Ahh but as with everything we always need to go back to basics to understand. We here in these forums are people with a special interest in quality coffee. Others think of coffee as a commodity that they enjoy. There is a vast difference between these two types of outlook of course, and the commoditieurs greatly outnumber the specialisti. Because of their "hobbyist" interest in coffee and equipment, Specialisti often forget that coffee forms part of a large business industry. There is a "disconnect" between the fact that coffee is at once nice, and also that coffee is an industry. And companies / businesses / industry will do whatever they do, to exist, develop and grow. They look at what the market as a whole wants, and gear themselves to give the market what it appears to want now or into the future. There are some very influencial interests that think pods are the way of the future, and they will keep trying to point us in that direction regardless. Australia has been of particular interest. As a market it is miniscule, but within it has a well developed espresso/coffee culture where there is a strong interest in the theatre of espresso, "cafe's" and "baristi" which has kept the market into conventional ways of making coffee rather than jumping on board with automatic and capsule equipment in the past. It will be interesting to see what will happen with pods. And of course dont all forget.......what's real quality got to do with anything. I mentioned above the word "theatre", and the fact remains that the greatest majority of eateries with conventional coffee machines and grinders will continue to make swill out of coffee beans no matter what their favourite brand of roasted coffee beans is. Some of the worst offenders, have by far the largest weekly turn over of coffee beans, and no one in their right mind refuses to supply a client on the basis of quality in the cup, when the client buys 100 kilos or more a week, or even 10 kilos a week........ The answers lie in the fact that coffee is business, and is driven by what business people think the right direction is to go next...... The thing about pods, is the supplier CAN control to a greater degree (than with clients with a std machine and grinder) what happens to their name when their product is brewed into the cup. Then they only need train so called baristi to properly texture the milk to a silky smooth finish and put nice pict-chures on the top and complete the theatre for those of the public that are drinking the image together with the quality of the brew in the cup. And when you compare swill made in the conventional way with a pod, the pod certainly offers a better middle ground and certainly better consistency..... And after that, we all do what we gotta do to stay afloat, pay our employees and big brothers taxes, and have something left over for our trouble. Anyone reading this that has never visited a next spresso shop of any siort should do so. Its a real eye opener and any minute you expect to see George Klooney bring your ristretto out to you. Is all about image / theatre, and these days its cool to be associated with a high fashion image. And what does real quality have to do with it? The clientelle are not that discerning, and neither are most of the cafe owners when alls said and done. I am not presenting stuff that I do or dont agree with one way or the other, just commentating on a subject near and dear to my heart. That's reality. 😉 As to the cups.......people in these forums do go on about their favourite cup brands. In reality, and in a market saturated with cafe clients that want everything presented to them on a plate for nothing, who always know more than their roaster supplier about coffee, who demand supply of equipment, sugar, cups, uniforms, wind barriers and umbrellas, refuse to pay for service to the equipment that they use and wear and sometimes damage wilfully, and want to pay their coffee accounts a couple of months past due but not before some kind of argument, you will find very few coffee suppliers jumping on board to pay more for cups just to give them to their cafe clients for nothing, and as long as you are drinking your coffee in a nice clean unchipped or damaged cup of whatever brand probably made in china, that's about as good as it gets in most cases 😉 The USA market is not the Oz market. And....composing these little ditties certainly makes me time poor :stir
