Did you know that photos of caffe lattes have been hashtagged almost four million times on Instagram? And a good number of these have been taken by professional baristas who have developed huge followings.
Coffee machine supplier Espresso Works in Perth has noticed that our obsession with socialising the things we consume has risen to a whole new level, and has produced an infographic of the top ten baristas on Instagram, along with a chart showing the most popular coffee hashtags highlighting trending tastes.
According to the Financial Times, about 1.7 billion cups of coffee are sold each year in the UK from more than 18,000 outlets, and this is set to grow to almost 21,000 by 2020. Meanwhile, competition among professional baristas is also on the rise, with Instagram used to document their “latte art”.
A recent article in The Telegraph highlighted the emergence of the “caficianado” and the “third wave in coffee appreciation”. “These days, true ‘caficionados’ buy their beans from a region or even a single estate rather than just from a country.
“Mirroring the rise in artisan breweries up and down Britain, the number of artisan coffee bean roasters (microroasters) has ballooned to around 300 in the past few years. Perhaps it’s not surprising given that the coffee sector turned over an estimated £7.2 billion in 2014 alone.”
Over in Australia, home of the famous flat white, Sydney-based cafe Piccolo Me has taken this a step further, serving its brews in edible cookie cups. Here, you can buy the Esprookie, a choc chip cookie cup coated in Nutella and crushed hazelnuts and filled with espresso.
