I never realized how making a good coffee is not as simple as it seems, until I started watching videos of barista (and/or coffee experts) making coffee from ingredients to equipment, etc.
Even making a plain black coffee which practically consists of ground coffee and water has as much science as art.
Of course, most of us would just dismiss this and say, it’s not that complicated. Just mix ground coffee with warm to hot water and that’s it! And this is technically true and you’d still be producing a coffee drink this way. But the reason we go to Starbucks and other coffee shops is not because they prepare coffee like that. Nope, that simple mixing of coffee and water is what we do when we don’t have the budget to go get a really great tasting coffee. Or, we could just get those instant (3-in-1) coffee and be done with it.
Great coffee, just like any great meal or other drink, starts with great (high quality) ingredients. And it makes sense. Water quality is also important. Water temperature is another factor that could greatly affect the taste of coffee, even the milk that is added to it must be heated at the right temperature.
Equipment used to grind coffee beans, to extract the flavors, heat and froth the milk are also expensive and requires a good maintenance to produce consistent and quality coffee drink.
Once you realize all of these (and it’s not even all, just the major things), you’ll understand why they’re a bit pricey. The people who prepare these coffee drinks underwent training (which costs money), the coffee shop contains equipment that are expensive. The ingredients and storage to keep these ingredients fresh are also expensive. The seats and tables, lighting, decorations also expensive.
So on your next visit to your favorite coffee shop, I hope you bring this new appreciation of how the shop owners and staff are constantly trying to deliver to you the best possible customer experience and the least we can do is say “Thank you!” to them.
See how complicated coffee is? It’s so complex that writing this blog becomes harder to write than writing codes 🙂
