Third Rail Coffee lead barista and Alabama native Dan Griffin is a seasoned veteran of the Pacific Northwest coffee scene, having worked in Seattle and Portland for several years before moving to New York City. He previously worked at Variety in Brooklyn. Over the holidays, we met Griffin at tiny Third Rail and subsequently touched base with him via e-mail, where he further explained his background and approach.

What inspires you about coffee?

People! It’s amazing that a picker in Rwanda can start a process that I eventually finish by making a cup of coffee and serving it to a customer. It’s an honor to be the one that gets to be the final representative of our industry. It’s also a lot of pressure, you mess up and everyone looks bad.

What was the moment where you’d build a career around coffee?

Six years ago in Portland the first time I cupped coffee at the Stumptown roastery. I had never thought of coffee in the ways they presented it. Full of this beautiful array of flavors and aromas, sourced from a single farm, something that had been truly cared for. It was a real eye opener. I had been making coffee for 5 years at various shops in Seattle and had never thought of coffee in this way. It had mostly been a job to pay the bills. That first cupping really opened my eyes and got me thinking about all that I didn’t know and got me really excited for all that I could learn.

If it isn’t already, What will it take to make the New York City coffee scene great?

I do think we need more roasters roasting locally on the scene. Also more baristas need to open coffee shops which is hard given that we don’t make much money. Most of the shops I have worked for have been owned and run by people that have never worked in coffee and their concerns are often very different than some one who is a veteran of the biz.

What makes the New York coffee scene unique?

It’s really great here, probably better than any other place I have lived. Lots of people want to move to NYC so there is a constant influx of passionate baristas. The shops here also offer more options. It seems like everyone is offering some sort of brew to order service and multiple roasters. Tight community here too. Seems like there is some sort of event every week.

How much value do you see in using a 100 point rating scale when rating coffee?

It’s very valuable at the green coffee buying level. Obviously there needs to be some sort of stationary way of evaluating coffee. I don’t know how it plays into what we do in a cafe, can’t really imagine telling a customer to buy a coffee because it scored a 95. At Third Rail Coffee we taste coffees to evaluate them on how we think our customers will like them. Honestly it’s something I would really like to learn more about, I don’t have much experience tasting coffees in that way.

What’s your preferred brewing method when you’re at home?

I don’t make coffee at home much, usually my wife Ruby does it. She has been using the French Press to whip out some tasty cups of recent. She is definitely one of the best in the city. If I make coffee its usually using some sort of brewer I want to experiment with and the results can be all over the place. Yeah it’s better when she makes the coffee.

What do you prefer about working at a coffeehouse that features multiple roasters?

More options!

There seems to be a movement away from the Clover toward pourover coffee preparation. How do you feel about that?

Pretty good. The Clover was great, it provided a lot of hype and fuel for the ideas of brewing coffees to order and featuring a menu with many single origin coffees. But, the various pour over methods can bring similar and often times better results than the Clover. Plus the cost is so much less. $10,000 vs. $10-$40. It’s great to brew coffee in a way that you can encourage your customers to try at home. Not many customers are fretting over their Clover technique. Pour over also draws more attention to the coffee. For some reason when people see the Clover all they want to talk about is the machine. All their questions are directed at the machine. When customers see a barista hand brewing a cup of coffee they ask “What are you doing?” The question is directed at the barista which gives them the opportunity to bring the attention back to the coffee. For some reason that just doesn’t happen with the Clover as often.