Barista Or Coffee Maker – Who Would You Choose?

There’s nothing quite like a cup of coffee in the morning. Just the smell alone can wake you up, and leave you feeling full of energy and ready to face the day. And these days there are so many varieties available that it’s hard to choose. It may even take an entire lifetime to taste all the kinds of coffee available today.

But having all this coffee available these days raises an interesting question. Who produces the perfect cup of coffee: a coffee machine or a person?

Coffee drinkers use coffee makers for the convenience these machines offer. However some critics claim that the appliances sacrifice some of the taste. That may have been true in the past, but these days coffee makers are now much more advanced.

These days coffee machines can prepare each cup with an accuracy that was only dreamed of a few years ago. They get the water temperature right, the timing is down to a split-second and the ingredients are measured to near-perfection. Made to produce the best cup of coffee every time, these smart coffee machines like the Jura Capresso Z6 make each cup as delicious as possible.

But coffee makers are still machines. And there is only so much a machine can do automatically.

Coffee machines are defined by their pre-determined functions. Beyond their functions, they can do nothing else. They can’t customize each cup of coffee to fit your character; they make each cup the same way. Some people are comforted by the fact that each cup the coffee maker brews will turn out exactly the same. But not everyone.

For a lot of people, having each and every cup of coffee different is something they look forward to. The mystery of the subtle differences in each cup are part of the joy of drinking coffee. And sometimes a “mistake” in the coffee making process will produce a cup that is much more to our liking.

So instead of a machine, lets consider the humble barista. Just what is a barista?

A barista is a person dedicated to creating the perfect cup of coffee (at least, the good ones are). They select, grind, blend, brew, taste and test over and over to find the best way to make the coffee just right. They innovate, always thinking of new ways to delight you with that ever-flavorful coffee bean.

Obviously a barista is human, and no human can repeat any task with 100% accuracy every time. This means every cup of coffee a barista makes is unique. However, their humanity is also a limitation. Unlike a coffee maker, baristas can’t just start making coffee whenever you want them to. You can’t just turn on a barista at any time of the day and tell the person to make you coffee.

Also, being human makes the barista imperfect. A barista isn’t a machine that does everything exactly the same way every single time – every coffee made is unique.

Sometimes, the quirks of a barista make the coffee taste horrible. But just as often, the barista adds enough quirks to the process to make the perfect coffee. If you think about it, a modern barista can benefit hugely from the right coffee machine. They need all the help they can get, if they want to succeed.

Coffee makers and baristas work mutually. The barista chooses the ingredients, finds the right flavors for the right people and guarantees that the coffee will turn out with the quirks and personality of each person. The coffee maker takes those ingredients and transforms them into what the barista envisions – the right cup for the right person.

Take on the role of barista for yourself. Whether you use the latest automatic coffee machine or simple drip coffee makers, the combination of (wo)man and machine is the key to the perfect cup of coffee.

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