Finally, the half hour is up, and I struggle back to my feet to get back to work. By this time all signs of the lunch time rush have been cleared away, and you wonder if it was infact a dream. All messes wiped up, drip tray cleaned up, coffee grinds brushed away, and slowly, everything is re-stocked…

At this point in the afternoon, it becomes the time to bounce ideas off eachother. New coffees researched, news discussed, and potential ideas analysed. Nothing is ever perfect in a coffee shop, the business model is never 100% perfect, there are always new things to try, new risks to take, and the constant push to do the next new thing. We are always looking to improve the coffee, the service, the look of the place, or the marketing.

Invariably I’ll end up digging into the bit drawer, pulling out the scales and the shot glasses. I’ve been doing this for over two years, but the coffee still intruiges me. It’s so fickle, and perfection so fleeting. You find yourself micro-managing everything in the process. The exact 18g dose again and again; sometimes it helps to re-calibrate yourself, you tare the scales onto an empty basket, then dose, and weigh. 17.5g.. not good enough. You do it again.. 18.1g, close enough. You then look to the pour. Every espresso I try, isn’t quite right, a touch too hot, a little over-extraced, perfection is a hard one to achieve.

A notepad comes out, I start working out brewing ratios. Espresso by numbers can be the most infuriating, yet pleasing thing in the world. So many variables to try and pull together, like a giant mathematical equation, where you are always looking for the same answer whilst the figures swing around wildly. You look for trends, watching the pour times slow in the morning as the grinder warms up, or noticing the changes when it starts raining outside, its all connected, and as a barista we are involved deeply in this dance to try pull it all together, and give each customer the best shot we can.

During this playing, the experimentation, the advances, it’s easy to forget the time, 5pm, we close in half an hour, time for the final push… the close down!

To be continued…

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