There is a certain environment that all coffee shops provide. As you walk in, you can see students studying, business workers typing away at a laptop and baristas hustling behind the counter. There is a culture that surrounds the world of coffee.
“Walking into a coffee shop when you’re unfamiliar with the scene is like being in a country where you don’t know the language,” Quade Miller-Edwards.
The local barista who, after only a few years in the industry, has already made connections and experienced once-in-a-lifetime opportunities at the age of 18.
Edwards started drinking coffee when he was four. His mother would drink black coffee every morning as she read the newspaper; something that would become a routine for both of them, according to Edwards.
Throughout his sophomore year of high school, Edwards underwent therapy for OCD and anxiety issues. Outside of his therapist’s office was a coffee shop named Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. According to Edwards, he would pick up a cup of black coffee before every session.
However, one day as Edwards walked into the coffee shop, he decided not to attend his session. Instead, he “ended up talking to the barista for two and a half hours…picking his brain.”
According to Edwards, he spent about $45 that day ordering different drinks because he was enjoying them so much.
This experience would jumpstart his new passion. Edwards became motivated to research all he could about coffee and came across the YouTube channel of Chris Baca, the owner of the coffee roasting company Cat and Cloud. The next day, he even set out to buy a french press — a coffee brewing device and a bag of coffee.
“Coffee culture is really intimidating at first,” Edwards said.
He said while the environment of a coffee shop can be very welcoming and comfortable, it “takes a lot of guts” to be willing to sit in a coffee shop for hours.
Moreover, Edwards explains that coffee culture is important to everyone, “it just depends on the way you enjoy it.” One day you can walk into a coffee shop needing to blow some steam from a long day. Another day, you can walk in “with a completely different mindset,” Edwards said.
With certain regulations coffee shops have recently implemented, barista culture has been affected. While customers can still get their drinks, it “has been a struggle for baristas,” Edwards said.
The art of coffee culture becomes a form of self-expression for baristas, something they aren’t able to do to its full extent with recent regulations. Most baristas express themselves through their latte art, something Edwards has been practicing for a while now.
“Practicing latte art isn’t something you can do at home without the right equipment,” said Edwards. That is why he saved up to buy a Delonghi Dedica — a manual espresso machine — and has even added different parts to it.
While practicing his art, Edwards grinds through about a half-pound of coffee and a gallon of milk on a typical practice day, Edwards said.
In terms of his latte art, Edwards had the opportunity to participate in a Latte Art Throwdown when he was 16 years old. This competition consists of a bracket system in which baristas, or artists, face each other to see “who pours the better art,” Edwards said.
Edwards placed fourth in the competition.
This wasn’t the experience that boosted Edwards’ seriousness for the craft, however. In May 2019, Edwards had the opportunity to meet with Christopher Nicely Abel, a three-time world latte art champion and owner of Menotti’s Coffee Shop.
While Edwards was in Venice, CA, he visited Menotti’s twice a day.
“I was like a kid at Disneyland,” Edwards said.
One day, Edwards asked if Nicely was in the store but he wasn’t given a response.
Shortly after, while Edwards was outside the shop enjoying his drinks, a person handed him a cell phone saying someone wanted to speak with him.
It was then that Abel invited Edwards to his new, unopened coffee shop. The two artists spent some time pouring latte art and casually conversing.
Abel loved Edward’s “passion for the craft” and was “thankful somebody noticed what he was doing and reciprocated in their own ways,” according to Edwards.
Edwards continues to practice his craft at Scooter’s Coffee and follow the work of many artists that you can see on his Instagram and YouTube.
“If you want to be a barista, do it, it will change your life,” Edwards said. He also encourages coffee lovers to support local baristas. “Find what you love and figure out how to make it make you money,” said Edwards.
Contact the reporter at dchave28@asu.edu.
