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I progress, the more I feel I have to learn regardless of it over time. It’s very close to my heart and I also feel it’s me the highest levels of extraction which further high-
how good I am. I’m constantly being humbled by the really important in this industry. If we want to connect lighted the complexity and sweetness in the cup. The third
industry and by coffee. with people and customers, bring them into our world of key decision was roasting and that was Matt’s decision.
specialty coffee, and to keep them there, we need to build When we first started working with this coffee, it had
I remember listening to a podcast and you spoke trust with them. And for me, the best way we can build these beautiful tannins at the finish but they tended to
about working in a restaurant when you first trust is by representing coffee in the way we say we will. dominate the cup. We wanted to refine those tannins,
started out and how you became intrigued with Suppose if we say that a coffee is going to be a certain make them more soft and delicate, a bit more complex.
preparing coffee. I’m pretty sure you look back kind of experience, and if they don’t feel the same, how Matt’s key decision was the roast profile and it resulted in
sometimes and reminisce about that version of are we supposed to build trust with them? And if they him finishing at a lower end degree to limit the external
Anthony, the skills you have acquired over a pe- don’t trust us, how are they supposed to learn about color of the bean. What that also did was curved out the
riod of time and even the mindset—it must be a specialty coffee? And it goes further than that; how will tannin and acrid notes. The coffee had solubility and
night and day difference. they be motivated to enter this world and pay more for sweetness with really soft, beautiful complex red wine
Oh, absolutely. I’ve evolved and so has the industry. It’s high quality coffees? Trust makes them feel comfortable, tannins on the finish of the coffee. The fourth key decision
growing, especially over the last few years. It’s been a and makes coffee feel more familiar. They can connect was milk cryodessication. Many of you might have heard
really exciting thing to be a part of and progress with the with the flavors of the cup and in the end they are moti- of freeze distillation before. Cryodessication is just anoth-
industry, to take on new technologies and explore new vated to learn and continue exploring specialty coffee. er word for freeze drying. We cryodessicated the milk
ways of doing things. That is the depth of trust I want to offer. turning it into a powder and recombined it with the orig-
inal milk. This process consistently concentrates the milk
It’s necessary to grow. I was blessed to be invited to The fact that the customer takes away something increasing the concentration of sugars, fats, proteins, vi-
see a competitor do a practice run of her routine for from that experience is key. You spoke about four key tamins and minerals. The result is delicious. The texture
the National Barista Championship here in the UAE, decisions in your presentation. Can you explain them is very moussey, custardy, thick and sweet. It lifts up the
and I realized it was not a walk in the park. There’s to our readers? flavor of the coffee and doesn’t dominate it.
a lot to it. I know Matt Crowley and Jack Simpson Every single variable in that routine was well thought out
helped a lot. How did you all prepare for the com- and intentional. We were strapped for time and had to be Oh my, my mouth was watering when you were
petition? What was the game plan? very specific on what to present to the judges. We nar- talking about both the coffee and the milk. I want
Well, I generally coordinated everything, from training rowed it down to four key decisions we felt were interest- to talk to you more about milk. Freeze distillation
to planning a direction on what needs to be focused ing and had the most impact. The first one was using Nestor was a big deal when Ben Put, Canadian Barista
on. I’ll draw from Matt and Jack on their input, and set Lasso’s coffee from his farm El Diviso for the competition. Champion, introduced it in 2017. I had a chance to
up sessions together when needed. I do a lot of the It was his decision to ferment the coffee anaerobically for taste a few coffee beverages using freeze distilled
organizing on the back-end, behind-the-scenes. I’m a 80 hours. That process gave the coffee very big and defin- milk only this year, and I have to say it’s delicious.
bit of a nerd, so what that looks like is—a massive to- able flavor notes. The second key decision was to use a I can only imagine what your technique must have
do list. Looking back now, I think I’ve literally written very specific kind of WDT tool (Weiss Distribution Tech- made the milk taste like. I want to understand, how
1000s of notes leading up to the competition. I’ll nique). I explored a variety of different distribution did you come about this technique of concentrat-
structure everything from things I should experiment methods and techniques and the one I ended up using gave ing your milk?
with to the routines I should be doing. I’m very orga-
nized that way. I’ll look at it as a project and to support
the project, I’ll factor in key priorities and subcompo- Anthony Douglas
nents we need to be focusing on. I manage that depend-
ing on what needs the most attention. Leading up to “For me, the best way we can
the competition, I’ll focus on one thing at a time. A build trust is by representing
coffee in the way we say we will.”
few weeks might be technique, on some days it’s the
roasting or the signature drink. It changes depending
on feedback from the team. Visual aids took a few weeks
Q&A There is a lot I want to ask to prepare—conceptually how that looks like, organiz-
ing it and putting it into action.
you about the WBC, the
routine, the win. But before
I dive into those, I want to I could instantly relate to your presentation at the
ask how you feel you have evolved as a professional WBC, which was based on trust. Could you summa-
from when you first started in the industry? rize it for those who haven’t seen it yet?
Yeah, that’s a big question. I’ve definitely evolved a lot. Absolutely. Today as a barista, one of the biggest chal-
I think a lot of people come into the coffee industry lenges for me is delivering an experience that tastes the
without realizing how much of a rabbit hole it really is way I say it will taste. I have to be honest, it’s something
and how much learning there is to do. I find that the more that has frustrated me and I’ve become obsessed about

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