Go anywhere else in the world, and the person making and serving your coffee is likely a college kid trying to make some extra money on the side, and “I’ll just have a coffee, please” is a totally normal order. But here in Melbourne, coffee is a lifestyle; being a barista is no game.
I decided to do a little bit of research on the ins and outs of the #baristalyfe by interviewing Pennie Duffell, a coffee wizard at Cattivo café in Camberwell. Here’s the lowdown:
Spoon: Give me the scoop. What’s the best part of being a barista?
Pennie: Probably the multitasking. I enjoy being busy. You have to pump out coffees for the customers as quickly as you can without making any mistakes, while still giving good customer service. It’s also really fun creating relationships with my customers.
Spoon: Is there anything that customers do that annoys you?
Pennie: I hate when a customer comes in expecting that they know more about coffee than I do. I also hate when customers ask which beans we use. Making a good coffee is 10% the beans, 10% the machine, and 80% the barista. The beans aren’t usually a big factor.
Spoon: Do you have many regular customers at Cattivo?
Pennie: Yes! I’ve memorised over 100 customers’ usual orders. A lot of people walk in and I’ll know their order before they’ve placed it. I have heaps of people come in ordering coffees for the office. They’ll say, “I’ll get one for Rachel, one for Chloe…” and I’ll know all the orders just by hearing the person’s name.
Spoon: Have you ever encountered any really strange or unique orders?
Pennie: I guess nothing really seems too weird to me anymore. Some people have really specific orders. You get people that will ask for their coffee at a certain temperature. One time someone ordered a coffee with eight sugars. Another person asked for half decaf, half regular once.
Spoon: Speaking of unique coffee, what’s your take on these “hipster” coffee trends, like deconstructed coffee and golden lattes?
Pennie: Not. Into. It. Let’s put it this way: I’m just not a coffee w*nker. I really don’t like it when you go into a coffee shop and they refuse to make coffee a certain way just because “that’s not how coffee is meant to be made.” And all this golden latte, beetroot latte stuff — just, no. I don’t like it. And most of them don’t even have coffee in them! They’re just fancy milk drinks.
Spoon: How does the coffee scene here in Melbourne compare to other places in Australia? Or other places in the world?
Pennie: There’s definitely a much larger focus on coffee here. Even going overseas, they don’t have the same coffee culture as we do in Melbourne. It’s also just a matter of taking the time to find the good coffee shops wherever you are in the world. But if you’re going to go somewhere for the coffee, Melbourne is definitely the place. Steer clear of the United States.
Spoon: What do you make of the “coffee snob” stereotype that Melbourne has? Would you say you’re a coffee snob?
Pennie: I definitely want to say no! Well, maybe a little bit. I guess I’m not super picky about the beans a place uses or anything like that, although I do have some types of beans I’d stay away from. But in general, Melbourne’s coffee snob stereotype is pretty accurate. More so here than elsewhere, people tend to have “their” coffee place or “their” barista — they’ll visit a certain café at certain times or on certain days because a specific barista will be working.
Spoon: So do you have any tips for any aspiring baristas?
Pennie: Just to stay open minded. There’s not just one way to make a good coffee. If you get a job somewhere, don’t try to change their coffee-making process. Most of the customers are there because they like how that coffee is made. There are lots of different preferences and opinions. Stay open — don’t try to change.
So there you have it, folks: this city is full of coffee snobs, golden lattes aren’t really lattes at all, your barista probably knows best, and Melbourne coffee objectively rocks. But we kind of knew that already, didn’t we?