I am a Barista at a local coffee shop in Springfield, MO called
The Coffee Ethic and have been for one year now. However, I have been a Barista for 4 years starting at my mom's cafe: Grace Cafe. Unfortunately her shop closed down two years ago, because Cape Girardeau wasn't ready for her coffee. She was ahead of her time.
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| Pic by Liz Church |
Now, I am going to school in Springfield and work at the most EPIC coffee shop in the world: The Coffee Ethic. A year before I moved to Springfield, I lived in Bolivar and use to drive 45 minutes just to get a cup of coffee from this place. I really am living a dream come true!
Sometimes I am just in awe of coffee, the process it has to go under before it gets to a customer-- especially, espresso. It is just beautiful sometimes. The rich color takes my breath away.
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| Pic by Me |
I always joke that I do my best Barista work in my skinny jeans. You know just reinforcing the third wave stereotypes, but I don't have any tattoos or facial hair so I am already an oddball. ;)
My favorite part of being a Barista is the people. I have met so many great people in the Springfield community and from all over the world. In fact, today, I met a guy who rooms with a Barista in Dayton, Ohio and was told he had to try our Clover. Also, two Baristas from a Tulsa, Oklahoma shop called
Topeca came in, and we had some great conversations.
The sense of community created in a coffee shop is incredible, and I love what I do.
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this is a great post!♥ i love the variety of photos [you can see subtle differences depending on the photographer], and of course i love the subject matter:) coffee houses have some of the greatest community i have ever encountered.
ReplyDeletemuch to love♥
Love the pics...and I too love the atmosphere of coffeeshops. :)
ReplyDeleteadored this post. I like when you talk about coffee :-) and you. those are two of my favorite things.
ReplyDeleteLove this post! Gorgeous pictures, too.
ReplyDeleteOn a sort-of related note, perhaps you can tell me the best kind of fair-trade coffee to buy. Also, what coffees to avoid. (What, you mean Folgers isn't fair-trade? I kid, I kid... and I just threw up a little.)
That is a great question Louise!
ReplyDeleteActually, "fair trade" is a pretty loose term right now considering that the fair price is currently lower than the regular market price. Our coffee shop in Springfield, MO uses PT's Coffee, and they are phenomenal.
They have Direct Trade coffee, which is kind of the next step of "fair trade". It means they pay them a higher price than fair trade or market value and have a relationship with the farmers. The roasters make visits to each farm at least once a harvest.
PT's Coffee is not alone though. There are other great companies out there like Topeca in Tulsa, Intelligentsia in Chicago, etc.
I don't know where your little town in Oregon is. (Google Maps says it doesn't exist but who likes them anyway) But places in Oregon I know about are Coava, Public Domain, and Stumptown. They all have direct trade, but to be honest, I have never tried them. Stuck in the Mid-West for now!
Thanks for checking my blog out!