top baristas

System · January 2004

Wondering if I can tap into the great coffee network. I'm trying to expand our list of contenders for Barista of the Year, an award we give in the annual Age Cheap Eats guide. If you know someone who works the machine at a Melbourne cafe and can consistently pull a great coffee, please name names. Because it's for Cheap Eats, obviously it would need to be someone at one of the more budget-minded cafes, rather than a high-end restaurant. Cheers, Roslyn

over_extracted · January 2004

How are you going to decide who the winner is???Good luck on your search,i hear Melbourne has many good barista.

admin · January 2004

Hi guys - would appreciate it if you could give Roslyn a bit of help with this Melbourne barista thing - can you speak to friends/colleagues and see if we can get her a shortlist... Tx -A

Unknown · January 2004

I live in Richmond, so my usual hang out is Cafe Veloce, where I always get a great coffee from Pete Van Haandel. It is also always well worth the journey across town to enjoy a terrific coffee (or two) at Wall Two 80 in Balaclava, courtesy of Trent Nash or Chris (not sure of surname) behind the machine.

Unknown · February 2004

Don't you think it is unfair to limit it to budget or cheap meals. You should be able to include all baristas unless you state in the award that it is omly for cheap cafes so the public know.

john · February 2004

Brian I think you have a good point. A Barista comp is a Barista comp and should be open to all and sundry. "The Barista of the year", what is the criteria for the judging. And as per what OE said who is going to decide the winner. Sorry ADMIN, I am not sure if I agree with you about passing on names etc. Is that not doing Roslyn's job for her. John

admin · February 2004

Roslyn's original request was because they were looking at the Age's 'Cheap Eats', however in terms of timing that's now past. In general, there is no restriction in terms of where baristas are employed in my eyes - any nominees who are great at their job are fine. John - Roslyn asked permission to tap into our network because given our collective experience, she thought we may be able to give her some leads. Unfortunately we didn't manage to come up with any names, which is somewhat disappointing. What's more concerning to me is that one of Melbourne's top baristas that I rang on Roslyn's behalf declined to give any names in case he was helping 'the competition'. I found this very small-minded, given that he had once been featured in Cheap Eats, and had also been given significant exposure in Crema. Admin.

lars · June 2004

Hey Admin - sorry this took a while, but i decided to do some research on who are considered top baristas in Australia. Unfortunately I found it very hard to get any information on Melbourne baristas, but here is the list I came up with (most of them are from Sydney)... It looks like a lot of them go on to work for a coffee company after a while, but some keep working on the shop floor -ie still working as baristas; I have compiled a list of both types: working in cafes: Will Young (Campos Coffee - Sydney) Gus Gallardo (ex-2 Park in Sydney - now working in his own cafe called Russo in the City). Sonny ??- used to work for Campos - not sure where he works now, but he was really good. Jai Gabbard - used to work in a cafe in Manly and apparently has gone out on his own.. corporate ones: Maico La Penna - permanent barista for Piazza d'Oro - has just won the Australian barista competition. Ryan Spinoglio - barista for Andronicus coffee in Sydney. Corrine Tweedale - classy female barista - has just been taken on as full-time trainer for Gloria Jeans Coffee. Paul Bassett - last year's World Barista Champion, based in Sydney - the face of Sunbeam in Australia, and rumour has it, is about to launch his own Signature Blend of Coffee. There's also a guy called George Sabados, who was apparently involved with AASCA, but who is now looking after Michel's Patisserie?? This is the result of some quite a lot of research but there are probably plenty of others (especially in Melbourne?)!! Lars

Unknown · June 2004

Geroge Sabados is the father of modern australian espresso, please learn your facts. Will Young is inconsistent sometimes his coffee is over extracted which has a far worse flavour than under extracted. Don't forget Alex Kum and Domenic that performed extremely well in the recent australian championships.

Jerry · June 2004

Russ, just curious, have you ever seen George Sabados pull a shot?

lars · June 2004

That's funny Russ - my research showed that most people would consider the 'fathers of espresso' in Australia to be the early Italians in Sydney & Melbourne followed by Ian Bersten on the roasting side, and a guy called Terry Seremetis, on the coffee-making side. -L

FreshCoffee2 · June 2004

Lars and Jerry, I think "Russ" is pulling your collective legs...perhaps he IS George Sabados with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek!!! FC.

Unknown · June 2004

where can I get my hands on your "research" lars? It is quite ill informed, have you read coffee floats tea sinks?

john · June 2004

;D This topic appears to have gone from 'doing someones job' for them to trying to 'give some of these ones a job'. I move that we bury this topic, 8) before it gets a little toooo personal and the claws start coming out. PS I could have recited all the above names except for Sonny's. :o JD

lars · June 2004

I think "Russ" is pulling your collective legs...perhaps he IS George Sabados! FC.

Actually F.C I think you're right. From what i hear, only G.S. would claim that 'George Sabados is the father of modern Australian espresso' -L :o

Jerry · June 2004

Please check out ... http://203.15.102.143:8080/ramgen/media/9362FoodArt_CoffeeArt5.rm

FreshCoffee2 · June 2004

Would like to see where you are leading us but...cant open the link. Are you sure it's correct? FC

Jerry · June 2004

It is a link to a media file. You will need real media player to view it, however mine opens automatically. The link definately works, just tried it again now to be sure.

ristretto · June 2004

Reading this thread only serves to remind how prickly coffee can be. What started as a reasonable request for information quickly degraded into a slinging match of personalities. Perhaps this is the reason there is so much animosity between coffee companies, roatsters, baristas and cafe owners. The only people that really count are customers who, in the main, still don't know a good coffee from a bad one. So with all the hot air being blown around about who is Mr This or Father That why is there still so much swill being served in cafe's if there is so much expertise. I will get off my soap box now. Ristretto 8)

admin · June 2004

Actually to industry most analagous is probably the wine industry, which has the egos, but seems to get by without the nastiness and vitriol associated with the coffee industry. Any theories as to why the difference? -A

Reschsmooth · June 2004

Probably three reasons: 1. Wine industry is a more mature industry, so the players have had time to sort themselves out. 2. Wine is an export commodity, so together, they compete against the French, the Californians, etc. It would make sense to quash in-fighting. 3. Wine is a differentiated product. By that I mean you can buy a budget wine for $5 or Grange for $595. Everyone knows that John Duval is a better wine maker than the guy who throws chips into the barrell to make the $5. One therefore assumes that there is a level of respect there as well. All around Australia, coffee is sold from between about $2-$4, regardless quality. But I wouldn't know as I don't work in either. P ;D

Unknown · June 2004

Why noy go national with a list of top baristi? How do we ste a standard that is consistant? Who judges? I am not tlaking about a competition but may be visits to their place of work so they are using machinery they are familiar with. There are many good baristi and a lot of them get over looked becuse the nedia is often to lazy to travel to a cafe just 15 minuted outside the CBD. I believe channel & here in Adelaide is doing a story and no one has contacted me. Why me tou might say... I believe that what we do in our cafe is second to none in Adelaide, yet we always get over looked because they won't travel. Phone interviews ..yes but not on camera and it gets very frusrating. Top baristi work very hard at it and have a passion for coffee and the industry. We all need to be a bit more open minded about the whole indutry for it to be more appreciated. just a few thoughts for comment. For those of you who are going to Italy for the WBC see you there and please make yourselves known to me Regards Brian

admin · June 2004

Hi Patrick - I think you've listed all the rational (marketing) reasons, but it still doesn't explain the level of personal vindictiveness you find in the industry...would be interested to know if anyone, preferably from within the industry, would be able to give any reasons...? -Admin

ristretto · June 2004

My view on your question Admin is this: a. Everyone thinks they know more than the next guy and therefore can sit in judgement b. The calibre of some people in the industry ie small minded c. An inflated view of their own self importance d. Little experience in business e. Acquired a little bit of knowledge and want to scream the loudest to make themselves heard f. Competing companies degrading each other g. Everyone thinks their way is the best way h. Lack of uniform assessment ie espresso taste, barista technique, uninformed customer base. Do coffee customers drinkers really know anything compared to their wine counterparts i. Lack of maturity j. Jealousy at some receiving exposure and not receiving any themselves Look forward to having my views challenged. This thread is proof of many of things I have written above. Ristretto 8)

Reschsmooth · June 2004

Fair enough comments, Admin, and I am not suggesting I would have more of a clue than industry participants. However, there are a couple of other points perhaps worth considering: 1. Wine is a heavily regulated and taxed industry. It makes sense to get together to seek to limit additional taxes on the product (just think of the absurd WET); 2. Given the above, I doubt very few industries ever seek to self-regulate without pressure from lobby groups, governments, etc (eg. when the GST came in, taxes on wine products would have actually fallen, resulting in falling prices. The health industry lobby groups fought to ensure that no price of alcohol could ever fall, hence the introduction of WET); 3. The coffee industry, as far as I am aware, is still very fragmented with too many individual participants. It is still very much sold on the person rather than the product. My uneducated view is that this all leads to ego fuelled head bashing. The same occurs in many industries like that....just look at the funds management industry! P

john · June 2004

P We have moved away from the topic again. Maybe we need to rename it. You are correct the coffee industry is fragmented. Actually, I started a post on this topic last August. I am involved in both the wine and coffee industries. The coffee industry seems to be floundering about like the wine industry was 15-20 years ago. The wine industry and most of its participants in Australia are professional. The coffee industry need to come of age. This could be helped by having an industry body that represents the whole industry. The liquor industry has lobby groups that go out to bat for the industry. The coffee industry has what......not much. Sooner or later the industry needs to come together for its own good. Egos need to be left at home. From experience with other industries, I believe that a well organised industry body that can claim to truly represent the coffee industry would assist in breaking down the barriers and reduce the vitriol and animosity. Remember, 'it's not what your industry can do for you, it's what you can do for your industry'. JD

Reschsmooth · June 2004

John, How boring would dialogue be if it couldn't twist and turn away from its starting point? ;D

FreshCoffee2 · June 2004

You blokes are doing such a good job of this tangential discussion I think I'll just leave you to it.. No bull! FC.

admin · June 2004

That's not like you Fresh - just a two-line post (just kidding

But seriously, how can you just go and drop a bomb in like this and not elaborate - tangential - why so?

FreshCoffee2 · June 2004

Hi Admin, there's nothing macchiavelian about me, so "tangential" was simply in the context of, not on Topic! (What WAS the topic anyway, and I think this tangential one is infinitely more interesting). And the comment was entirely honest..I reckon Brain, John, Patrick & Ristretto are all right on (notice alphabetical list of names so as not to show favouritism!). cheers, FC.

john · June 2004

P I have no probs about the twist'n'turn'n bit, but the topic then becomes irrelevant for anybody checking out the topics in the forum. I have skipped opening up some topics as the title was of no interest to me. Now it seems I have to read every topic just in case I have missed out on something. I also agree with Fresh, that this new discussion has much more merit than the original topic which was something about an ego trip or prima donna or.....Maybe we can continue with the topic under a different heading. JD

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