Specialty Coffee Retailer is a publication for owners, managers and employees of retail outlets that sell specialty coffee. Its scope includes best sales practices, supplies, business trends and anything else to assist the small coffee retailer.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/73257
foundation to start working the Slowbar," White says. "We ask our baristas to make and drink one Slowbar item per shiſt for themselves. Th is gives them the courage and opportunity to experiment with extraction, pour rates, etc." Min also says it all comes down to a series of very focused process is all individually controlled, the coff ee maker has the opportunity to showcase fl avors and aromas depending on their degree of understanding." Gray says that as more coff ee shops use the BBTC method, " Min says. "As the hands-on extracting and tasting exercises. "I do feel a sensible palate is required to make great BBTC, they should experiment with what works best for their consumers. "Th e consumers enjoy watching their cup being handcraſt ed and hand-poured in front of them," Gray says. "So more visibility to the process is a better way to capture the attention of the consumer. Of course, we always recommend high-quality components, from coff ee fi lters to water to premium coff ee being used. only off er origin coff ees on the Slowbar—although we can and will prepare blends in the French Press." BBTC segment. "Blends can work, too, but not as well since they can taste muddled, For White, origin coff ee can really stand out within the " he says. "In our world at SteamDot, we " S����D��'� S������ "���� �� ������� ������," ���� ���� ����� J������� W����. inquiring why a simple cup of coff ee was taking so long. "It was a process to educate the consumers, MARKETING BBTC When Oliveira fi rst introduced BBTC, they had people tasted the coff ee, immediately they knew the diff erence and learned to appreciate a slow method of brewing coff ee." Industry experts agree that when prepared correctly, nothing " Oliveira says. "When they really compares to a cup of coff ee made just for you. "It sort of markets itself," White says. "If you normally drink drip coff ee that's been sitting in a gallon carafe all day and then you sip on a cup of coff ee made by a barista while you watch, there's an instant connection. You can actually see it happen in some customers. It's like they just got hit by a bolt of lightning and they're thinking, 'Where has this been all my life!' And we sell the devices so they can bring the entire setup home and recreate it there. impact if the timing expectations are not set properly. "It's important that the guests understand that we don't start Min believes that BBTC could have a negative consumer " programs. For example, within its fi rst weeks of opening in November 2011, Lamill Coff ee hit the ground running with coff ee clinics, to allow its consumers to learn and explore the depths of specialty coff ee beans and brewing processes. In grinding until we ring the drink in," Min says. "We have found that once our guests understand our commitment to quality, the wait becomes worth it. We also fi nd that this leads to a newfound desire and curiosity in great coff ee." Consumer education is also key within successful BBTC interested in BBTC methods and learning about coff ee, and as the self-proclaimed coff ee nerds that we are, we love hosting these clinics and sharing our knowledge," Min says. COMMON MISTAKES White says too many shops copy what their competitors are doing without really understanding how or why to use BBTC devices. "If you just decide one day you're going to start off ering addition, Lamill Coff ee has off ered a number of Saturday coff ee clinics that have covered a variety of specialty beans, their unique qualities and which extraction methods best express their inherent characteristics. Th e classes are in high enough demand that the café requires reservations for the clinics at $10 per clinic. "We fi nd that the consumers in Baltimore are extremely coff ees in, say a V60, without having a plan, it likely won't work," White says. "I think customers can sense that, too. You can usually tell which shops that haven't really embraced BBTC because their brewers are collecting dust on a shelf or under the counter. It also can take an incredible amount of patience. We started selling 6 to 10 Slowbar coff ees per day. Today that's just about all we make for drip, so we're closer to 50 to 60 BBTC cups today. being the biggest enemies of BBTC: "You're only producing eight to 16 ounces, so any slight fault shows in the cup. Oliveira agrees. "Because each coff ee is brewed on demand, Min also sees inaccurate dosing and water temperature as " " it is very important to emphasis the consistency of weighting the coff ee per gram, amount of water, method, and timing to maintain consistency to each guest on each cup, all about consistency." SCR July 2012 • www.specialty-coffee.com | 23 " he says. "It's