Best Coffee-Related YouTube Videos

Hey y’all.  I’m addicted to YouTube.  My TV is almost solely used for YouTube Premium (and the occasional HBO subscription for GoT) and I’ve never looked back.  I believe that you can truly learn anything on there, straight from the experts in any field.  There are a lot of cool pieces of coffee-related content on YouTube—some educational, some just for fun.  Here’s a roundup of some of my favorites:

Espresso Theory

235k Views, ChefSteps

ChefSteps has my favorite series of videos related to basic espresso making (they’ve got a lot more on their site).  They limit themselves to the most important fundamentals.  Though the hosts in these videos are incredibly knowledgeable (2015 US Barista Champion Charles Babinski and La Marzocco VP of Marketing Scott Callender), there’s no sense of pretentiousness.  I think all coffee should be talked about and taught this way – elitism doesn’t belong—just good, quality information.

This ad by McDonald’s UK is a stiff jab at the specialty coffee industry.  The video’s only a minute long and I don’t want to spoil any of the jokes, so just watch this one!  Once in a while, I think that it’s important to take a step back and laugh at the quirkier sides of our industry.  And, I think that it’s a great check-before-you-wreck tool; a lot of these jokes are exaggerations, but they wouldn’t be funny if there wasn’t an element of truth to them. 

Chris Baca is probably the closest thing to a barista celebrity in our industry.  Almost every coffee professional I know has listened to his podcast or watched one of his videos.  When I was a baby barista, his first milk steaming tutorial helped me understand so many of the fundamentals.  This newer version—posted just three months ago—should probably be required viewing for every new barista.

I’m not a huge Conan fan, but I think that his dynamic with Jordan Schlansky produces some of his best stuff.  There are several episodes where Conan makes fun of Jordan’s love of coffee and espresso (specifically made in the Italian-style), including this video where they visit Intelligentsia, a legend in the specialty coffee world.

This video from Wolff College of Coffee is squarely aimed at industry professionals, but I love how they cover really specific (maybe a little boring) topics such as milk wastage and efficient pouring. Their channel covers the classic coffee concepts like espresso making and brewing, but also workflow and equipment maintenance. Milk wastage might not be the sexiest topic, but it’s really important for coffee professionals to consider. It’s a lot easier to make entertaining content with latte art, rather than these really advanced, barista-centric tutorials—and I think that’s why they really stand out as important videos. Click through if you want to get a super behind-the-scenes look at how baristas think!

We gave a little shout out to this video in our last IG story tutorial.  This video, posted by account Dritan Alsela, is an awesome display of barista skill.  Posted four years ago, barista-ing has changed a lot, especially in the American style (I’ve never seen a lever machine like the one in the video other than the new La Marzocco Leva, which I think behaves a bit differently).  But man, when I was just entering the industry four years ago, this video was mind-blowing.  How calmly and efficiently he moves, his multitasking ability, and his milk transferring skills… this was – and still is – one of my favorite coffee videos

<3 Chris. 

ResourceChris Portocoffee, youtube, contentComment