BLENDING WITH BLUE DIAMOND Tales from a barista
WORKING I N the service industry is, no doubt, not for the faint of heart. It is a very demanding space, as you are at the behest of every Tom, Dick and Harry’s whim and fancy. A barista’s job is particularly challenging, because you are the fine line between coffee drinkers having a great morning or a terrible one. The responsibility of making someone’s drink gives baristas a rare insight into the coffee drinker – their taste, preference, style and attitude towards mixed coffee beverages.
Jamaica, in the last few years, has gradually warmed up to the ‘coffee scene’, and the ground beans create an aromatic atmosphere that excites the spirit, and plunges your taste buds into the depths of a euphoric sensory invasion of roasted bean-brewed beverages that linger with smoky sweetness or nutty, bitter flavours. As coffee gets fancier, there may be complicated, new brewing methods and in-depth discussions of bean varieties, flavour mixtures and milk alternative options, etc. But the coffee transaction remains what it has always been: a basic interaction between two people – the barista and you, the customer.
Today we dive into the life of the barista with an up-close and personal sitdown with two baristas from Café Blue, one of Jamaica’s pillars in the coffee scene, as we find out how they function in their role and their love of utilising Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Milk in their daily mixes.
WHAT IS A BARISTA?
Simply put, a barista is someone who makes and/or serves coffee and coffee-based beverages. These can include espresso and drinks made from espresso, such as lattes, cappuccino and iced coffee beverages. Fancier coffee-infused mixtures also include mochaccino, macchiato, Americano, etc.
A barista is skilled at preparing beverages made from coffee, and usually has extensive knowledge of the different types of coffee available from around the world.
WHAT DOES A BARISTA’S JOB LOOK LIKE?
While speaking with Ricardo Jackson, head barista at the Café Blue Constant Spring Road location, he was very quick in mentioning that working as a barista meant a lot to him, as it was a skill that he learnt on the job over the last five years. He was also quick to point out that Café Blue uses both dairy and plant-based milk in both the hot and cold beverages they sell. The most requested plant-based milk being Blue Diamond Almond Breeze. When pressed as to why, he responded by saying persons were more health conscious these days and many of his customers have an aversion to lactose, gluten or soy.
Javaugh McCarthy, a barista with a year’s experience chimed in, stating that he uses Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Milk to make both hot and cold beverages for customers, and his favourite mix is a latte over ice, which is espresso, ice, and almond milk (stirred, not shaken) served extremely chilled.
QUALITIES OF A GOOD BARISTA
While interviewing both Ricardo and Javaugh from Café Blue, it was reiterated that good customer service is a very important quality for them in being good baristas. It was also very important for them to be accurate and fast on their feet, as, Ricardo insisted, “A good barista will have a good memory. It feels good, and customers appreciate when they come and you remember their face or their order, especially the regulars.”
When using Blue Diamond Almond Milk, or the Blue Diamond Barista Blend Milk, both baristas added that they often experiment in using the products in varied mixes (hot or cold), adding flavours such as chocolate, hazelnut, French vanilla or caramel macchiato. Having a creative flair and a good palate to discern the different flavours of coffees is made easier when using the Blue Diamond Barista Blend.
They pointed out that it is an easyto-use product, working just like dairy and other non-dairy alternatives, with no added cane sugar and only 60 calories per 250ml serving. A coffee made with Barista Blend contains 30 per cent fewer calories than a coffee made with milk or regular soy milk. Barista Blend delivers a great-tasting product which is made using almonds – completely free from dairy, lactose, casein, soy and gluten.
CAREER PROSPECTS AS A BARISTA
From the nooks and crannies of the streets of Kingston to the shores of the Land of the Rising Sun, Japan, to Café Malongo in the heart of Paris, France, the options for pursuing a career in coffee stretch as far as the world’s last blade of grass or drop of water. The career prospects for a barista can be varied and exciting. In Jamaica, the avenues are a little more limited to working in a restaurant, café, coffee shop or hotel. In a larger city in the USA, UK and Europe, there are gourmet coffee carts that need skilled workers in this field. That is the dream of the small city – highly trained baristas, like Ricardo and Javaugh from Café Blue.