Boston's coffee community

In doing the last few rounds of the Friday deliveries, I had a few moments where I got to chuckle. At each stop, about 15 feet from the door, I heard that familiar click click click.

It was the sound of barista furiously clicking that Mazzer doser to distribute freshly ground espresso into the portafilter. This may sound strange but given everything we've gone through to get to this point, it's comforting. Thinking about where some of these shops and barista will be in 6 months and how far they have come in the last six months puts me in a good mood.

To come to this point is very exciting because the next year in front of us will be another challenge in training, competitions, and better coffee in the area. If we trained one barista to place in in a regional competition, we can train more. If our accounts keep growing, so will we. So to those who predicted or hoped we wouldn't be around in a year, you might be sore out of luck.

After the jam (second we've helped organize), I realized a few things. In a few months, the dynamic of who the best shops in Boston are will shift again. With that, I hope the dialogue can get off photos of 20 ounce latte art in the press and back onto coffee. It's a bit embarrassing really that Boston hasn't yet emerged from this cheap/volume phase yet with cafes claiming to be top tier. The nonsensical focus on jumbo milk art reminds me of the early New York coffee scene and the press attention it got. When the discussion is on the coffee, why we should pay more for better coffee, and how to provide an experience equal to that higher dollar amount, that's progress. Cheap 16oz cups of house light/dark is not progress for any shop trying to claim best quality in the area.

Boston has a young community built around coffee that is starting to move. Most of the progressive shops are splitting roast suppliers and there is positive momentum toward smaller/better quality cup sizes and per cup bars. I'm excited and hopeful. Things are changing, be it from the peer pressure of a big coffee event or simply new personalities influencing changes. For our part, we'll keep reinvesting in the larger community, even those that don't serve our coffees. The goal is to grow a bigger local base of shops and therefore end consumers who appreciate attention to quality in coffee.

Barista Jam Aftermath

Results of the competitions:

Coffee Triangulation organized by Atomic (Beverly, MA):
1. Mike (Cambridge, MA)
2. Jamie W. of Barismo (Arlington, MA)
3. Melissa W. of ERC (Boston, MA)

Espresso Throwdown organized by barismo (Arlington, MA):
1. Judson M. of Hi-Rise on Brattle St. (Cambridge, MA)
2. Scott B. of Cafe Fixe (Brookline, MA)
3. Markus of ERC @ BU(Boston, MA)

Latte Art Pour organized by ERC/MEMteas:
1. Nik of Taste Cafe (Newtonville, MA)
2. Jacob of ERC @ BU (Boston, MA)
3. Ethan Miller (New Hampshire)

The jam was a big success. It was actually too successful because the turnout was well beyond what we expected, more than double in fact, which had us running over past midnight with the final competition. My expectations did not include all the locals turning out as they did in such good form in such heavy numbers. There were only two or three notable no shows who were invited, mostly older generation coffee people. We will have more photos to share next week but all I can say is that we are looking forward to the growth and expansion of the community. There are so many more good barista in the Boston metro and their ranks are growing. I am excited because the ranks of barista serving up our own Sonata/Soma/SOE turned up interested and showing the results of training. I was also impressed by so many good barista ready to mix it up from other shops we don't work with.

The best thing about the buzz will be the momentum an event like this creates. To inspire barista and yes, to put peer pressure on some to get back on track. Word of shops/barista doing cafe crawls after the event spread quickly. It is something I have been working to see happen for years, a community in the area focused on better coffee. I can only hope the scene will continue on regardless of our involvement and keep pushing towards a more progressive cafe culture in the Boston metro.

Upcoming mid November events

Fri 13th Barista Jam @ ERC 736 Commonwealth Ave, Boston 7pm

Sat 14th Brew Bar/Tasting @ Dave's Fresh Pasta 81 Holland St Somerville 1-3pm

Sun 15th Brew Bar/Tasting @ Formaggio's Kitchen 244 Huron Ave Cambridge 10-12pm

The Jam is going to be huge. Help make it a success by showing up!

After the jam, take some time to support local specialty shops and check out the tastings at Formaggio and Dave's. Kenya, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Oh My!