CI flirts with the poverty line, takes it out on espresso luminaries
March 1, 2007 – 2:59 pmstill more ominous signs of “middle americans getting squeezed” — this time a resurgence in popularity for once-abandoned burger joints, at the expense of $12-meal-and-a-vibe establishments. which leaves $5 coffee …. where, exactly?
this blog has a fulfilling lower-middle-class job, yet we’ve recently been forced to cut magazine subscriptions, beach trips — maybe even trendy eucalyptus-based hygiene products! which begs the uncomfortably vital — also vitally uncomfortable — question: if this blog weren’t neurotically addicted (and irreversibly vested), would we put espresso drinks on the chopping block along with dinner at applebee’s?
pause, reread graf. gulp. repeat. raises the stakes a bit when you read that this year’s specialty coffee bash might be putting “zero focus on the consumer public,” eh? rue and loathing come to mind, along with questions like, ‘are we talking ourselves to death?’ does barista worship and establishment triple-waveism in all its resplendent, echo-chambery, seed-to-cup moralism* completely bypass, you know, reality? the customer? the pinched masses?
to be clear: this blog has no idea. just askin’! (UPDATE: well, ok.)
* — obviously, this blog must grapple on its own with the typically compromised, love-hate, parasitic relationship most home junkies have with establishment triple-waveism. without it, we’d still be heaping cane sugar granules in the portafilter!
UPDATE: come to think of it, prince’s screed appears to be the first obvious example of an amateur with establishment credentials voluntarily cashing them in … and the detox regimen appears to include a significant reduction in forum activity. qui tacet consentit!
I’ll tell you what I told M.P. Any sort of significant change in any sector of anything almost always has to start on the micro- level. If we want better consumer education, leaving it up to the SCAA is not an option. If we want better relationships between roasters and baristi (and more importantly, baristi and customers), we have to press the issue wherever we can effect the most change, like your customers if you are a barista or your barista friends if you are not a barista. Maybe we should all just hang out in coffee shops and have conversations going on where other people actually feel welcome.
phil: quite agreed. which is one reason i tend to flog the establishment shunners a bit gleefully (the latin post-script was tongue in cheek). however, the echo chamber is kind of like the mainstream media — it’s fashionable to bash ‘em, but the ovement couldn’t really do without ‘em.
now, hanging out in a coffee shop … i can envision a LOT of world-ill-solving that could be done in that context. excellent!
“(the latin post-script was tongue in cheek).”
Those damn pretentious third wavers!
guilty. i plead guilty.
Erm.
My posting cycle at coffeed.com doesn’t have anything to do with my change in focus in how much or how little I plan to cover the SCAA and Barista competitions in the future.
Instead, my posting cycle at coffeed.com is more affected by my thoughts on participating in that forum specifically. Make any sense?
makes plenty of sense!
but, ah, the fact that this comment comes six weeks after the original post means … what, exactly? that you don’t use an rss reader? that snarky blogs are an insufferable pain in yer keister?
To be honest, I missed the original reference when it was posted – I was pointed to it a few days ago by Michael, a local barista. I don’t mind snarky blogs. I just find it hard to read sometimes when no capitalisation is used LOL!
i know what you mean. people who do that funky, brit, ‘capitalization’-spelled-with-an-s thing drive me NUTS.
but seriously. i have no idea why ANYone reads this thing anyway. much less you and some barista named michael in vancouver.