This Week in Coffee

Like many baristas, I came to the coffee profession in part because of coffee shops - not just because it’s where your latte comes from but because it’s the place you can sit and unwind, read your favorite book, maybe have a cheerful, surface-level conversation with a stranger.

Coffee shops, at their best, should be safe spaces where anyone who’s anyone can sit, have a drink, and feel welcome.  And, for me, music has always been an important part of that experience, both as a barista and as a customer.

You have just landed in Florence, Italy. You couldn’t sleep on the plane and the local time is 9 AM. Your eyelids struggle to stay open as you try to hunt down your luggage at the baggage claim. The Starbucks mermaid is beckoning you to drink a “venti caramel macchiato” and you succumb to her lures.

You take a sip of your “macchiato”. It’s delicious. The creaminess, the caramel drizzle, the slight notes of “espresso” all come together and you chase down your bags with this newfound energy.

It’s 2 PM in the afternoon and you’ve settled down at a cozy restaurant...

Many people would say that dolloping is how we recognize a macchiato. A macchiato derives from the words, “spotted” or “marked” in Italian. It basically is a drink marked with milk. I believe that the traditional method, the dolloping, is fine…

However, nowadays in third wave coffee shops, you'll see something that looks like a mini-cortado that is also not quite a piccolo or a “mezzo-mezzo” (see blog post #1).

I believe this macchiato form has evolved from a traditional dollop to a more presentable creation of a macchiato.

Of course...