Lay off Big Green for a second, OK? If not for Starbucks, one of the most ambitious baristas in the United States wouldn’t be doing what he’s doing, fighting the good fight, one espresso shot at a time.

Let’s just get it on the table right now: Aaron Duckworth, the Midwestern barista and café owner known for his coffee craftsmanship, entrepreneurial spirit and work championing the barista cause, got his start at Starbucks. He was born and raised in Seattle, Wash., moved to the Midwest, worked five years for the mermaid, and then something happened.

“One day, I was waiting in line at a particular Starbucks, and the line was longer than I had time to wait, and there was another coffee shop right next door,” says Duckworth, co-owner with his wife, Crystal, of Espresso dell’Anatra in Kansas City, Missouri. “My first visit to Broadway Café literally altered the course of my life. The latte I received was not just a little better, it was way better than what I had been drinking… It was the first time that the Starbucks green blood that had been corsing through my veins was replaced with a beautifully thick reddish brown that oozed like honey or molasses.”

It was Duckworth’s a-ha! moment, the instant he knew there was more for him in coffee than what he had massaged into a career over the last half decade. Though Duckworth—known affectionately throughout the specialty coffee industry and to his loyal customers as simply ‘‘Duck’’—had to relearn everything he knew about coffee once he set out to open his own shop, he didn't sweat it. Actually, he appreciated it. The professional barista that he is, Duckworth always welcomes the chance to refine his skills, try a new machine or technique, cup an unknown coffee, or chat with other baristas about the passion.

“It’s something I’ve admired and watched other baristas admire about Aaron since I first saw him compete,” says Michelle Campbell, manager of barista programs for the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA). “He has an almost insatiable thirst for knowledge. He’s competitive but compassionate. He wants to win but he also really wants to get to know other baristas and find out what they’re doing and why.” Like most espresso pros, the Duck likes to learn.

“I know that there is a lot of stigma that goes along with having worked for Starbucks, and I know of several coffee shops that have an unwritten rule against hiring ex-Starbucks employees. I think that’s dreadful,” says Duckworth. “If someone genuinely wants to learn more about coffee, then God bless them.”

Great Coffee Meets the Midwest

In a sense, to talk about Duckworth is to reference the entire Midwestern professional barista community, considering how much joy he gets out of it and thought he puts into it. In the past three years, the Midwestern region has taken the American specialty coffee industry by storm, not in small part because of the group of baristas participating who are as outspoken as they are talented.

True, many of the specialty roasting companies in the Midwest were at work establishing their strong reputations long before baristas began “acting up,” taking their coffee destinies into their own hands. But their energy and resolve have helped them skip to the front of the line in terms of the region’s willingness to let baristas speak for them and build on their repute.

Duckworth credits the Midwestern work ethic for some of it, having admired and eventually adopted the diligent characteristic as his own even as a native Pacific Northwesterner. But he holds the particular context of the Midwestern specialty coffee scene most responsible in the end.

“Many of the well-respected Midwestern roasters and baristas have been forced to figure things out for themselves, which, in my opinion, leads to a deeper understanding,” he says. “Also, there is more of a sense of community that is not easily given to things like proprietary secrets and other barriers. Obviously, there are some secrets that must be kept, but for the most part, people here are more willing to share information, especially if it's to the benefit of everyone. Ultimately, it is in every café’s best interest that the café next to them is doing coffee and espresso as (well) as possible. Creating the demand for better coffee in everyone’s customer base helps to further drive the specialty coffee market, thus ensuring job security for years to come.”

The Business of Being a Barista

It’s a quandary Duckworth finds himself in on a daily basis, the balance between being a business owner and a barista. Though Duckworth and his wife are lucky enough to have skills sets that maintain equilibrium—she handles finance and business, he’s in charge of all things “front of the house”—he knows he is an owner at the end of every day.

“The best thing that I can do to grow my business is to put out the best product possible in a great atmosphere with a friendly and knowledgeable staff,” says Duckworth, who will welcome the newest Espresso dell’Anatra employee into the world shortly. Duck and Crystal’s first son, to be named Jacob, is due on August 10. “Sometimes I get so busy running the business that I forget to run the business. Owners will know exactly what I mean.”

Duckworth is something of an enigma amongst his Midwestern barista pals in that while he considers himself a barista first and foremost, he contends with, as well as celebrates life, as a coffeehouse owner. Within the friendly network of Midwestern baristas, Duckworth chats by phone and in person with his peers about everything from dosing techniques to the latest lot of coffee from Guatemala, to offering advice to friends considering opening their own shops one day.

“I think that I get called the most,” says Duckworth of the often daily phone calls between Midwestern baristas, “mainly because of the different perspective I bring as an owner as well as a barista. I once started as a Day 1–Why is that smasher-down thingie called a tamper?–barista, but I have also opened, successfully managed and built for Starbucks what is now a million-dollar per year store. And oh yeah, my wife and I also opened our own business.”

It’s plain from talking to Duckworth that he’s proud of his accomplishments, but he’s hardly a bragger. Perhaps that’s why so many of his peers regard him with such respect as both a barista and a friend.

“He’s an example of hard work and faith,” says Sandy Hon of Java Jazz at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas. “He believed in the dream and followed through. What makes Aaron stand out above the rest though is his passion and willingness to learn. He’s always learning and is not afraid to say so.”

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