Coffee Common

We asked baristas who worked with us at TEDGlobal to profile a bit about their experience.  Here’s what they had to say.

Candice Madison

Barista

London, UK
 

Why did you come to collaborate with Coffee Common at TEDGlobal?

I had read about the Coffee Common/TED Long Beach event. When the opportunity to work at Edinburgh came along, I knew I had to be involved. Not only would it mean working and learning from some of the best baristas and roasters in the industry, but this would all take place at TEDGlobal - a gathering of some of the most innovative thinkers from around the globe. I have been inspired by the cutting-edge TED talks for a few years, and the chance to interact, share experiences, and share coffee with such creative and open-minded people was too good to pass up.

Which of the coffees was your favorite?

It’s hard to pin down just one, but I was delighted and surprised by Gimme Coffee’s Finca San Luis. I haven’t been exposed to as many Colombian coffees, and those I had tried previously had been pleasing, but this particular coffee was complex and delicious from initial aroma to sweet finish. Other highlights were the brewed cup of Koppi’s Yirgacheffe (Ethiopia) for it’s light and floral nature and the espresso variations of Square Mile’s Sierra de Las Minas (Guatemala) and Ecco’s Finca La Clara (Costa Rica).

Which barista did you most enjoy working with at Coffee Common?  Which barista did you learn the most from?

Wow! Let’s see, I can only say that to pick just one person would be not only be impossible, but it would also do a disservice to the amazing multi-faceted learning experience I had. It was an amazing bunch of people. Fun, exciting, silly times were had indeed, but I have to say that they were some of the most supportive and professional people I’ve worked with. It was great to meet and work with people I would otherwise not have a chance to. 

What did you learn while working with Coffee Common?

I came into coffee solely as a means to earn a living, learning to enjoy it as job, but I believe that it was this Coffee Common experience that made me realise that I love coffee, not just as a beverage, but as a product from tree to cup and as an industry. I have been shown emphatically that I can learn just as much from the consumer as from coffee professionals. It’s this experience that cemented my desire to make working in coffee and sharing those experiences my career.

How did working with Coffee Common change the way you work with coffee or with consumers?

Watching other baristas, their techniques and the many ways they interacted with customers, via different cultures and personalities was eye-opening. One instance made me realise that allowing even more space for the consumer to tell me about the coffee, to guide the experience they were having and recognizing my roll as a facilitator in this was revelatory.  It also lead to some expansive discussions, ways I hadn’t even thought of about how to talk about coffee.

Describe the best interaction, or reaction, you had with a TEDster in Edinburgh?

One of the best interactions I had came from one of the most challenging consumers I had ever talked with. One TEDster came up to the counter on about three separate occasions to tell me that she would never enjoy the coffee that we served because it wouldn’t taste like coffee. When I asked her what coffee tasted like she responded “you know, bitter, strong….coffee. Not all these different ‘flavours’ .” I was really taken aback by her insistence that she wouldn’t like what we had on offer. It then occurred that she had been up to the counter every day to tell me this information and I realised that we had still made a connection over coffee, even if it came from a negative reaction! On the fourth day, she agreed to taste some of a brewed coffee I was making for myself - a victory in and of itself. Her reaction: “That’s actually really nice, can I have a cup of my own?” 

Describe a time when you had a coffee that changed your approach to specialty coffee for good? 

Going to Melbourne and realising that coffee could taste good, not just in one or two places, but everywhere. But more than this, that given just a little experience and pointers, I could make great coffee at home. It wasn’t magic, it wasn’t inaccessible - it could be just me and the coffee and we’d be fine.

What is one mis-perception or myth in specialty coffee that drives you mad/that you’d like to see changed?

Easy. That you need sugar to ‘make’ coffee sweet. I honestly don’t have any issue if you prefer sugar in your coffee because you have a sweet tooth. That’s fine - it’s your coffee. But if you think your coffee ‘needs’ sugar, don’t blame the coffee itself, that’s not the problem. 

What is your response when people ask “What is Coffee Common?” 

The chance, whether it be as a barista, roaster or consumer, to prepare and enjoy drinking one of the oldest beverages in the world together and share our experiences of what that means to each of us.