Want good coffee? Keep an eye out for tatoos!
The more great coffee I experience in different cities, the more I uncover what I think is a hallmark of the really great coffee shops: good baristas serving good coffee usually have tatoos.
I have absolutely no idea why this is; maybe the laid-back, groovy atmosphere reacts favorably with the ink, producing some unquantifiable, magical effect. Maybe both that lifestyle, and tatoos, appeal to the same general population of stimulant-addicted yet relaxed people. It's a question for the ages. But I defy you to find a truly top-tier coffee shop who's baristas don't have at least one after-market ornament on their faces, arms, scalp, etc.
I've only found one exception so far: The owner of J&S coffee in Lawrence, KS. He makes a wicked espresso, and displays nary a one outward sign of bodily modification...but I will say that if you get served by a random employee of his, you're likely to think that coffee shop is only pretty good. A few other notable examples are:
Ritual Coffee in the Mission district of San Francisco: there's more colored skin in that joint than you'd think possible.
But the best coffee shop I've ever gone to - Stumptown Coffee in downtown Portland, OR - has the tatoos on offer, along with dreadlocks, and maybe a large, non-sorority-girl-style facial piercing or two to boot! They don't mess around with their coffee or their ornamentation.
It's not that I mind people who mod their bodies (notice I didn't say 'bods'...ick). I'm just thinking that I'm waayyyy too short on after-market additions to fit into this group. Hmm, what to do...?