Barista -final

SECTIONCODE: 33-food-utt
SECTION: food
SUBSECTION: utt
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P/Q: If he wants to grab coffee instead of, say, dinner or a proper drink, then he might as well say “Let’s be friends.”
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TEXT:
When a guy suggests going for coffee, I get nervous. If it’s a guy I’m interested in, and he wants to grab coffee instead of, say, dinner or a proper drink, then he might as well say “Let’s be friends.” If it’s a guy you are dating, there is a good chance he will break up with you, warns a sampling of my male friends. If it’s a guy you’ve dated, and out of the blue he wants to go for coffee, then it could go either way. He may want a part two , or he may just want to drop in to check up on you and remind you that he is an upstanding person who doesn’t discard people when a relationship end s, which of course leaves you questioning why it ever ended. So coffees, I try to avoid.
And drinking coffees I’ve avoided most of my adult life mostly because I’m a tea person –that was I until I took my first lesson as a barista at Fuel Coffee, IFC Mall. Gabe, the grand master, was showing me how to grip a portafilter, the handle that attaches to semi-automatic and piston-driven espresso machines.
“Curl your fingers around the handle and place your thumb here for control,” Gabe directed. We loaded fresh grounds into the portafilter then packed it evenly with a stomper. “The weight comes from the shoulder with a slight bend, but don’t lock the arm.” As he was revealing the elements of a great espresso – heat, water (meticulously filtered) and pressure – I suddenly realised I had no idea what a perfect brew would look or taste like. At what point do I tell him I’m not a coffee person?
Fuel, like all coffee nazis, is pretty pedantic about quality control. Each morning the grounds and machine (in this case the Ferrari of espresso makers, La Marzocco, hand assembled in Florence, Italy) need to be adjusted according to the most miniscule changes in the air, which Gabe can instinctually sense.
My teacher submitted me to 55 bumps, grinds, and pulling bases before I achieved an acceptable cup. And several cartons of milk were used before I got something that resembled froth, not foam, in the stainless steel jug. In a typical four-week training session, each student can use more than 24 litres of milk before reaching perfection. Ideally, the steamed froth is an even-bodied, creamy milk base that pours in thickly, splitting a single shot of dark espresso which is capped with a not-too-thin, not-too-thick crema. And never, ever dot the cup with foam – real baristas don’t do that shit.
I watched the master at work. Two taps, a pull, a wash, a dry, an adjustment, a grind, a stamp, a spank, a lock, a press, then magic. It’s all style and Gabe made the process look effortless. Even when Roger Federer is tripping over himself on a clay court, he looks like he is posing for page one. “It’s all a confidence game,” said my tutor.
He taught me to take a loud slurp from a teaspoon, drawing in the flavours of cardamom and peppercorns. Fuel’s coffee beans are grown near spice plants on an old estate in Coorg, India. And like a cabernet sauvignon grape, the beans take on the flavours of their surroundings. I also learned that freshly roasted coffee is not a desirable thing. According to the Fuel guys, coffee should be used the day after roasting and up to two weeks later, allowing the flavours to settle.
I had invited the men of my past to come by for a cup of coffee. This was a slightly suicidal move on my part because if I had to be completely honest with myself I would say I was doing one of two things: I wanted a part two or I wanted to show them I’m an upstanding person who can move beyond raw emotions and leave them with that as my legacy. But the running line of the day was a sugar-coated guilty offering of caffeine for never having made them a brew before, mostly because I didn’t know how. But that was then.
I was ecstatic to see them after a long silence, after the obstacles, after the bullshit, standing in this coffee bar, I knew we were cool. Gabe, sensing the change in the air, and let me take my break. I made them my best brew, to the exacting degree taught, Angie’s perfect one-day training espresso. Lingering over a cup at the counter we sensed we’ve changed but we're still the same, so far from where we've been, it’s a miracle that we can sit and sip together today.

Want to learn the art of coffee-making? Time Out Hong Kong has arranged two special workshops at Fuel Espresso, IFC Mall, at 2pm on Saturday, Aug 1 and 8. To participate, email angie.wong@timeout.com.hk with “coffee workshop” in the subject line. The first 10 entries received will be invited to take part. Please state your preferred date. Workshops last about one hour.