Just a Cup of Joe

I had a chat the other day with the guys from Joe - The Art of Coffee. The quote I put on the post some days ago, about coffee and room temperature, actually was from their barista trainer, as I found out. He was there on my first visit, just standing behind the guys working the bar, and according to those poor folks giving them a hard time. Joe is special in that his personnel does not consist only of ready-made baristas, but he also takes on people without experience. Then they undergo boot camp. They get three months of training before they serve their first espresso to a customer. And that earlier quote is taken seriously. They adjust their settings every hour, to compensate for changes in the room temperature etc. Some of their newer baristas actually get a bit jittery from tasting the coffee all the time. But it seems to pay off. The stuff is delicious. They also offer afternoon classes for the average Joe wanting to get the basics of coffee-making right. I just might take one of those classes, actually. Supervised by drill sergeant coffee trainer! Except, of course, police comes down and seals off the entire dining area at Grand Central again to investigate whatever, as they did yesterday.


Carefully investigating a chair and an abandoned coffee jug.

Btw: As every other coffee place so far where I really liked the espresso, they also happen to have a La Marzocco. I really should start saving...