Re: Very interesting article on coffeegeek

It's plausible that a brew+froth machine could replace baristas. Who cares?

It isn't a career type job, you aren't going to see old baristas getting
thrown out of their homes because they've been dismissed from their cafes
and can't find any other work.

It isn't a service any of us depend on. We have been ill served at the
hands of these baristas and avoid them whenever possible, true?

It isn't going to get any better anyway. Approximately 0% of consumers
care what the espresso tastes like, as long as it's properly masked by
the milk in their drink, so there's no real reason for espresso to get
better, whoever actually makes it.

The exceptions - the Espresso Vivaces etc. - will survive as exceptions
for the very reason that they aren't just a reflection of the market
majority, so the trends driven by that market are irrelevant.

For another perspective -- we dined recently at an Italian restaurant
that's fairly new in the neighborhood, and like the Neapolitan pizza place
5 blocks south of them, they serve a tiny ristretto after dinner (if you
order one, of course.) Quality is pretty fair, I wasn't hurting. Both
of these places use an ornate two or three group lever machine, don't
know what brand but the usual Astoria type levers, operated in full view
of the dining area, I believe by the bartender though I haven't always
seen it.

Since these espressos aren't diluted with milk, customers have to taste
the espresso and are likely to respond to quality differences. I have
read the stories here about atrocious restaurant espressos, but I'm here
to tell you that it doesn't have to be that way, and by what I'm seeing,
isn't that way around here. And if so, over time maybe Americans will
acquire a taste for espresso. Baristas included.

Donn
.