ANGELO

Please meet @angeloscoffeelife 👌this man represents everything what coffee industry should always be about. His Passion and knowledge to coffee are not there just because he is italian ☺️ thank you for being a part of a Coffee Heroes project! Angelo’s story:

“1. Hey Angelo. Can you please introduce yourself and say what do you do?

Hi, my name is Angelo and I’m Sales and Support Manager for @carwardinecoffee, a local roaster based in Bristol. But this is the official introduction. I prefer to present myself as “Angelo, Barista and Authorised SCA Trainer”.

2. How did you get in to coffee?

From 2009 to 2014 I have been working as Storeman and Pasta Extruder in a well known high street chain restaurant in Cardiff and a couple of days after Christmas I was told that the whole company was dismissing both the positions. That was professionally the saddest day of my life. 3 years later, I’m glad that happened. On New Years Eve I was on a National Express coach to London to celebrate the new year with my, today, wife and looking at job ads I came across one for Barista at a new Specialty Coffee shop in Cardiff called Artigiano. I thought: “Barista, that must be easy”. Oh boy was I wrong and, again, I’m glad I was. I got in touch with a whole new world, made of aromas, flavours, extractions, rosettas and tulips. I had the chance to meet those incredible Baristas I now refer to as "Braothers in Coffee". In rigorous alphabetic order: @bearded_barista_james, @coffee_by_joe, @jasonjamescoffee and @roberttalbotcoffee. And, most importantly, I found my real passion: make sure coffee is treated with the respect it deserves. Now, three years later, coffee is my professional life and I couldn’t be happier.

3. What is speciality coffee for you?

Specialty Coffee is the excellence of the best ingredient ever discovered by humanity. The range of flavours you can experience with coffee is the widest amongst all the other ingredients. And Specialty beans are the best of the range we don’t exist.

4. What are the most important aspects of being a barista?

As I said, Specialty Coffee is the excellence. The most important aspect of being a Barista is to at least give justice to it, ideally take the flavours to their best and bring their treat their amazing tastes with the respect and care they deserve. Coffee Farmers are working hard to achieve the status of Specialty for their crops and Roasters are carefully roasting those beans to make sure their key characteristics are enhanced and carefully balanced, but it only takes an incompetent Barista to make all that work and attention to details vain. Ultimately, an outstanding Barista brewing commercial beans can give you a way better experience than a mediocre one brewing a Cup of Excellence.

5. Your biggest, everyday challenge in hospitality/coffee industry?

Everyday, I come across Baristas that don’t really care. Before training they actually think: “it’s just coffee”. My job is to make sure, by the time we have done, they care and do things properly. And I can proudly say: “So far, so good!”. Last January, I finally got my Authorised SCA Trainer certification for Barista Skills. Now I can finally take it to the next level.

6. What, in your opinion, are the biggest differences and similarities between Italian and UK coffee culture?

Italy has got a very strong relationship with espresso. Strong in every possible way. Going to a local bar (in Italy, coffee is historically served along with spirits), you will most likely find a blend, normally arabica - robusta, and quite dark roast. And normally, they will follow “the golden rule of espresso”: 7g of coffee ground, 25ml of espresso in the cup, 25” extraction. Some even think that “the perfect espresso” is the one with a crema so thick it can hold sugar. Now you understand why we put sugar in our coffee…. And things have gone this way since the dawn of the espresso extraction. In Britain, espresso (and coffee in general) had a boom in the ‘90s (funny enough, coffee as a product arrived in Britain before Italy). That made Specialty Coffee in UK a lot easier to be accepted and embraced, when Italy there is a lot of scepticism and, sometimes, hate for Specialty Coffee. But things, of course, are changing. There are a lot roasters, trainers, baristas and coffee shops pioneering Specialty and 3rd Wave. Let’s not forget that the reigning World Coffee Roasting Champion is Italian (@gardellicoffees), the Italian Ibrik Champion 2017 and 2018 (Simone Cattani) arrived 4th at the World Championship 2017 (don’t hate ibrik, if done properly is delicious!!!), the Italian Latte Art Champion 2017 (@matteobeluffilatteart) made it to the final stage of WLAC 2017 and 2018 Champion (@manu_latte_art) has massive chances to do so… she is unreal. Not to mention, latte art as we know it was founded by @luigi_lupi… and believe me, very few people are more Italian than Luigi.

However, I’ll tell you a little secret: with an outstanding quality blend, possibly 100% arabica and not scorched, and an exceptional barista, I still love an espresso “Italian Style”.

7. What is the future of coffee in the UK?

In my opinion, the future of coffee in Britain in very bright. More and more young Baristas understand the importance of standards and professionalism, when before being a barista was just a job to make some money whilst at Uni. But, there is a massive risk along the way and we all need to be very aware of it. We are all part of a big industry called Hospitality. And the amount of knowledge about the product that Baristas nowadays have can lead to snobbery in the best case, actual arrogance in the worst. We all need to stay humble and remember that without customers.” 👍☕️