SARA ALALI

AST trainer, WBC & WBRC sensory judge, founder of THAT boutique cafe

Favorite products and methods

My favorite products are always quality coffee beans and quality water since these are the basic ingredients and the base for any coffee drink from which you can build other drinks. To optimize the quality of a drink, I pay special attention to the tools we use in coffee preparation. These include the pots we use to prepare our traditional style coffee, distribution and tamping tools, scales and timers. I use special pots handmade from copper and lined with silver since they offer better control over heat and the temperature inside the pot, while also reducing the risk of burning the coffee slurry. We use scales and timers to carefully dose our coffee and ensure consistency in the preparation of each cup.

What’s causing a stir in 2023

I’ve noticed an increasing number of customers leaning toward products that promote health and wellbeing recently and a rise in demand for gluten-free and plant-based milk. Other trends evident include the growing popularity of crafted mocktails that are coffee focused and feature a creative mix of flavors. We’re also seeing a greater use of capsules and drip bags, largely because they’re more convenient and easy to use.

New techniques

Automation and advanced technology are becoming big in the coffee industry and helping to advance both preparation and quality of service. Vistoria Arduino recently launched its Mavrick machine which can produce espresso, espressobased drinks, filtered coffee and tea in one machine. Its advanced technology allows baristas to control different parameters of the espresso machine to produce high quality drinks and explore a range of possibilities, while focusing on the service. Other companies have also worked on compact machines that can produce drinks with the press of a button, with customers controlling different parameters from a tablet and creating a wide range of drinks from one faucet.