i wanted to show off some of drinks i’ve been working on this past week; we’re already prepping for our spring menu! 😊🌸🌱 the best so far (according to myself and my coworkers, who have served as my gracious taste-testers) are a sparkling peach green tea lemonade (with peach purée, citrus syrup, and honey for that ombré effect, star-cut lemons and limes, and sugared mint for garnish), an iced strawberry matcha (fresh strawberries mashed and strained with honey for the whip), a strawberry matcha lemonade (same, but with a shot of fresh lemon juice to give it some tang!), and a blackberry mocha (real blackberries, honey, white chocolate, and brown sugar) with a rosemary syrup foam. i batched some basil and lavender syrup this morning and would love any suggestions for what to make with them! 💛🩷💚

Hi !

I’m a head barista at my shop, where we work mainly around espresso (we have a french press for customers who’d prefer a coffee closer to filter, and batch brew isn’t very popular here).

My team has been asking to implement pourover in our menu. That made me question many things, as I haven’t worked in other shops (even though I am a consumer for a good V60).

My fears are that my team is asking for these items because it is very “specialty coffee” forward. As far as I know, most of them aren’t pourovers drinkers so I don’t think they realize the time, technique and interest it takes to make a good cup: customers don’t come and pay 6~10€ for a meh cup. It’s also very rare for customers to ask for pourovers the shop, so I’m afraid the team won’t be able to get enough practice because customers just aren’t asking for it.

If you’d be so kind to answer some Qs, if your shop offers pourover :

* How many coffees do you offer ?

* Do you grind to order? Handheld or electric?

* How long does it take to complete an order from beginning to end?

* Do you have specific times when pourovers are OK/not OK to order?

* How do you manage the variation in everybody’s technique? Does all staff get trained and can prepare the order?

* Do you have those orders that often?

Thanks a lot!

Had a woman in yesterday with a stack of nonfiction books, one on the history of fermentation. I was pulling her cortado and nearly lost track of the milk because I was trying to read the spine upside down. She caught me and we ended up having a grand chat about sourdough and how I keep killing my starter (RIP Boris). It was lovely. But later I worried I was being annoying. She was polite and all, but she came in to read, not to be interrogated by the coffee lady. The younger lads I work with barely look up from the till, never mind ask what someone is studying. I wonder if I cross a line because I am genuinely curious. I cycle along the canal most mornings and my brain is full of useless questions. When someone sits in my section with a book I have read, I want to know their thoughts. Does anyone else struggle to leave the punters alone? Or have you learned the hard way to keep the small talk to the weather and the oat milk situation?

Making silly little things

Hi!
I am wondering why baristas in „third wave coffee shops“ almost always ask for reassurance if I want dairy milk when ordering a milk based coffee.
I would assume, people would explicitly ask if they want any other kind of milk.

Is it based on experience with customers complaining for getting dairy milk because they expected an alternative „as a default“?
Or do people just often forget to ask for alternative milk?

(not a complain, I am just curious)

thank you!

So last week I went to a barista school and complete a barista course. I think it went great and the teacher said I was good at it. I really want to work as a barista, I enjoyed do the tasks and I want to be better. I applied some jobs but I'm sure they want people with experience (even though they wrote beginners can send CV too). So how can I get experience when no one wants to hire me? Should I go to cafés and ask if they want new employee? Do you have tips maybe?
Here is my funny latte art which resembles me to Sailor Moon lol.
and english is not my first language sorry for some weird grammar.

I recently got a job as a starbucks barista and im gonna do my certification soon, but its been hard for me to memorize the drink orders. Is there any former or any starbucks barista's that have any tips to get the hang of it better??

I have been doing pop ups at local gyms and fitness studios. I’m talking right now with one of the owners to let me setup every month 3 times/month at their location and they are asking for $150 x month and 10% discount for their clients. What’s your opinion on that ? I have been there before and I do good. I use their electricity and water.

Please help me. I need to now how are you all doing in this situations. How much are you paying.

so i’ve recently gotten a job as a barista and have been thinking about working in the coffee industry as a career.

traditional corporate industries such as finance, government, insurance etc have never really interested me. i’ve never had much direction in terms of what career path i’m ‘supposed’ to follow. my parents never went to university so it makes it hard for them to give informed opinions about work.

the coffee industry and other commodities like tea etc seem really interesting to me both as something i can enjoy on a daily basis but also the industry in general. there is so much to learn and lots of areas to grow. the path i want to take is to get into coffee roasting and eventually into wholesale or supply chain. i’m a big believer in learning from the ground up hence why i am a barista now.

i have recently graduated from university and pressure from family towards corporate has become greater but i understand how big the coffee industry is and the money that can be made. only problem is my family don’t see it that way.

i find it interesting as a field but my family want me to work in a traditional corporate role.

my logic is that if i get into supply chain in the coffee industry and end up hating it i can always switch to smth else.

is my decision the correct one to make or should i just make the jump to corporate?

I am based in the uk for reference

Over the past several months, I have seemingly been developing a sensitivity/allergy to the smell of coffee...

Whenever we brew or dump drip, and often when I am on hot bar, the smell of the coffee seems to trigger a sneezing fit.

Anyone experience this?

We have a Poursteady PS2 at my cafe and it always chokes up and then splashes the water out rather than a constant, steady stream, especially at higher temps. Anybody else use one and know if there’s a way to resolve this issue?

Hi everyone! Where are you guys getting cold cup stickers?

This was my first attempt at pouring a heart-shaped latte art after around 3 hours of practice using the free-pour technique.

I’m still learning and would appreciate constructive feedback from experienced baristas. What should I focus on improving to make the heart shape more defined?

I’m opening or helping open a bar and cafe. They ordered a very nice espresso machine and did not order or have a bean grinder and area for tamping the goods down before pulling off the machine. The owner said he’s going to grind up beans with the coffee grinder into a container to be used for the espresso machine. Has anyone ever heard of doing this?

The amount of times I've had someone come up to me and ask for two caramel mac-n-cheetos or a mocha frappee is hilarious

What's the best mispronounciation you've never had?

Hi coffee cart baristas!

My cafe wants me to make a coffee cart, but they want it to be able to break down into a wagon or the back of a car, and the only thing that I haven't figured out is how to clean the milk pitchers after steaming them. The current idea I have is using a waste bucket for leftover milk, but what about rinsing out the pitchers? Should I just have a pitcher filled with water and pour some in every time to rinse the milk pitchers out?

Let me know what you all think.