical observations where we use a vague understanding of science and develop a creative theory to justify method. This can be a disastrous approach. Starting with an off premise and then adjusting to compensate leading to a series of hacks to adjust for the initial flaws is very common. Making it worse, it is inherent in our barista culture that ownership of a method means making changes or adjustments. Adopting a method that may not have been fully understood becomes an exercise in tweaking which is often thought of as improvement though it may have simply been mere compensation for early flaws.
What I am getting at is that in our young coffee culture, our methods shift too often for reasons that are little more than a flawed initial interpretation.
We started with a version of pour over that was acceptable but have been playing with new equipment for the kiosk that makes me think we had ventured in the wrong direction for a little while. It happens a lot. Right now, the brews are coming out as good as our Syphon brews but with a different profile emphasis.
Coffee isn't simple, in fact, it's more complex than it should be and that's the basic problem. Our barista culture is always looking for the shortcuts. Skipping steps, trying to create a new approach that is simpler, easier, or gets results quicker. There is an inherent danger in this. As I see it, an inflexibility happens with ownership of a method. By changing the original method, it becomes personal, therein defense of the method becomes rigid even in the face of contradicting results. In short, we change it, we own it, we then defend it even though it may possibly be wrong. What's worse is there are very eloquent speakers in our community who pass prose for science but it's little more than empirical data given romantic aspirations.
This is a flaw in our current coffee culture which is justified simply because there is a very weak base which the new wave of coffee people can build upon. There are no forefathers of the pour over movement around on bar to give advice. No syphon masters locally to compare notes with. This is good because there is no rigid methodology and the options are wide open but bad because there is nothing to compare to. There is no great coffee culture here beyond the multitude of faceless airpot brewers which are often programmed with refractometers and spreadsheets. How does it become that taste is no longer part of the equation but graphs and charts are the end measure in many roasting outfits? What should we as barista gain from this?
Given this, it's easy to throw out everything and rewrite the book as you see it. To adopt your own independent methodology over how you brew. The problem is that without a base to begin, finding a good method or approach is about taking a lot of wrong turns. A good method is built upon scientific method, testing, repeating, and analytical approach. Most people in our culture don't have the time or patience to spend months roasting before going into production. They don't have time to pull a thousand shots or brew hundreds of brews to figure out and refine a single approach. They wing it, adjust, and all too often fall in love with their own approach even if there are gaping holes in it.
I think it's good to have true peers to give you a reality check. To tell you your pour over is just under extracted or that your bar routine is too inefficient. To pat you on the back when you make great gains or represent yourself professionally. Without that, the route to getting better is a longer tribulation than it should be and may be full of dead ends. Getting better depends on having respected peers be they in Taiwan or across the town line.
This is why I believe in a local community. If we simply hole up in our spaces behind terminals on the internet, we can debate all day and make careful arguments. Mostly rubbish but furiously typed nonetheless. It has little worth because of the distance of contributors and the lack of a commonality, the shared cup of coffee to sample. If we do not venture from our own cafe, how do we ever really experience this?
Our real peers, those that can taste our coffees and may then understand us, are the ones that matter most in our improvement. They may not agree but they can taste what you taste and that's the real key to getting better and raising the proverbial bar. Method grows from competition and understanding. The base of knowledge is built on a foundation not within a single roaster/cafe culture but in competitive improvement across many. To get better, there is a certain point at which we must understand others and learn from them, even challenge them and tell them they are wrong once in a while.
Growth is not always a singular movement. Often, it is a shared movement whether we like it or not. Those who benefit are often those who participate and the real challenge is to participate. To grow may in the end require that others grow with you.
What I am getting at is that in our young coffee culture, our methods shift too often for reasons that are little more than a flawed initial interpretation.
We started with a version of pour over that was acceptable but have been playing with new equipment for the kiosk that makes me think we had ventured in the wrong direction for a little while. It happens a lot. Right now, the brews are coming out as good as our Syphon brews but with a different profile emphasis.
Coffee isn't simple, in fact, it's more complex than it should be and that's the basic problem. Our barista culture is always looking for the shortcuts. Skipping steps, trying to create a new approach that is simpler, easier, or gets results quicker. There is an inherent danger in this. As I see it, an inflexibility happens with ownership of a method. By changing the original method, it becomes personal, therein defense of the method becomes rigid even in the face of contradicting results. In short, we change it, we own it, we then defend it even though it may possibly be wrong. What's worse is there are very eloquent speakers in our community who pass prose for science but it's little more than empirical data given romantic aspirations.
This is a flaw in our current coffee culture which is justified simply because there is a very weak base which the new wave of coffee people can build upon. There are no forefathers of the pour over movement around on bar to give advice. No syphon masters locally to compare notes with. This is good because there is no rigid methodology and the options are wide open but bad because there is nothing to compare to. There is no great coffee culture here beyond the multitude of faceless airpot brewers which are often programmed with refractometers and spreadsheets. How does it become that taste is no longer part of the equation but graphs and charts are the end measure in many roasting outfits? What should we as barista gain from this?
Given this, it's easy to throw out everything and rewrite the book as you see it. To adopt your own independent methodology over how you brew. The problem is that without a base to begin, finding a good method or approach is about taking a lot of wrong turns. A good method is built upon scientific method, testing, repeating, and analytical approach. Most people in our culture don't have the time or patience to spend months roasting before going into production. They don't have time to pull a thousand shots or brew hundreds of brews to figure out and refine a single approach. They wing it, adjust, and all too often fall in love with their own approach even if there are gaping holes in it.
I think it's good to have true peers to give you a reality check. To tell you your pour over is just under extracted or that your bar routine is too inefficient. To pat you on the back when you make great gains or represent yourself professionally. Without that, the route to getting better is a longer tribulation than it should be and may be full of dead ends. Getting better depends on having respected peers be they in Taiwan or across the town line.
This is why I believe in a local community. If we simply hole up in our spaces behind terminals on the internet, we can debate all day and make careful arguments. Mostly rubbish but furiously typed nonetheless. It has little worth because of the distance of contributors and the lack of a commonality, the shared cup of coffee to sample. If we do not venture from our own cafe, how do we ever really experience this?
Our real peers, those that can taste our coffees and may then understand us, are the ones that matter most in our improvement. They may not agree but they can taste what you taste and that's the real key to getting better and raising the proverbial bar. Method grows from competition and understanding. The base of knowledge is built on a foundation not within a single roaster/cafe culture but in competitive improvement across many. To get better, there is a certain point at which we must understand others and learn from them, even challenge them and tell them they are wrong once in a while.
Growth is not always a singular movement. Often, it is a shared movement whether we like it or not. Those who benefit are often those who participate and the real challenge is to participate. To grow may in the end require that others grow with you.
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