What is a barista?

If you are reading this blog it is because you want to know more about the world of coffee, its history, origin, how to prepare an espresso, filtered or how to make latte art, it may be because you are entering the world of coffee or want to know more about this noble art … Have we ever asked, what is being a Barista?

Several years ago the definition was a bit ambiguous, and as much as we looked on the internet it was defined as; “Person in charge of preparing coffee-based drinks”. At present, I doubt that defining Barista is so simple.

When I started to get involved in the world of coffee, the question I always had was, what does it take to be a barista? The answer after several years of work is; Be patient, a lot of dedication, keep on constantly learning and share as much as you can with colleagues and coffee lovers.

I decided to ask this question to several people about what a Barista is for them and the answers are inclined to that the barista is a communicator, connector or bridge between the origin and the client, we must have certain social skills that are not found in other jobs, learn to communicate to feedback the chain from the origin to the cup, this is its main function.

So a good and constant training is what will give us the confidence to be able to prepare high-quality coffees, this will take theoretical hours, many years of practice and thousands of cups of coffee to taste, which for me is motivating.

Part of this training is knowing the raw material; what is its origin, process, and roasting applied to coffee, modify variables such as; ratios, grinding, extraction times, correct milk texturing and finally knowing how to define the flavors and tastes of our preparations, to deliver the best possible experience to people who are going to enjoy a cup of coffee.

So how can we know and better understand all the work done by a professional barista? Well, there are different courses and workshops in each country, investigate who is in charge of dictating them and how are their facilities, we can also find the SCA (Specialty Coffee Association) courses are the main entity that universally certifies your knowledge through certificates, this does not mean that if you do not get an SCA certificate it does not work, but it is a great support for your future in the workplace.

I also invite you to see routines of barista championships, they are increasingly popular, they are becoming more competitive and the level is even higher, they helped me a lot to refine pouring techniques, and dare to experiment with the tools I had at that moment, if you want to compete do it, the only thing you will achieve is desire regardless of the result!

As professional baristas, let’s not forget all the work there is before coffee arrives in our hands, how long its production chain and the human chain were, we are part of a great team and it is the global coffee community.