an old barista

Yesterday, I had a wonderful shift.

I pulled quite possibly the best shot of my life! This is a feeling that is quite possibly only understood by baristas, for those who aren't, I excelled at my job when I did that. It was a feeling of payoff. I have been practicing for moments such as this for three years now, and it happened. It's much the same as when Mark Lemke would hit a home run(for those of you that remember the old Braves baseball player). You practice away learning to get good hits, ones that land you at least standing on base, but then everything lines up and you connect and the ball sails over the fence; only in this instance, it took 9 atmospheric bars of pressure, my 19 grams of Blackbird Coffee's house espresso, a spotless 4oz demitasse cup, saucer and silver spoon, and 26 seconds but I was sailing over the fence.
The flavor profile was amazing, and my tongue went wild with appreciation, experiencing this from beginning to end:
It all started with my taste buds at a rest being segued, and not shoved surprised, but ushered into an overwhelmingly pleasant green then black cardamom lasting only for seconds, somehow then transforming into a sharp raspberry- or maybe lesser cranberry tartness (but pleasant) middle that made my taste buds dance as if my tongue were a ballroom floor and then it immediately and finally disappeared into a perfectly smooth and creamy dark caramel that stayed with me for the rest of the 4 to 5 o'clock period remaining on my shift, never once going sour; never once going stale; never once going bitter....then it disappeared, vanishing without a trace.
That was my day yesterday, that was what hit me today as I realized yet another reason I love what I do.
Again, and again, and again, I cannot wait to learn more.
I cannot wait until I am an old barista. Until I have had many more of these experiences.

I cannot wait until I am an old barista.

-Chris

It takes love - Dr. Illy