Sacramento’s Best Baristas

It’s like a science experiment: Heat water to precisely 195 degrees, slowly pour over fragrant Guatemalan coffee and keep an eye on the digital scale’s measurements. And never say ground beans have a pleasant aroma, because that’s not correct terminology: Aroma is the smell after beans have steeped in water; fragrance is the scent of grinds. Got it?

Details like this matter to Erik Annonson, barista at downtown’s Chocolate Fish Coffee coffeehouse. He drizzles hot water over coarsely ground coffee, which filters into a cup resting atop a digital scale, so as to gauge precisely 8 ounces, or 28.35 grams, of drip. His golden, brewmeisterlike beard falls from his chin like an upside-down pyramid. He holds the cup to his face and breathes in the coffee’s aroma before pouring it into a smaller demitasse for tasting. This process is what coffee aficionados refer to as “cupping.”

Annonson, 22, who commutes from Roseville to work at Chocolate Fish, is the “No. 1 barista in Sacramento”—or at least according to the United States Barista Championships, where he placed 24th in the nation this past April in Southern California, edging out co-worker Kyle Baumann, who placed 30th, and fellow Sacramentan at Temple Fine Coffee and Tea, Benza Lance, who was 34th.

Coffee is the second-most-consumed commodity in the country, but the average American knows beans about it. Yet there’s a new wave of young baristas here in Sacramento who want to change this. They are passionate about coffee. They have espresso tamps tattooed on their forearms. They know the molecular formula for caffeine. They throw bean-roasting parties and hold contests to see who can best identify a coffee’s flavor palette.

They know that you should always eat bananas and drink coconut water, you know, just in case you drink too much coffee.

They’re artisans, grateful that Starbucks trained consumers to pay $3 for a cup but disturbed by the idea of “button pushers” behind automated coffee machines using flavored syrups and burnt grinds to make “grande mochas.” They love coffee in its purest form, from farm to cup, and even travel the globe to meet farmers face to face and discover new origin beans.

For Sacramento’s best baristas, coffee is God in a cup. The following is what makes them buzz.

Ashley Shock

Coffeehouse: Old Soul Roasting Co. at 40 Acres, 3434 Broadway in Oak Park

Barista start date: November 2007

Describe your first memory of coffee.

Waking up really early to go fishing with my father. It was really cold, so he let me have some coffee. I think I liked it then because there was a bunch of cream and sugar in it. I was probably about 7.

Define “barista.”

The barista is the last link in the coffee-production chain, if you will, that brings the final product of so many peoples’ efforts to the hands of the customer. It’s the barista’s job to make sure that the bean is brought to its fullest potential.

Give an example of how “nerdy” you are about coffee.

Well, I have a tattoo of an espresso tamp on my arm. That is pretty nerdy, right?

What’s your best coffeehouse story?

It is funny the things people end up telling me about their lives, even though I hardly know them or just met them. Sometimes I feel like a counselor. It can get a little weird, though. For example, I am not really interested in hearing why someone is cheating on their wife.

Where is your favorite bean from?

I am really loving Kenyan coffees right now. They just have this really unique brightness and syrupy body.

Benza Lance

Coffeehouse: Temple Fine Coffee and Tea, 2829 S Street

Barista start date: 2002

Explain your passion for coffee?

Coffee is like a woman: It looks good, it smells good, and you’d step over your own mother to get some, especially if it’s choice. The depth of coffee, everything from its roast profile to its growing region to its chemistry, is ever-changing and a perpetually self-feeding entity. I can’t ever stop learning about coffee or perfecting my craft, and that’s truly amazing. I fuckin’ love it.

Show off with a most-impressive factoid.

Coffee beans are actually the seeds from a fruit. It might not be the most exciting thing, but it’s something I feel most people overlook or simply don’t know about.

How does a great coffee make you feel?

Imagine Glenn Danzig singing lead for Metallica before Cliff Burton died. It’s just as epic as that.

Describe your preferred coffee aroma?

Floral and fruit blossom notes, really delicate, with dark cacao undercurrent.

What are your coffee-drinking habits?

I’m one of those “iPhone people,” so I usually check e-mail and Oakland A’s scores, but I have been known to knock out a “Word Sleuth” in the Sac Bee from time to time.

If you lived in a town that only had Starbucks, would you work there?

I’d rather listen to Fran Drescher for eight hours.

Give an example of how “nerdy” you are about coffee.

I have 22 T-shirts, currently. Three are plain white, three are plain black, and the rest are coffee-related. I also want to name my first daughter Illili Darartu, after the mill in Harar, Ethiopia.

If you’ve competed, tell me your best competition story.

My best story is from this last year. During my final practice before the United States Barista Championship, I was making blueberry simple syrup on an induction burner, using a Pyrex measuring cup. Those things are supposed to be safe to heat, but this fucker exploded like it was loaded with C4. Confidence builder it was not. I still don’t know how I didn’t get melting shards of glass embedded in my face. I’m one of the lucky ones.

Lucky Rodrigues

Coffeehouse: Old Soul Roasting Co., 1716 L street, rear alleyway

Barista start date: 2000, when Mulvaney’s Building & Loan was a coffeehouse called New Helvetia Roasters and Bakers

At competitions, baristas prepare a signature drink. What’s yours?

The last one I did, back in ’07 at nationals, was called “Reiteration,” I believe, and it consisted of pulling a shot over this crazy pineapple-cream muscovado concoction. It was hella yummy.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received about being a barista?

Someone once said, “It just doesn’t pay to dispute the cup.”

If you were traveling and only could get coffee at, say, an AM/PM, would you drink it?

Let me put it this way: When I travel, I bring a French press, grinder and my camping stove. Oh, and coffee.

How does a great coffee make you feel?

For that moment, as it slithers down my gullet, it all just disappears. I see the light; it’s all going to be OK.

Give an example of how “nerdy” you are about coffee.

I drink coffee in a manner that embarrasses my wife, and I “conduct” numerous experiments on coffee and its roasting or brewing throughout each and every day.

What’s your best coffeehouse story?

I once tackled a dude and beat him with a broom in the middle of the cafe; he stole my tips.

Andrew Lopez

Coffeehouse: Bloom Coffee and Tea, 1485 Eureka Road in Roseville

Barista start date: September 2006

Of the skills that make a great barista, what is of utmost importance?

Your ability to taste. If you can’t taste it, then how are you supposed to know if what you are serving is good? Protect your palate. Don’t smoke! It flattens your taste buds, making it impossible for you to accurately assess all the flavors of the coffee.

At competitions, baristas prepare a signature drink. What’s yours?

What is it? The bane of my existence! Myself, like many other baristas, will be honest and say the signature drink is truly obnoxious. … Things get weird when you mix things with coffee. This past year, though, my signature beverage was a spin on sipping chocolate. I made a ganache, then floated the shots of espresso, which had been mixed with a lavender water I prepared, creating a texture-heavy, invigorating sensation of coffee, chocolate and florals.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received about being a barista?

Bananas. Eat bananas, and drink coconut juice. It makes your hands steady as a surgeon’s, and when you are trying to stay in control, your steadiness is most important for making exceptional coffee.

Have you ever drunk too much coffee?

I still drink a ton of coffee, but my water intake is through the roof now to counteract the effect of the coffee. Drinking about 2 gallons of water daily helps keep everything in balance.

Give an example of how “nerdy” you are about coffee.

Ha! All too often when people ask me about French press coffee, I start to ramble on about TDS, or total dissolved solubles, and the effect they have in the finished cup. … If you follow my tweets, I am constantly posting questions about coffee and thoughts and insights.

Sarah Walker

Coffeehouse: Bloom Coffee and Tea

Barista start date: “A legit barista? Three years ago.”

Describe your first memoryof coffee.

I didn’t like it!

Define “barista.”

To me, a barista is not someone that just pushes a button and lets the machine do all the work. The true barista is able to “dial in,” determining the grind fineness or coarseness, the amount of grounds in portafilter, the pressure of your tamp and the time of extraction. Honestly, if you get a bad shot from me, it is nine times out of 10 my fault. And in this case, I should be able to access the problem in the shot and make adjustments so I can redeem myself.

What question didn’t I ask that I should have?

Pet peeves: Do not assume [our coffeehouse] is like anything you’ve had before, [so] order according to the menu. If there is not a white mocha listed on the menu, do not ask for it!

Daniel Bear

Coffeehouse: Old Soul Roasting Co. at 40 Acres

Barista start date: August 2006

Describe your first memoryof coffee.

Catching earthworms and fireflies in Folgers cans.

If you were traveling and only could get coffee at, say, an AM/PM, would you drink it?

I like coffee and, separately, I like the idea of a cup of coffee. Yes, I would drink it—and absolutely regret it.

When did you really “get into” coffee?

Learning to roast in an unventilated warehouse with no air conditioning, with a metal drum radiating over 400 degrees directly into my front, waiting for the beans to not smell like hay. It was a pretty stark way of making me appreciate, and want to understand, coffee.

Give an example of how “nerdy” you are about coffee.

I’ve tried to use Immanuel Kant’s aesthetic theory as a tool for training someone in espresso.

Where is your favorite bean from?

Lately, Guatemala Finca De Provincia, Kenya Kirimara and Sulawesi Sapan Minanga. Great quality coffee has a bad habit of not staying available for very long.

What drink would you never, ever recommend?

Anything over a couple words in length. It’s frustrating. You don’t need to drown a great quality ingredient like coffee. I’ll make it with a smile on my face, because it’s understandable why people get a kick out ordering their “custom” drinks, but coffee should be prepared simply.

Shannon Rucker

Coffeehouse: Temple Fine Coffee and Tea, 1014 10th Street

Barista start date: February 2009

Consistency is a virtue of being a good barista. How do you maintain it amid the hubbub of working every day in a coffeehouse?

When everything is broken down to the minutest detail during training, it all snaps together while working, and it becomes a kind of pulse. The pulse becomes a dance and everyone around you is a partner—co-workers and customers.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received about being a barista?

If you aren’t proud to serve it, remake it.

What are your coffee-drinking habits?

On my weekends, I enjoy my coffee with Goat, my cat, and watching movies first thing in the morning. He smells it brewing and gets antsy until I sit down. During my work week, I do yoga and drink coffee before heading in.

How does coffee impact your relationship?

They say opposites attract, right? My husband absolutely hates the smell and taste of coffee. I think that’s pretty funny. How many people do you know that hate coffee? Keeps him out of my shop, though, and he respects my trade.

Tell me about your coffee arsenal at home.

I have a four-cup Mr. Coffee, a Temple tabletop French press, and a Count Von Count coffee mug. Ah, ah, ah!

Kyle Baumann

Coffeehouse: Chocolate Fish Coffee, Q and Third streets

Barista start date: August 2005

Did your parents drink coffee?

Yes, they always have. Unfortunately, its still with store-bought ground coffee made with a generic coffee machine. But I’ve been trying to fix that.

When did you really “get into” coffee?

I remember this very well. It was a cup of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Beloya, prepared by J. Valenta at his old shop in Roseville. It had profound notes of blueberry cheesecake, and from that moment I’ve been on a mission to serve and discover more beautiful tasting coffees.

What coffee do you recommend people try?

Straight-up black coffee, preferably brewed with a Hario V60. Do not add any cream or sugar to it. Coffee is a fruit, and it’s in methods like these that you really are able to taste all those natural sugars and sweetness that send the taste buds dancing.

What drink would you never, ever recommend?

Blended drinks. The coffee gets so lost in those drinks. It’s almost a waste. Also, do not do espresso over ice. When espresso is poured directly over ice, it shocks the espresso, losing all its sweetness and bringing out the bitter qualities.

Kenny Davis

Coffeehouse: Temple Fine Coffee and Tea, 1014 10th Street

Barista start date: March 2009

At competitions, baristas prepare a signature drink. What’s yours?

I put together a few ounces of steeped peppermint loose-leaf tea, steamed a small amount of soy and combined them both over espresso. It came out like a chocolaty, mint Oreo cookie.

How did you come to work at a coffeehouse?

I was doing construction for years, but I always liked the thought of the coffee world. After getting laid off with the economy down, I decided to make a change, completely, since I could. I saw Temple hiring and said “What the heck?” and I got the job. I was so far away from the coffee world, I kept saying “expresso” for a couple weeks. Ha—that didn’t last long.

Have you ever drunk too much coffee? What happens?

I get funny muscle twitches.

Do you have a favorite mug?

I like using this old, small Batman mug. It’s a shorter mug, so my coffee stays hot.

Robert Pearson

Coffeehouse: Chocolate Fish Coffee

Barista start date: summer of ’99, November 2008 at Chocolate Fish

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received about being a barista?

Hurry up.

Did your parents drink coffee?

Yeah, sludge for years. Mom with lots of cream/sugar, and I think my dad preferred his the consistency of motor oil, black. But sometime around 2002, I was working for a roaster and got them to try something a little nicer and little more expensive. They still by their beans from that shop today.

How did you come to work at a coffeehouse?

As a 16-year-old kid in a small town in Iowa, you have limited options. Working in the coffeehouse was the “cool” job to have. Relaxed, good music and a place for friends to hang out while you were on the clock.

What are your coffee-drinking habits?

Smoking cigarettes and crossword puzzles.

Erik Annonson

Coffeehouse: Chocolate Fish Coffee

Barista start date: 2008 as a “real barista”

Explain your passion for coffee?

Neurotic. Perfectionist. Complicated. Control freak.

Show off with a most impressive factoid.

C8H10N4O2.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received about being a barista?

Don’t be afraid to toss a bad shot. Handing out a bad drink poorly reflects on your abilities, your shop’s credibility and most importantly the farmer’s ability to grow quality beans. That helps me pursue consistency.

Did your parents drink coffee?

My mom drank pre-ground coffee from a tin, masked with the flavors of flavored creamers.

How does coffee affect your relationship?

Sometimes there is jealousy, but sometimes it is beautiful. Can you say ménage à trois?

If you lived in a town that only had Starbucks, would you work there?

I don’t understand. Why am I in a barista’s purgatory?

How do you take your coffee?

Single-origin espresso, please!

Armando Hermann

Coffeehouse: Chocolate Fish Coffee

Barista start date: March 2008

Show off with a most impressive factoid.

Hawaii is the only U.S. state that grows and exports coffee.

At competitions, baristas prepare a signature drink. What’s yours?

Fazenda Sertãozinho with an orange-infused honey and a dollop of Devonshire cream.

How did you come to work at a coffeehouse?

I moved back to Sacramento after 10 years away working in the music industry, and I wanted to work in a field I was passionate about.

What are your coffee-drinking habits?

I’m an all-day coffee drinker. Coffee goes with just about everything I do until beer-30.

What didn’t I ask that I should have?

I thought you might ask about our thoughts on the future of coffee. I am excited about the direction and strength of the specialty-coffee industry. The pursuit of quality and transparency from farmer to cup makes me proud and optimistic for the future, and my future, in coffee.