ChefSteps, a popular educational website for food & beverage preparation aficionados, founded by a number of alums from the landmark Modernist Cuisine cookbook, has teamed with our partners at La Marzocco USA for a series of free videos on how to prepare espresso drinks at home. The videos star Charles Babinski, one of the most influential baristas in the United States and co-owner of Go Get Em Tiger and G&B Coffee in Los Angeles. This release comes as a preview for a larger La Marzocco Home initiative launching later this fall.
The collaboration begins with a landing page on ChefSteps, and goes on to feature 12 educational short films starring Babinski and Scott Callender, La Marzocco USA’s Senior Marketing Manager and resident home espresso expert. The video series includes entries for basic espresso theory, how to steam milk, a guide on how to order espresso at your favorite coffee bars, myth-busting of various espresso tropes, and much more.
ChefSteps is known for offering a wide range of free and paid cooking courses with engaging, accessible videos, and the espresso series produced in collaboration with La Marzocco is no exception. When asked if they approached working with espresso in a different manner than working with food, ChefSteps co-founder Grant Crilly told Sprudge: “When making espresso, as with cooking, there’s always time to refine your technique, but what we want to give people access to is the groundwork—the fundamental principles and the key things you need to know in order to start making espresso.”
The videos were produced at the ChefSteps studios in Seattle’s historic Pike Place Market, and feature original music created by ChefSteps staff composer Hans Twite. On working with ChefSteps, Scott Callender said, “They have an amazing ability to take complex food subjects and make them look simple and mouthwateringly beautiful.” He was similarly effusive about Charles Babinski’s contributions to the process. “Charles was the ideal talent for this project,” Callender told us. “He is forward thinking in theory and able to articulate the motions of espresso through words and movement in a way that is accessible and watchable.”
Check out their definition of espresso video below for an example of what that all means:
You can peruse all of the videos and accompanying lessons for yourself here. Look for more info on La Marzocco Home in the weeks to come.