Twenty-odd years ago, most Americans didn’t know a barista from a barrister. Now they can watch an entire documentary about the men and women who create art in a coffee cup. The film, “Barista,” opened last year. Said Brent Hall, manager of product innovation for a coffee supplier and a nationally known barista and competition judge himself, “This is probably the biggest thing for barista competitions since…well, barista competitions.”
That such competitions even exist underscores the outsize importance that coffee occupies in our culture. And while no companion investigation into the world of tea has hit theaters yet, the affection and obsession that it also inspires suggests it’s only a matter of time before one does.