Jacob Grier

I used to get paid to do what?

A recent online survey conducted by Krups, the coffee experts and sponsors of the upcoming 2007 United States Barista Championship, revealed some interesting results. A national sample of 2,000 Americans* were asked, “What is a Barista?” Out of the five possible responses they were provided, approximately 1/3 of the coffee crazed Americans did indeed know that it is a barista who prepares and serves that cup of joe every morning.

As for the rest of the country, the results to the question “what is a barista?” were a bit more colorful:

— 11% reported it was a lawyer from England
— 7% thought it was someone who prepares alcoholic beverages
— 6% said it was a fashionable garment
— 1% reported that it was a person who loves burritos
— 41% said they did not know

The first response is more impressive than my old job and there have been times when I could have gotten away with claiming it. The second is technically correct in Italian. I am not, nor have I ever been, a fashionable garment.

[Cross-posted on Smelling the Coffee.]