Twitter has been a buzz about this article. I'm assuming it is the Australian magazine. Am curious to read it however outrageous it might be. Any links to it? If not, any summations why it was so controversial. Thanks

James links a PDF version here.

Wow this guy is even higher on the BS scale than the Illy barista. The Illy barista doesn't violate the laws of nature, and this guy does. A 13 bean blend to lend complexity? Here's a little statistics exercise: What's the chance of one bean of all 13 coffees getting into a single shot? What about a second bean from each constituent? Hint: the best chance is when all 13 beans are in equal proportions. Also, there's roughly 50 beans in a single.

gah! the comma abuse in the first paragraph makes me want to not read any more!

edit: gah! I did read more. Don't editors edit anymore?

Am a subscriber to that magazine, and as an Aussie who calls London is home (and with a strong Italian heritage) I found myself agreeing on a few of his points, but mostly disagreeing and shaking my head with everything else.

The whole 13 blend comment is ridiculous. We know better.

He is right that London is dominated by chains serving up poor espresso, but that is hardly an insight. Ultimately these chains are giving the masses what they want, and those of us who demand an artisan, high quality version of espresso will go elsewhere. We know where these places are in each of the towns and cities that we live in. Outside of Italy, London is no different.

At its core - the whole issue comes down to the Italian view of New World espresso, a point that has been debated over and over again. At a risk of overgeneralisation, Italian baristas seem to think that we elevate the best baristas almost to rock star status with our world competitions, and that the attitudes of some of the baristas and proprietors is way out of proportion given the unremarkable, massmarket nature of the beverage in Italy. Hence his comment on Australian and NZ cafes. I wish he told us how he thinks the espresso tastes in these places, rather than telling his view the culture around them (which he clearly doesnt like).

I do agree that some Antipodean cafes here can have a swagger about them. Some of them I dont like and avoid. But it cannot be denied that they havent improved the espresso scene enormously here. And thank god for that.

Evolving espresso is what the New World has done and there is enormous value in that. That's not really 'got' in Italy, with the typical Italian attitude of "why change it - it is simply the best how we do it".

His overall assertion that the best hope for the London coffee scene is through the emerging French cafes. I couldn't disagree more. However it isn't surprising given that what he is benchmarking towards is what he is used to, and towards his version of what espresso should be - an Italian/Latin European one.

All in all, quite a non-article really.

Some people just like to be snobs.

Thanks for the link and satisfying my curiosity. Sometimes curiosity wastes time.

Better reading useful articles on the specialty coffee scene in London which I understand to be rapidly evolving and very exciting. Planning on finding these articles instead.

ziobeege_72 wrote: At its core - the whole issue comes down to the Italian view of New World espresso, a point that has been debated over and over again. At a risk of overgeneralisation, Italian baristas seem to think that we elevate the best baristas almost to rock star status with our world competitions, and that the attitudes of some of the baristas and proprietors is way out of proportion given the unremarkable, massmarket nature of the beverage in Italy. Hence his comment on Australian and NZ cafes. I wish he told us how he thinks the espresso tastes in these places, rather than telling his view the culture around them (which he clearly doesnt like).

+1

But when one of our lot visits Italy, we appreciate their espresso as a mass market beverage. It would be nice if the visiting Italian firemen returned the favor and appreciated ours as a specialty drink.

However, this is not going to happen. The reason for their tactlessness is not a lack of taste or political cluelessness, but the marketing strategy of Italian coffee companies. They want to wave a magic wand over their domestic mass market coffees, and sell them as specialty here. So a container of NYCEX contract Rio in Trieste magically turns into a 13 bean blend when it arrives, a few months post roast, here. After all, the beans came from 13 different plantations, maybe even 14.

{1st post and yes I am sort of going to disagree with someone who knows vastly more than me }

another_jim wrote:Wow this guy is even higher on the BS scale than the Illy barista. The Illy barista doesn't violate the laws of nature, and this guy does. A 13 bean blend to lend complexity? Here's a little statistics exercise: What's the chance of one bean of all 13 coffees getting into a single shot? What about a second bean from each constituent? Hint: the best chance is when all 13 beans are in equal proportions. Also, there's roughly 50 beans in a single.

How would this work in Italy where they always use a doser, would the grinds not mix with each pull of the doser so the blend ratio have more chance of being maintained?

Now that's a terrific first point -- you're right, I'm wrong.
If they keep a full doser, they can probably maintain a very consistent composition.

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