Making The Perfect Coffee: Baristas Vs. Coffee Makers

There’s nothing quite like a cup of coffee in the morning. The aroma alone seems to wake you up and fill you with energy. And these days there are so many varieties available that it’s hard to choose. It could easily take a lifetime (or several) to work your way through all they varieties of coffee sold today.

But all this coffee raises an interesting question. Who can make the perfect cup of coffee: a person or a machine??

Coffee drinkers use coffee makers for the convenience these machines offer. But not everyone sings their praises – some feel that coffee machines offer an easy cup of coffee, but do so by sacrificing taste. But recent innovations in coffee maker technology try to prove the critics wrong.

These days coffee machines can prepare each cup with an accuracy that was only dreamed of a few years ago. They get the water temperature right, the timing is down to a split-second and the ingredients are measured to near-perfection. Made to produce the best cup of coffee every time, these smart coffee machines like the Jura Z6 make each cup as delicious as possible.

But a coffee machine is still a machine. And there is only so much a machine can do automatically.

Coffee machines are defined by their pre-determined functions. Beyond their functions, they can do nothing else. They can’t customize each cup of coffee to fit your character; they make each cup the same way. A lot of people enjoy that their coffee is brewed exactly the same way each and every time. But not everyone.

For many, the uniqueness of each cup of coffee is something they look forward to. The mystery of the subtle differences in each cup are part of the joy of drinking coffee. And sometimes a “mistake” in the coffee making process will produce a cup that is much more to our liking.

So instead of a machine, lets consider the humble barista. Just what is a barista?

A barista is a person dedicated to creating the perfect cup of coffee (at least, the good ones are). They select, grind, blend, brew, taste and test over and over to find the best way to make the coffee just right. They innovate, always thinking of new ways to delight you with that ever-flavorful coffee bean.

They are also human, so every cup will be unique — a flavor infused with the humanity of the barista. However, their humanity is also a limitation. Unlike a coffee maker, baristas can’t just start making coffee whenever you want them to. You can’t just turn on a barista at any time of the day and tell the person to make you coffee.

Also, being human makes the barista imperfect. A barista isn’t a machine that does everything exactly the same way every single time – every coffee made is unique.

Sometimes, the quirks of a barista make the coffee taste horrible. But just as often, the barista adds enough quirks to the process to make the perfect coffee. If you think about it, a modern barista can benefit hugely from the right coffee machine. They need all the help they can get, if they want to succeed.

Coffee makers and baristas work mutually. The barista chooses the ingredients, finds the right flavors for the right people and guarantees that the coffee will turn out with the quirks and personality of each person. The coffee maker takes those ingredients and transforms them into what the barista envisions – the right cup for the right person.

Become your own barista. Whether you use the latest automatic coffee machine or simple drip coffee makers, the combination of (wo)man and machine is the key to the perfect cup of coffee.