Barista Magazine is your home for the worldwide community of coffee and the people who make it.
Issue link: http://baristamagazine.epubxp.com/i/96027
Jan-Fredrik Winter Operations Manager, Kvosin Reykjavik, Iceland Jan-Fredrik loves: Shot glasses (www.beyondthebean.com) My favorite barista tools are my espresso shot glasses, believe it or not. They are usually rolling around in my bag waiting to shatter. The thing about the shot glasses that I like is they help me a lot when I need to change the settings on the espresso machine and the grinder. Whenever I am asked to tune espresso machines and grinders, I pull out my glasses and make an espresso shot. Because they are glass and have that very handy mark on them, it is very easy to see where I have to start. They show you the crema as the espresso pours and you see if it's a short or long shot. You can get shot glasses almost anywhere. Mine are ordered from Beyond the Bean, but usually all coffee shops have shot glasses for sale. If that fails, just use shot glasses meant for alcohol. Drew Moody Founder, A Table in the Corner of the Café Chicago, Illinois Drew loves: Sanitizing towels (www.urnexbrand.com/products/ Cafe_Wipz_Coffee_Equipment_Cleaning_Wipes.aspx) Let's face it—nobody likes to see an unkempt bar. Even fewer want to see old, curdled milk caked on the steam wand of an otherwise pristine espresso machine. And there's not a café owner in the world that wants to see his or her small business get shut down by a failed health inspection. That's why the most important tool at a barista's disposal is the sanitizing towel. This tool is widely available at just about any retail store that sells household goods, and is probably the most inexpensive item that will make the biggest difference in not only the cleanliness of your coffee bar, but also the quality of the products served. For something specific to café use, try Urnex's Café Wipz. Asli Yaman Chief Roast Master/Director of Production Soyuz Coffee Roasting; Kaliningrad, Russia Asli loves: The Salter Air Scale (www.salterhousewares.com) Being a specialty-coffee roaster, not only do I demand daily brewing of our existing coffees for quality purposes, but my team and I also try different coffees from our suppliers and friends. That is why almost every morning our day begins with a different type of brewing in the laboratory. Maybe because I am always competing against the clock during the daily production rush, the importance of using the right tools during each step is even more accentuated. And to brew the right cup, I need to measure each component—the right scale helps a lot! I love to use the Salter Air Scale because it provides the necessary accuracy, it is super slim, portable, user friendly, stylish, and has great battery life. I recommend it for both home and professional use! www.baristamagazine.com 63