interview
text
ANIES PEILLET
photo
ANIES PEILLET
KAHAWA
KING
“
As a boy growing up in
Kakamega in Western
Kenya, I used to love
the smell of coffee in
the morning. The way
my mother made the coffee back
home was simple: she would set
the pot full of water on the stove,
wait for the water to boil and throw
in a couple tablespoons of roughly
ground local coffee. She would
then pour the brew into a cup, add
some milk and call it coffee!
When I first walked into Dormans as a barista, I instantly knew
that there was more than physical
distance between the brew my
mom called coffee and the aromafilled drinks that were churned out
from the Dormans’ shiny coffee
machines.
So yeah, I guess you could say
I came to the barista profession
by accident. “What the hell does
barista mean?” I asked myself
when I was learning the ropes.
“And more importantly what does a
barista actually do?”
Well it’s quite straightforward: a
barista is the person who is trained
in the art of preparing coffee
drinks and espressos, as well as
foams, froths and steams for the
milk. On any given day, I can be
asked to prepare an espresso, a
cappuccino, an americano, a latte,
a mocha, a mochachino, a caramel,
orange or vanilla latte, a variety
of iced coffees and of course our
signature drink, the Nut Case! The
Nut Case is one shot of espresso
with a pinch of cinnamon and a tad
of hazelnut topped with froth milk.
A good barista knows his or her
product, essentially the beans. Like
a sommelier is familiar with the
entire wine making process and
consumption, a barista is familiar
with the entire coffee-making
process. As a barista, you have
got to understand coffee flavours,
blends and roasting levels and
to memorise a bunch of recipes.
At Dormans we only use the best
Kenyan coffee beans.
A competent barista knows his
equipment. The machines I use are
an extension of my hands—they
are finicky beasts and require
constant fine-tuning and attention
to fire my perfect, signature shots.
From the grinder used to grind
the beans just right, to the tamper
used to compress the ground coffee, to the Lamarzocco commercial
coffee machine which I used to
make everything from espresso to
cappuccinos, they all have to be
RIGHT
Geoffrey Kaize
coffee expert
properly calibrated. Take grinding
for example: too coarse and the
finished product will taste watery
and be flavourless. Too fine and
the coffee will taste burnt and bitter. And what about frothing? Wellfrothed milk is a challenge. Too
much froth and it will mix in with
the coffee. Not enough and it will
lack airiness, which sweetens the
taste of milk like a cloud suspended in midair. And let’s not forget to
mention a milk moustache! That’s
what I aim for, perfection!
Whatever our patrons are seeking, from a robust, spicy cup of
coffee for colder days, to a lighter,
sweet one, individualised attention
is also part of the job description.
The majority of the people who
come in for coffee want “just a coffee” or a cappuccino with no froth.
I understand, that’s cool. But as the
coffee culture worldwide is devel-
A competent
barista knows
his equiptment
oping, so some Dormans patrons
are also becoming more educated
and knowledgeable about coffee
and are refining their taste. From
time to time a patron will walk-in
with a specific demand. Basically
its a flavoured coffee that can
range from a shot of espresso to an
orange mocha or a caramel latte.
I am happy to oblige and to learn
something new in the process!
What keeps me going? When
I am done preparing a cup, the
aroma, that whiff of freshly brewed
coffee that fills the air, is nothing
like the ones that used to fill my
house back home. I feel like I have
come a long way. And the look on
a patr