I have been in the coffee industry for 5 years. I began my journey as a barista at a cafe in Dayton Ohio that my church used as a ministry to the students of Wright State University. After about 6 months, I was promoted to manager where I had the responsibility of quality control. After a summer mission trip to Honduras, I realized that the way we spend our money here drastically effects those in other countries. As the manager of a cafe that serves coffee produced in these countries, i decided that I wanted to be responsible about where our coffee came from and how it was purchased. I set out on a search for a local Fair trade coffee roaster where I landed upon LaTerza Coffee Artisan Roasterie down here in Cincinnati.

I came down and met Chuck Pfahler, owner of LaTerza and Les Stoneham, founder of Fair Trade coffee shop Rohs Street Cafe and one of three partners of the non-profit organization The Espresso Guild. After a few years of a working relationship with Chuck and Les, I moved down here to Cincinnati and began working first hand with LaTerza and The Espresso Guild.

This January I went down to Guatemala with Les for 5 weeks and worked with a group of coffee farmers he has been working with for the past few years. In the industry they call it "going to origin". It is sort of a barista, roaster, cafe owner's pilgrimage in the industry to go to the place where the coffee is grown and processed for shipping to the country of consumption.This type of trip gives you a knowledge from experience that you cannot duplicate any other way. One also has a much greater respect for the coffee and how it is prepared for the consumer after seeing all the work that goes into the tiny little bean for the low price they are paid for the work they do. After all the work that goes into it from the farmer to the processor, to the roaster, it is a barista's responsibility to honor all of that work and prepare the coffee to the best of their ability and learn as much as they can to highlight all of the complex flavor components that are in each cup of coffee.

The Espresso Guild is a 501c(3) not for profit organization committed to the research and development of espresso, coffee and coffeehouse culture. We strengthen and create coffeehouses that are committed to preserving culture, enriching tradition and serve as authentic Habitats for Community. We are able to do this by sharing best practices, expertise in the industry and years of combined experience in starting and sustaining community coffeehouses. We offer services including consulting, training, catering, machine sales and service.

I currently work with The Espresso Guild as a sales staff and Barista/Barista Trainer and as a service technician for both.

Photos by Crystal Black