Dan: Coffee Experts Spread the Love

EPISODE #3

Coffee Experts Spread the Love (and Knowledge)

Coffee is not just a drink. Indeed, it provides its devotees with a jolt of energy or even a much-needed work break, but its story runs deep: coffee is the final result of a long chain connected by the hard work of dozens of individuals.

In that same vein, brewers are the last people to touch the beverage before it arrives in consumers’ cups, and these individuals are much more than baristas, as they’ve come to be known. The role surpasses simply providing coffee service–these experts bear a hefty responsibility: transforming the beans into a high-quality beverage without sacrificing the integrity of the supply chain.

A barista simultaneously wears the hat of a coffee expert eager to inform anyone not yet privy to the entire world and work behind a cup of coffee. There’s a lot to love.

ADP_CoffeeLounge_BYC-EXPERT_VideoFull_fallback_mob@2x.jpg

Dan, an authorized trainer for the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), spends most of his time teaching new and experienced baristas. To him, learning how to transform coffee with integrity is crucial. Working coffee to perfection combines craft and science; the work simultaneously involves creativity, attention to detail, and accuracy. Like most lines of work, the coffee world always offers new learnings, so experts constantly interact with others to share and gain knowledge.

The first step on this educational path requires changing how we perceive coffee; we should make a concerted effort to stay true to the product, respect each step of the chain, and move away from poorly sourced commodity coffee. Instead, we should choose beans that are more sustainable and nuanced.

Follow the story

Every coffee tells its own story, one that starts on the farm and ends in the cup–farmers, roasters, baristas, and consumers all partake in the coffee value chain, so we’re responsible for playing a more active role. Dan aims to make specialty coffee more accessible so that producers get a fair price and consumers can understand the beans’ farm-to-cup traceability, empowering them to make more informed decisions about their coffee for years to come. According to Dan, this comes via training and education.

Good coffee is all about ethics and quality, providing the customer with excellent coffee and the story behind it. Once one delves deeper and better understands “good coffee,” there’s no turning back.