A successful barista who runs a "customer experience" in a cafe.

Baristas are perhaps the most enviable profession in the coffee industry. It is they who give life to coffee, which is the most important link in the whole coffee industry chain, which dwarfs all the growers, processors, exporters, importers and roasters who have paid countless sweat. If coffee is seen as a life cycle from production to production, then the moment coffee is drunk is undoubtedly the most important moment in its life. Whether it's the fragrant take-out coffee that an industrious mother drinks on her way to work, or the relaxing and soothing drip coffee drunk by students who stay up all night in the university study room, or the single coffee tasted by coffee lovers with fruit aroma, it can be said that the coffee has been sublimated at the moment it enters the mouth.

But this moment is the most easily forgotten. When talking about boutique coffee, people always emphasize the microclimate of the growing area, the planting methods, the defects and imperfections of coffee beans, the score of the cup or the degree of roasting, and so on. Of course, these are an indispensable part of fine coffee, but they are like cold musical instruments, which can produce the most beautiful music only when the performer plays it attentively. I think that the heart to feel the coffee is the core of boutique coffee. The "heart" here contains many ingredients, and we need to mobilize all our senses and emotions to experience the purity and beauty of coffee. Only in this way can we convey this precious feeling to those coffee consumers.

People always emphasize countless times that every link of the whole coffee industry chain determines the quality of coffee. As baristas, our task is to reflect the taste of coffee. It may be reasonable to say so, but people overlook the fact that the full value of coffee can only be realized in the hands of baristas. What consumers feel and experience determines whether they are willing to share wealth with us, and it is these wealth that promote the continuous development and growth of the whole coffee industry chain. It can be said that the success or failure of the coffee industry depends on the short moment when customers taste the coffee.

At this year's SCAA Annual Coffee Symposium of the American boutique Coffee Association, we discussed a total of three core issues: first, how ordinary consumers view their coffee experience; second, how they use their existing knowledge to evaluate coffee; and third, whether professional coffee consumption places will affect the coffee experience of ordinary consumers. The discussion at the meeting was particularly lively. Perhaps the most unforgettable is the slide shown by Helen Helene Hopfer. The slide shows a statistical chart of the average consumer's taste preference for red wine, which clearly shows that although the taste preference of professionals is extremely constant, but the average consumer's taste preference for red wine has always been erratic. Is it the same with coffee? Should we tailor the special coffee that belongs to consumers according to their taste preferences, so as to create more value?

But we should know that consumers' taste preferences are made up of many factors. They have different criteria for coffee made at home and coffee in cafes. This means that as baristas, we must constantly communicate with consumers. From now on, let's cherish the voice of consumers and create the most special coffee experience for them.