These accounts educate and entertain specialty-coffee professionals.
BY MARK VAN STREEFKERK
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE
Everyone has their favorite YouTube personalities or channels these days. Like those in many industries, coffee fans and professionals have also taken to the video-sharing platform. YouTube’s plentiful latte art tutorials are a world of help for newer baristas. Coffee reviewers offer sneak peeks and ratings on countless new brewing gadgets, and reputable figures in the industry wax poetic and political about the current state of coffee. If you want to know more about specialty-coffee science, business, gear, events, or issues, the following list of YouTube channels is a great place to start.
1. James Hoffmann – James’ channel is, as the About section says, “About anything and everything to do with coffee … (But it really is mostly coffee).” James has been working in coffee since 2003, won the World Barista Championship in 2007, cofounded Square Mile Coffee Roasters in London, and wrote The World Atlas of Coffee, just to name a few of his feats. The self-taught video creator has an impressive catalogue of how-to videos, coffee science, recipes, coffee hacks, and so much more. Last summer he orchestrated the world’s largest coffee tasting, all through YouTube.
2. RealChrisBaca – Chris Baca is the co-owner of Cat & Cloud Coffee in Santa Cruz, Calif. A self-described “reluctant business owner. Idiot boss,” Chris dishes on owning a business, Cat & Cloud’s legal battle with Caterpillar, personal growth topics, and making great coffee. Chris’ honesty about mental health and his openness about challenges in the industry make this a much-loved channel that’s surprisingly relevant to just about anyone.
3. Seattle Coffee Gear (SCG) – SCG’s YouTube is a platform for these retailers of home and commercial coffee products. With a non-biased approach toward manufacturers and a no-commission philosophy, the personable crew at SCG offers frank and to-the-point reviews of every coffee or espresso-making piece of equipment you could possibly imagine. SCG comes out with new content nearly every day.
4. European Coffee Trip – If you can’t scratch your travel itch right now, make sure you subscribe to European Coffee Trip because this channel is all about just that: traveling to some of the best specialty-coffee shops. Guides Radek Nozicka and Ales Pospisil have almost six years worth of tours and city guides for coffee lovers everywhere. The channel is mostly Euro-centric, with trips to origin countries, espresso machine factories, and interviews with coffee professionals sprinkled throughout. They also have some coffee drink tutorials, which you can find here.
5. Re:co Symposium – The Re:co Symposium (Re:co is an abbreviation for Regarding: coffee) is a conference hosted by the Specialty Coffee Association. The Re:co YouTube channel is a collection of TED Talk-esque discussions, presentations, and interactive experiences from industry speakers around the world about the future of coffee, the coffee price crisis, the supply chain, and much more. As an example, check out Michelle Johnson’s presentation on creating a sustainable value chain by exploring McDonald’s commitment to full sustainability in its own coffee value chain here.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark Van Streefkerk is Barista Magazine’s social media content developer and a frequent contributor. He is also a freelance writer, social media manager, and novelist based out of Seattle. If Mark isn’t writing, he’s probably biking to his favorite vegan restaurant. Find out more on his website.