Which Is More Virtuous, Consistency or Best Performance?

I guess the subject line say it all, but perhaps it should be given the alternative title: Giving Experimentation A Chance.

Not counting my wasted youth as a denizen in the cafes of Germany, France, and Italy, my first experience of coffee was in a corporate setting, where consistency was at minimum the equal of quality. Of course, the quality was poor as I, and many others now know, but the message of consistency continued to resonate with me long after I saw the error in product quality.

When I left corporate coffee to manage for a specialty coffee roaster-retailer, I took the message of consistency with me. And, for the length of my tenure there, I was tenacious in rooting out inconsistencies. Then, when I resigned my position in order to return to Texas and take care of family, Brenda and I made plans to take the return trip slow. Things were about to change.

I call my return trip to Texas the "West Coast Coffee Tour 2007" because, though we did visit friends, and see typical tourist sights, we spent a great deal of time and effort making the scene at some of the most-talked-about, and "best" coffee houses from Seattle to Portland to Los Angeles.

One of the learnings from that survey was that there was no consistency except great quality. From menus, to drink recipes, to sizes, to cafe feel--the was so much variance; so much experimentation. I suppose that trip alone was responsible for turning me from a dogmatist to a philosopher.

When asked, how long a shot should take, I can no longer say 'X' seconds. When questioned about shot volume, I can no longer tell anyone that it is 'X' ounces (or cl). "It depends." There is no simple answer. I can pull great shots at various volumes and times. How much crema is good? Answer: It depends. If it is light tan and papery smelling, it doesn't matter how much crema, it is bad.

When I got back to Texas, I had the opportunity to work with equipment and coffee that spanned the spectrum of quality and condition. With a mind set of no rules, I was able to produce great and unexpected results under these varied circumstances. I have now seen such variance in technique result in such excellence in the cup, and experienced it by my own hand, that I am no longer frustrated by inconsistency, merely intrigued at the new possibilities.

Please do not get the idea from this post that I no longer see consistency as desirable. The ability to reproduce a result in the cup is vital, but I think in our rush to develop standards, we have lost a grasp of the magic possible in espresso. It is that magic that fires the imagination and makes espresso an event not a product. And baristi and retailers should not forget or abandon experimentation in favor of rigid standards.