Barista is your coffee barman

by Richard
(Account.Owner@comcast.net)

I may be more of an arm-chair aficionado than a true coffee connoisseur, but I love all kinds of coffees.
When I am out and about and splurge a bit on myself, I sometimes visit Starbucks. It was here that that I first became familiar with the term barista.

Barista is a term gaining recognition in English, but is an Italian word for ‘barman’. The barman was a man or woman a professionally trained in the preparation of coffee. Today, the title may carry more show than importance at your local coffee bar, as companies like Starbucks have invested in equipment that makes it quite easy to train new employees to quickly prepare a quality brew. However, some people take the title very seriously.

A World Barista Championship is held annually with competitors from all over the world. Judges must take and pass a certification workshop that measures their ability to perceive, remember and evaluate the contestant’s product and presentation. Both technical skills and sensation are judged.

I often think that I work all day just to bring home enough money to put food on the table and enjoy a good cup of coffee. However, we might be nowhere without these true avid aficionados that prepare those awesome cuppa coffees.