Coffee and community tend to go hand in hand. Just peek inside any of the city’s coffee shops, where people are collaborating, producing and reuniting.
Baton Rouge’s newest organization, the Barista Guild of Baton Rouge, is all about the coffee-makers themselves, and they’ve got some serious goals for this community. 225 Dine talked with the city’s newest group about what its members have up their sleeves for the city.
WHAT IS THE GUILD, AND WHO IS IN IT?
Last summer, third-wave coffee began to gain significant traction locally, and artisan coffee shops from New Orleans and Lafayette announced plans for new locations in the Capital City.
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Inspired by this, a group of baristas from local shops recently decided to form the guild as an inclusive, safe space for coffee lovers to learn, grow and network. Members work at cafes like Magpie Cafe, French Truck Coffee, Lafayette-based Reve Coffee Roasters (opening in White Star Market in February), Light House Coffee (opening on Lee Drive in March) and District Donuts. But, any barista can be involved, not just those from independent stores.
“The idea is to grow into something that puts on regular events,” says French Truck Coffee manager Melissa Dixon.
So far, those events have been rotating, bi-monthly throwdowns at local shops, as well as cupping and meet-up events.
WHAT IS A THROWDOWN, AND WHEN IS THE NEXT ONE?
A throwdown is a latte art competition hosted by a coffee shop where anyone can participate. Pourers choose their type of drink and design, and winners move forward in a bracket system, until first, second and third place is decided by a panel of judges. Competitions are open to professional baristas and beginners who just want to learn. “It’s a spectator sport,” says Reve Coffee Roasters’ Giovanni Roberts.
French Truck Coffee is hosting the next competition this Thursday, Jan. 18, at 7 p.m. Admission is free, and there will be music, food trucks, door prizes and free coffee and Tin Roof Brewing Co. beer. RSVP to the event and find more information on Facebook.
Baristas will showcase their skills, pouring intricate designs such as dragons, swans, rosettas, and hearts—benchmarks that take hundreds of drinks’ worth of practice to achieve. The event will have three judges: musician and Beneath the Bark jewelry designer Molly Taylor will serve as the local judge, along with two coffee professionals from New Orleans. Latte art will be judged according to difficulty, balance and symmetry, creativity, clarity of design (contrast), and milk texture, says French Truck Coffee head barista Emily McCollister.
THE ART AND SCIENCE OF A POUR
Listening to the guild’s baristas discuss their craft, they touch on everything from the science of microfoam and the subtleties in design to how coffee impacts communities and movements. Pouring requires knowledge of densities and area surface—it’s easier to pour in a latte or cappuccino than it is a macchiato or cortado.
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“It gets more intense as you get into coffee and you realize there is no ceiling,” Roberts says.
“Most baristas take what they do really seriously, and they should because it’s a craft that requires a lot of attention and skill and knowledge,” McCollister says. “It keeps you on your toes … You’re doing measurements, using your senses and tasting things, making split decisions and also making something beautiful.”
Find the Barista Guild of Baton Rouge on Instagram and Facebook.