Barista

Creating coffee is about the aroma, texture and weight as much as it is about the taste, according to Townsville’s leading barista Hayden King.

When it comes to making a good coffee, King rules.

Coffee Dominion manager Hayden, is somewhat of a ‘coffee sommelier’; a professional highly skilled in coffee preparation, with a comprehensive understanding of coffee blends, espresso, quality, coffee varieties, roast degree and espresso equipment and maintenance.

It seems there is plenty to know when you aspire to making the best coffee for your customers.

But it was not always that way for the 23-year-old, who admits he made some pretty average coffees in his former life working in a cafe where he earned his stripes as a chef.

“It was a small cafe so we did a bit of everything there including make coffee,” he said.

“I thought I was making good coffee but then these guys (from Coffee Dominion) came along to our cafe and trained me and I realised my coffee had not been that good,” Hayden said.

“It is all about care, there’s 200 fundamental principles you can learn about the art of making coffee.”

Hayden said he had been looking for a change from chefing and was lured by the passion he saw in the people who had taught him some of the secrets to making coffee.

Hayden said he had started at Coffee Dominion as a trainee barista two years ago and had since worked his way up to store manager.

The small team makes up to 300 coffees within a few hours each day for inner city workers or at markets and festivals across the city.

Hayden said he had the coffee timing down to four cups prepared in under 1.30sec without compromising the quality of the coffee.

He said a good barista must have a good sense of humour but also be serious, be good at customer service, polite, clean, organised and they can also be a bit of a show pony.

“You don’t have to be crazy but it helps,” he said.

“A barista not only makes great coffee, but is also a performer of coffee.

“You can certainly show off while you make the coffee with one hand, chat to the customer and wipe the bench with the other hand.

“Confidence is a good part of it but it is really just a matter of having a passion for what you are doing.”

Hayden said he had worked three years at McDonalds from the age of 15, which he said had been an excellent training ground for him to learn the importance of following procedure and customer service.

These days, the former Pimlico and Kirwan High student teaches the art of coffee making to others with a class once a week.

“You can’t create a barista overnight but you will go home making a good coffee,” he said.