A cup and a screech to go, please

Have you ever noticed that when you go into a coffee shop, your ears are assaulted with noise? I have never quite understood why people go to such places to get homework done; how in the world do they concentrate? And as if the loud-voiced and -laughed customers aren't bad enough, there is usually some ill-trained barista making grinding and screeching and ripping noises behind the counter. People should put noise warning signs on coffee shop entrance doors.

Poor, deafened turtle

But then, today I learned that the noises from behind the counter aren't (usually) the results of poor training. In fact, the grinding noise is (obviously) from the coffee being ground. But they don't grind it up front to be annoying; instead, it's to keep the coffee as fresh as possible. (Coffee apparently has a remarkably short life. Did you know that a shot of espresso goes bad after ten seconds unless it is mixed with something? No wonder baristas have to do so much grinding.) And the screeching and ripping sounds actually are a sign that the milk is being aerated correctly. The steamer wand is placed in the bottom of the pitcher of milk and activated, then raised to just under the surface of the liquid for several seconds. This technique results in loud noises and perfect foam, if steamed long enough, which is something I have yet to accomplish.

And, go figure, many coffee shops try purposefully to create environments for people to chat and catch up and laugh with each other. That's why there are more than one chairs at the tables. I suppose if coffee shops were really for doing work, they would simply set up a classroom where everyone drank coffee.

Oh, the glory of learning things while ingesting caffeine!

The start of Emile's education

I love the movie Ratatouille, the one where the rat in Paris becomes a gourmet chef. It's a story of overcoming difficulties and pursuing dreams and everything like that. I love seeing the brilliance of the animation and the determination of Remy and the budding romance between Linguini and Colette. Out of all the characters in the film, though, the one that I am probably most like is Remy's brother Emile, who does not understand the things that Remy tries to show him.

This is Emile

There is this one scene where Remy attempts to educate Emile, first telling him to try a bit of cheese, then a section of berry, and to finally combine them. Remy exclaims, "That's it! Now, imagine every great taste in the world being combined in infinite combinations, tastes that no one has tried yet, discoveries to be made!" Emile replies, "I think...I think...You lost me."


That's me when it comes to combining food and drink. I think that red wine goes with red meat because the colors complement each other and that orange juice is for breakfast because it matches the rising sun. And, to my uneducated tongue, coffee is coffee and all of it needs sugar to be drinkable every morning.


Today, though, I discovered something incredible; all coffee is not alike. I began training for my new job as a barista this morning, and I am not going to just be serving coffee. No, I get to learn about it and even try the different kinds. During the first session, for example, I tasted five different kinds of coffee from different regions, in different roasts, and with different flavors.


And, wonder of wonders, I was able to tell some of the differences! After the ideas of smell, body, acidity, and flavor were explained to me, of course, but it was shocking all the same to realize that perhaps my tongue has potential to be educated after all. And, just to blow my mind, they showed me how different foods can even out, expand, and smooth the flavors of the coffees. This personal revelation almost outweighed the excitement I felt at knowing that I will have work after I graduate college in two weeks or even the fun of meeting new coworkers and regulars to the coffee shop. Coffee is not just coffee! Food and drink really do go together, and perhaps Remy was right that "If you are what you eat, then [we] only want to eat the good stuff."


Now let's hope that I can remember everything I learned about flavors and brewing coffee for Wednesday's training...