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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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