coffee and consulting

in editorial | Monday, December 3rd, 2007 | Trackback

I recently found myself standing at a counter at a cafe in Williamsburg having to instruct the barista through every step of making my order. I even had to ask him to please rinse out the porta-filter (the handle thing you put the espresso in) and then explain that by not rinsing it out between each drink, it’s not only gross, but makes the drink taste unneccessarily bitter. Silly barista.

One thing that I’ve been saying for years is to “never entrust coffee to a child”. That means that though your local (or global chain) cafe may happen to employ teenagers and college kids to sling drinks, those kids are usually working there for the $7 an hour and the couple of bucks in tips they might make, and not because they enjoy coffee or are even remotely good at what they do. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with trusting your employees to provide a quality service just because you’re paying them. It’s just that coffee (like web design/development) is a special kind of service that creates a special type of product.

What is it that is the difference between a decent cappuccino and a great one? It’s the same things that divide quality interactive work from everything else. Ingredients, skills, and the most overlooked, passion. No matter what it is you do, you’ll always do a better job if you do it because you love to do it.

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smack 11 months ago 1 point
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you're such a nerd, I love it. I used to be a barista at caribou Coffee in Detroit and what I loved about them vs. starpukes and other wannabes is that you packed, whacked, and cleaned after every espresso pull. It was messy, it slowed things down, but it was GOOD and quality. The other thing I NEVER see starbucks do in the interest of fast brewed is CLEAN THE STEAM WAND. I cleaned that thing after every steam, never let the milk sit there assembly line style, and... yeah.

Every coffee drink I made was fresh, clean, and untainted.

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nater kane 11 months ago 1 point
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I could literally write a book (or training manual, which I have done) on how to not be a crappy barista. Milk is also single use only. Only steam as much as you need for the drinks you're making immediately. And if you have extra, it should be tosses and never reused. Oh the list could go on and on and on...

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