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Nine Bars
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Investing in Your Baristas: Hiring, Training, and Keeping A Great Team - Matt Milletto |
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Wednesday, 30 May 2007 |
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PUBLISHED IN FRESHCUP MAGAZINE APRIL & MAY 2007 (Photo courtesy of Octane Coffee Bar, Atlanta)
For all of you shop owners and managers out there, it is important first to understand the responsibilities of a barista and the importance of finding great employees to work in your operation.
Your employees will be making all of your beverages and food items. It is important to hire people that can share the same passion for quality that you as an owner have, for not only your espresso and coffee beverages, but every menu item you serve. Your employees will also be providing customer service to your customers. Having worked in the specialty coffee industry for over a decade as a manager and trainer, I cannot express enough how imperative excellent customer service is in any operation. Right alongside quality in the cup, positive or negative customer service will leave a lasting impression in you customers mind for sometimes hours after they patronize your operation.
Also remember that your employees will be maintaining your store’s appearance, maintaining your costs, and giving you the time to be outside of your operation either administrating your business or marketing.
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Baristas Shine in Thailand - 9 Bars July 2005 |
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Tuesday, 20 September 2005 |
by Jennifer Prince, Zoka Coffee Roaster and Tea Co.
“Sib,” I said, holding up 10 fingers to indicate the competitors’
remaining set-up time. After “hello” and “thank you,” it was the first
Thai word I learned. I spun around to see the next competitor
preheating cups after his time had expired. “No, no, no ... you can’t
start!” I would come to be a fluent negotiator in exaggerated
international sign language, and the few words I did learn proved more
confusing than instructional. These were the first few chaotic hours of
what became a fantastic experience.
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Baristas Raise the Bar at the 2005 USBC - 9 Bars: May 2005 |
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Friday, 02 September 2005 |
by Ellie Hudson-Matuszak, Intelligentsia Coffee Roasters & Tea Blenders
Courtesy of Fresh Cup Magazine, May 2005 issue - 9 Bars
As you might have heard by now, the 2005 U.S. Barista Championship
(USBC) was a wildly successful educational and professional event,
culminating with the crowning of a deserving champion in my friend and
colleague Phoung Tran, owner of Lava Java in Ridgefield, Wash. With her
victory—and prior to it—Tran exemplifies professionalism, dedication to
the craft and creativity.
After attending and participating in a few barista competitions around
the country, I arrived at the USBC finally feeling like I knew what to
expect from the competitions. One expects to see honored, humble,
knowledgeable competitors serving judges their full-bodied espressos;
sweet, velvety cappuccinos; and signature drinks with ingredients like
chocolate, citrus, cream, caramel, brown sugar and vanilla.
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Water and Extraction: The Latest Tool and Single-Origin Philosophy - August 05 |
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Monday, 08 August 2005 |
by Billy Wilson, The Albina Press, Portland, Ore.
Courtesy of Fresh Cup Magazine, August 2005 issue - 9 Bars
Click here to download the original PDF of the article
In my last article for “9 Bars,” I wrote about the differing
philosophies in espresso extraction. The Italians are very precise in
their method: 15 grams of espresso plus or minus a gram, while many
American roasters and retailers prefer to extract with at least 20
grams, where the puck is large enough to touch the group screen. There
were, and are, many intense debates about this, and my advice then was
to play and come up with your own method and not fall into a certain
methodology “just because.” Well, I have taken my own advice and would
like to share a little about what professionals are figuring out about
the extraction process.
Before I dive into this ever-growing theory, I would first like to
bring up two remarkable trends that have come to pass in the last year:
The bottomless portafilter and the growing preoccupation with
single-origin (SO) espresso.
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