COFFEE
Photo credit: Dear Green
Name: Oliver Scotting
Role at Machina: Cafe Supervisor / Barista / Marketer
At Machina, you will normally find me... On social media, making coffees or making jokes that only I find funny. Usually drinking coffee whilst I do so.
To me, coffee is... A delicious beverage (when made right) and necessary for productivity.
What is your go-to coffee? Usually a flat white. Often a piccolo, espresso, or a pour over. For filter coffee, I'm quite partial to naturally processed coffees with tastes of summer fruits, florals and citrus.
What kit do you use to make coffee at home? I currently use an AeroPress for brewing and a Knock Feldgrind for grinding. It’s a winning combination, especially for travelling with. Someone buy me some Acaia Lunar Scales, please.
Best coffee experience ever: There are too many to count. The first time I ever aced a brew on my AeroPress was pretty satisfying. Otherwise, sunny London days at The Black Lab in Clapham Common brings back fond memories.
Worst coffee experience ever: Being called into a Sydney cafe I worked at (circa 2011) on my day off to assist with an unbelievable Sunday lunch rush. By the time I arrived, we had a 30-minute wait on coffees and we were playing catch up for following two hours. And it all occurred before I’d had my morning brew. Fun times.
What's the biggest cafe no-no in your opinion? Making bad coffee. Anyone who is eager to learn and a semi-decent attention to detail can learn to brew coffee with some training and practice. It still shocks me that business owners would not want to invest in training. Better coffee means happier customers which in turn means higher revenue. Seems like a no-brainer, right?
How did you end up working in coffee? A new cafe opened around the corner from my house, so 17-year-old me went and applied for a job. Started as a kitchen hand and eventually began making coffees, for the next 5 years until I graduated university. Back in coffee for a bit of a change of pace whilst I’m living in Edinburgh.
Out of 10 how much of a coffee geek are you? Mark said that he is an 8, so I’m probably about a 6. You won’t find me spending my free time reading any coffee blogs, but I’m a perfectionist when making coffee and snobby about quality as a customer.
Top coffee tip: Practice makes perfect. It seems obvious, but if you want to improve, you need repetition.The more you taste coffees, the better you’ll be at setting brew recipes. The more you work on a latte art design, the better you’ll get.
Most underrated hot beverage in your humble opinion: Earl Grey Tea. Or a good hot chocolate.
What do you like to do when you're not drinking coffee? Drink more coffee...? I’ve definitely caught the travel bug, with travel being one of the main reasons I live in the UK to begin with, so I’m usually planning my next adventure. Otherwise, I can be found writing, wandering, reading, talking too much (without much in the way of a filter), listening to music or binging on Netflix.
What albums are in your current rotation? DAMN. by Kendrick Lamar, Pure Comedy by Father John Misty, A Crow Looked at Me by Mount Eerie, Give Up by The Postal Service, and the Master of None Season 2 Soundtrack.
Guiltiest pleasure: Watching the Australian series of The Bachelor and laughing at how moronic it is. Also, adding sugar to my tea (sorry).
