MONADNOCK - MONADNOCK BARISTA OF THE MONTH

Luc Rodgers is the Monadnock Café Barista of the Month for November/December 2007.  He has been a Barista for 8 years and is currently the General Manager of Monadnock.

Luc’s relationship with coffee started at a young age.  “My mother would let me have coffee as a child, but only when my aunt and uncle came by….which wasn’t often.  After dumping cream and a pound of sugar in the percolated swill, I proceeded to shove any body part I could through the drywall while screaming at the top of my lungs.  It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship.”  Luc started working at Soma in Bloomington, Indiana (where he first met Matt Riddle!) in 1999.  From there he moved to Indianapolis to Monon Coffee Company where he discovered Martinez coffee roasters outside of Atlanta.  They were the first company to offer single origin coffees in the US, and this excited Luc.  A few years later Luc ended up in Chicago.  “I found myself at the doorstep of Intelligentsia, looking up with doe eyes saying, ‘please let me work here.’  Shortly thereafter I began blowing the minds of unsuspecting coffee drinkers from around the loop….. and beyond!”

Luc’s favorite drink is a double espresso.  “There is a certain finesse in getting the cup just right, whether it be volume, color, etc.  In the end it all comes down to taste and, when prepared just right, can turn a sour day into blistering sun.”  Luc spends much of his spare time freelance writing.  He also enjoys the Hopleaf for new beers, riding his bike the wrong way on one way streets, breaking bones (his own, not others), listening to loads of music, and watching the Colts pounce the Bears year after year.  

About being a Barista and working with coffee, Luc says, “coffee has become a staple of mine, and many other’s diets.  That’s why it is important to search out the quality cup and not waste your time drinking swill that will end up destroying your life from the inside out.  The preparation, technique, and alternating styles of coffee preparation are fascinating and the reward is always worth the steps necessary to achieve a delicious, eye-opening beverage.  That it’s a natural laxative is just a bonus!”