Open Letter to US Coffee Companies

Dear US Speciality Coffee Companies,

I know that you all are bored with espresso. I know you think it's lame and uncool.
I understand this.

But please listen to me for one second... We, your customers... we love espresso and espresso drinks. This is why, no matter how many brew bars you set up and no matter how many cupping hours you throw, the majority of the coffee you serve is your espresso blend.

You understood this a decade ago. That's why you put so much energy and attention and love into your espresso blends.

Since then I've watched as the quality of espresso started to fall off. First there were a dozen decent espresso blends in the US. Then there were four.

Now there are none.

That's right. At present there are no espresso blends produced by US roasters that I would describe as "good." There absolutely are espresso blends that one can, periodically, produce great shots from. But there is not a single espresso in the US that is consistent, high quality, and good tasting.

Why has this happened?

Because you all stopped giving a fuck. You stopped giving a fuck about your espresso. You stopped giving a fuck about your espresso program. You stopped giving a fuck about the baristas who have to work with a blend that is entirely different in all ways batch to batch. And you stopped giving a fuck about us, your customers.

And that, my friends, is the unpardonable sin.

You talk about your passion and love for coffee. You talk about the sacrifices you make to pursue this love. How can you claim passion for coffee and care for your customers while you blatantly give zero fucks about the coffee the vast majority of us drink?

So it's time to fix this shit.

1 - Ask yourself honestly, "am I proud of the espresso we are selling and serving?"
2 - Stop using your espresso blend as a dumping ground for unwanted coffees
3 - Understand that baristas are using this coffee at set parameters and make the damn coffee work at those parameters
4 - Know what your espresso's "signature flavor" is - and please try to keep it the same batch to batch.

It's time to give a fuck again.

-c