In the past, coffee roasters were the arbiters of quality; they held the secrets, and baristas didn’t have access to their knowledge. As coffee culture shifts closer to a business model like that of the wine industry, the role baristas play in the feedback loop that connects consumers and producers has been repositioned as an essential filter for quality control.
The barista is ‘on the scene’ to register the impressions of customers as they sample new flavours and new roast batches.