Max Tillman of Desert Sun Coffee Roasters explained to Ben Sonntag, a professional cyclist and avid coffee drinker, how to pour a latté.
“Don’t hesitate,” Tillman urged. “Just go for it – give it a little shake.”
Sonntag gave it a little too much shake, but he’s practicing.
At a Jan. 15 training class conducted by Desert Sun for local baristas, the idea was to serve customers a more consistent cup of coffee. Desert Sun plans to hold the classes the third Thursday of each month.
“We’re trying to explain to our customers what coffee can be,” said Riley King, who handles Desert Sun’s sales and marketing.
King said Desert Sun representatives often have gone out to their business clients to go over how to pull a shot or pour a latté. But by holding a class at Desert Sun’s roastery in Bodo Industrial Park, they hope to bring in more of their clients for face-to-face interactions.
There are many barista training classes in cities such as New York, Seattle, Portland and Chicago. You also can learn a few things from YouTube videos.
The American Barista and Coffee School offers a six-day workshop for $3,195 in Portland and New York.
Tillman has been in the coffee industry for 15 years, and as he describes pulling a shot, it’s almost absurdly specific.
“We’re shooting for 18 grams of coffee,” he said.
Later, he added, baristas should tamp down the coffee by applying 30 pounds of pressure.
The specificity has a point, Tillman said.
“When you’ve got somebody who has just paid five bucks for a beverage, it’s nice to present them with something that’s actually worth five bucks,” he said.
Desert Sun Coffee Roasters was founded in 2004 by Glenn Lathrop. Its coffee is sold throughout the Four Corners and the Western Slope, and the brand is breaking into cities such as Albuquerque and Colorado Springs.
Desert Sun also benefits from exposure in local restaurants and aboard the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. Durango remains the company’s primary market. The only other coffee roasters in Durango are 81301 and Durango Coffee Co.
Customers such as Sonntag are sold on the taste of premium coffee. He recently purchased a high-end espresso machine for his home.
“Once you get up to that level and become a coffee snob, it’s hard to go back,” he said.
cslothower@durangoherald.com
