Hi Patrick Re: "....Is he the best in the area? I don't know. But what I do know is that he cares about the way he makes his coffee, asks what I think of it, particularly when he has changed part of the process, and I am happy with the product I am served......" Thankyou for "agreeing" (with me) that the goodwill attached to a particular cafe has to do with how the cafe management presents itself & its business in doing what it does, and does not lie with the supplier of their branded barriers, umbrellas, cups and aprons (did I leave anything out?)... ...just couldn't help myself, had to slip that one in on you...really! Afraid however you are asking an impossible question in the topic. The market will do what it will do dependent on market forces. It's not the clients you have to stop from asking for strange drinks, its the cafes you have to ask to stop placing the strange drinks on the list for the clients to ask for. You have to stop coffee companies subsidising movie and TV program producers to have their brand espresso machines on set or to script in scenes where actors ask for strange drinks...that the consumer will pick up on. It aint gonna happen. We are subject to "interesting" levels of competition. By that I mean there are too many cafes, and in order for them to compete they all feel they have to offer "something more", or "something different". How do you get around that, legislate against too many cafes within a certain sized area? Legislate that for anyone wishing to open a cafe that they will have to sit and pass qualifying exams before being allowed to do so? And how do you stop the johhny come lately coffee roasters or coffee suppliers springing up all over the place? Same as above? Yesterday a newish coffee distributor in my area (yet another brand) came in to buy a coffee grinder for one of his customers. HE DID NOT KNOW HOW TO SET UP THE GRINDER. What hope does his cafe client have? (I am a professional, so no I cant tell you his coffee brand, honest). You are correct, the education has to come from all levels, I would say starting from the "top", not at the "bottom". We cant expect consumers to have good expertise in coffee making and therefore to be able to make a judgement on what the coffee might be like in that venue, before ordering it. Its up to the industries concerned to purvey good quality all the way down the line...so that ultimately the consumer may order their coffee...and then let their taste buds tell them whether they like it or not, rather than have their taste buds telling them it wasn't made properly or not. These two details are not the same and ultimately, it is up to the consumer to educate their palate as they have done with wine over a considerable period....that means...Time. With regard to education at all levels I would like to add one more thing. We have been running Coffee Lovers courses (in addition to other courses strictly covering the proper management and operation of commercial espresso machines to produce excellent espresso...and yes, I am STILL REFUSING to call them "barista" courses). The coffee lovers courses are really great for all concerned (including me). They are not strictly scripted and you never know what the participants are going to ask you to talk about or what that will lead to. So it can be quite refreshing depending on the individual participants in "class". Part of the course was "An Evening with The Roaster" where participants take a stroll down the aisles of stock of raw coffee beans from all over the world, eventually reaching the coffee roasting machine down the end of the building. We would run the coffee roaster and the class would participate in the roasting of a batch of their very own coffee, to take away at the end of the class and see how it would change and develop over a period. Unfortunately, it is very possible that someone participating in one of these pleasant evenings was the person reponsible for casing our premises, gaining knowledge of the security system as well as what coffee and coffee machine stock is kept in the normally PRIVATE part of our roasterie, and eventually leading to the burglary suffered a few weeks ago. This type of thing can only lead to one outcome and that is that future Coffee Lovers courses in our venue will no longer be able to take a very interesting and informative viewing of the coffee stock, nor be given access to view or partricipate in the use of the coffee roasting plant. In this case public education in my area is also a victim. FC. PS I am reasonably pragmatic. Anyone that does not drink coffee does not get to become an espresso machine operator in my business.
