Commodity & Specialty
“What we have are two completely different products, for different audiences.”
“Vanilla latte with two sugars”.
“Do you do Frappuccinos?”
“Can I get an large macchiato?”
These are just a few of the questions and orders I remember getting while working behind the bar. Over the years, we have seen a number of coffee shops use coffee terms and names for their drinks, some that may not have any relevance to the beverage themselves. That large macchiato the customer was asking for was actually a dry cappuccino (double-shot espresso with more foam than hot milk). A traditional macchiato would be a double-shot espresso with some milk foam on top normally served in a shot glass or cup. Though, I won’t judge because from the customer’s point-of-view, that is what he understood a macchiato to be.
I’ll share another example. We have one particular customer who used to always come to coffee house to buy a pastry. She would hold a Costa cup in one hand, a croissant in the other, and be on her way. I suppose it was her routine before work. Eventually, she would order a large caffe latte with one sugar (with a croissant), then caffe latte to eventually, a flat white no sugar. Mind you, this wasn’t an overnight change. It was gradual over a few months. I recall my conversation with this customer went something like this -
“I noticed you buy our croissants every day. Give our coffee a try next time!”
“I know, it’s a habit because I walk past Costa on my way from the Underground station”
“Ah that’s fair. Since you work nearby our shop, you can grab your croissant and coffee at the same time. Saves having to carry anything on your way here and your coffee will stay warmer for longer since you’re office is closer to us”
“Huh, that makes more sense. I’ll do that next time!”
“What you, as a customer, are paying for is not just the coffee, but the whole experience.”
It can be difficult to explain the difference between commodity coffee and specialty coffee, as traditionally, coffee is viewed as a cheap product. Most commodity coffee chains will use lower quality coffee beans, dark roasted to hide defects and encourage extensive extras such as syrups, whipped creams, etc, in their beverage menu to cover the ‘real’ coffee flavours. Majority of coffee preparation and milk steaming are done via automatic machines as opposed to baristas pulling espresso shots and steaming the milk manually. Whereas, baristas in specialty will weigh each espresso, prep and pull shots and manually steam milk (and depending on whether it is a flat white, latte or cappuccino, the milk texture differs as well).
To summarise, what we have are completely two different products, for different audiences. It is like trying to compare a fast-food burger to a gourmet burger - they shouldn’t be compared. As a barista and enthusiast, I absolutely love coffee’s diversity in flavour and texture and the vast method of how it can be brewed to bring out its best characteristics. I love sharing that experience with people, whether they are coffee drinkers or not. For me, specialty is about highlighting these great qualities, to showcase the craftsmanship in making these delicious drinks and why it costs more. What you, as a customer, are paying for is not just the coffee, but the whole experience.
