Self-Espression

I've never felt so uncultured in my life.

I just got back from training at Herkimer Coffee on Phinney Ridge, about eight espressos and two lattes the worse for wear. Is it possible to barf from too much espresso?

My head is spinning from all the detailed information.

Let's start at the beginning. Last week I got a third job working weekends at a coffee shop in my neighborhood. They send everyone to be professionally-trained at Herkimer Coffee - an amazing coffee roaster here in Seattle.

My previous barista jobs have consisted of simple equations: espresso + steamed milk = latte. Espresso + foam = cappuccino. I've never been expected to time shots or hold the espresso cup up to the machine so the espresso doesn't cool off and become bitter in the four inches it drops or taste notes of leather and blackberry in espresso.

The trainer kept pulling shots and giving them to me to taste. "In this one, you should get a smokier profile," he said, searching my face for a reaction. I thought for a second about just frowning a bit and nodding sagely - maybe swirling the cup like I'd seen people do with wine - but ultimately I admitted, "I don't think I have an advanced-enough palate to notice subtle differences yet." I'm getting worse at pretending as I age. Sorry. Espresso tastes like coffee. Besides Starbucks, I don't really notice a difference, (possibly because I add a good 1/4th of half and half).

Despite feeling like an idiot, I really enjoyed the training. I love the minute detail of how many times you should tap the espresso before you tamp it down, how many seconds is ideal to start seeing the "spotting" of espresso coming through the filter... And this was just the first training session. Whew.