Understanding Espresso

Today I hosted a gathering of coffee folks of all forms and persuasions.
They'd all come to check out the GS3.

It was really fun. People were really impressed.

We had a good time.

But... in retrospect... I screwed up.

The GS3 has been so exciting - it's so cool and so trick... it's one of those "fetish" pieces of gear. And as a result - I've kind of lost sight of what we're really doing here.

I've become so focused on the machine and its features and it's coolness that I've lost sight of what it means to be a barista. I've lost sight of the espresso.

Today I served coffee to people that wasn't as good as it could have been - not because I was having an off day but because it wasn't what I was focused on.
The espresso had become an excuse for the use of the machine.
And that is just plain wrong.

I wasn't paying attention.
I wasn't focused.
I wasn't thinking about the coffee.

It's been a slow, incremental process of losing my focus and becoming more and more distracted and less and less interested in taste.
I just stopped paying attention to the flavour - I stopped thinking about the results and treating the machine as what it is - a tool for creating great espresso. Yes - it's a truly great tool for this purpose - but I need to stay focused on that goal and on that purpose.

To those who came and visited - I apologize. I did you all a disservice. I promise I'll do my level best to never let it happen again.

I need to get back to what it's all about.
I need to get back to what's in the cup.
Because that is what this is all about. All the time. Every day.

Tomorrow is a new day.