Crafting Coffee, Curbing Covid: Checking in with Barista Becca

We’re in “these times” together, but our experiences are unique and personal.
In this new series, we’ll be checking in with the friendly folks who bring your favorite joe to life – the Zingerman’s Coffee Co. team – to see what the “new normal” means for them.

Name: Becca
Years at Zingerman’s Coffee Company: 3
Role: Barista

 

Q: You are our global traveler who’s usually jetting off across the world. How are you dealing right now? 

A: Handling wanderlust in the age of Covid is a challenge I have no choice but to accept. In these times, I feel grateful for all of the traveling I have pursued thus far. While I long to give my freshly-renewed passport some well-deserved love, I have been exploring the Great Lakes State instead. I visited the Warren Sand Dunes for the first time recently, and will visit Sleeping Bear Dunes soon.

Something that I have always loved about this country is how multicultural it is. By recommendation of a fellow ZCoBer, I recently visited ZZ’s Market on Packard in search of tahini. They were out, but every person in there had a different accent, and one man suggested Aladdin’s Market, just past the light. I thanked him and made my way over. The owner of Aladdin’s helped me with my hummus recipe and gave me a sample of his product, saying ‘try to make yours taste like this’. Needless to say, my first batch of hummus turned out pretty tasty.

Q: I have to ask!: Have you been to any of the coffee-growing countries?

A: Yes! I took a vacation to Panamá, and happened to make the acquaintance of a coffee producer there who invited my friends and I to his farm. He gave us a demo on how to pick beans, explained how different woods burn at different temperatures and which are good for roasting, and of course let us taste some coffee! I ran over to my friends saying how naturally sweet the coffee was. They were in disbelief until they tried it themselves.

Q: Back home here at Coffee, what’s your favorite bean/brew method combo?

A: My favorite brew method we carry is the press pot;  I like my coffee less filtered. It pairs great with the new Peru. I will say I miss every Mexican coffee we’ve sourced and would love to see a comeback.