How long does it take to become a barista? 5 Important Criteria for a Qualified Barista

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Barista: I earn three thousand a month, and I can't lose you a shot!

Barista | the term "barista" may mean a part-time job when you were a student; a job that seems to be a tough job in literature and art, a job that may not even be able to support yourself. Of course, now there are all kinds of coffee masters, champions and bigwigs. It seems that overnight, baristas have become popular in the eyes of young people. They can open a shop, start a business and become rich, and withdraw fancy costumes to force literary and artistic girls to flirt.

Ahem, the above is a joke. It is understandable that more and more full-time baristas begin to pursue a higher technical level and continue to forge ahead for their own professional level. This is a very good atmosphere.

If you are a new barista, then I hope you can maintain your focus and enthusiasm for the barista profession, at least, after reading my article, learn these five professional habits of novice baristas.

Baristas must be professional, but not limited to coffee

Please drink caffeine.

Of course I don't mean to treat you to coffee-you may not believe it, but I've really met baristas who don't drink fast coffee (black coffee, plain coffee without milk and sugar). They told me solemnly that the caffeine was too bitter and astringent to drink, so it was necessary to add some milk or sugar.

Well, I can't be too mean about this kind of barista. But as a barista myself, I know exactly what it means to add sugar and milk to a cup of coffee-sugar can mask the original flavor of the coffee, and milk can completely change the original taste of the coffee. I don't want a sweet, slippery and delicious milk coffee.

A good cup of coffee should have its own unique aroma, pleasant sweetness and acidity, and charming mellow finish. It's like chewing a mature petal in the garden.

The only way to understand this feeling is to taste it, to taste it again and again. Grinding, cup testing, and formula development are all done by feeling the taste and aroma, and measuring instruments, standard proportions and formula formulas can really help us a lot. But these things will never give you the most perfect answer and the truest sensory enjoyment.

It's a circular routine: the more coffee you drink, the better coffee you make, and the more coffee you need to drink.

Let's go, sugar! Flying milk!

Eat and drink more

Many famous coffee masters and masters I know have good cooking skills. I don't know if it has something to do with the part-time kitchen of baristas in the early days. Of course, there are accidents in everything, and not every barista can cook well. after all, flower embossing has nothing to do with the horizontal and vertical cutting of onions. But it's true that they all like good food. For ordinary people, eating is eating, whether they live to eat or eat to live; they may talk, watch TV dramas, and play with their mobile phones while eating. They can be very simple or very complicated.

And what about professional baristas? They will spend more time talking about their food, and they will be more picky about their dietary requirements. They will say: well, this orange is a little sour, a little fermented, is not fresh; this pudding is too greasy, the entrance is full of milk and caramel sweetness, no cheese taste, bad reviews!

Then, when tasting coffee, they can easily think of various flavors and naturally know how to describe the flavor and taste of a novel coffee. This is the advantage of eating more, drinking more and tasting more.

Coffee and gourmet food can't be disappointed.

Keep clean and tidy

One thing, never forget: what baristas make, whether food or drink, will eventually enter the belly of the guest. We are responsible to every guest. Cups, spoons, straws. Everything that passes through our hands and gives to the guests should not be taken lightly. Yes, bacteria are everywhere, and many people also say: if you don't clean, you won't get sick. But we as a catering industry staff, to maintain personal hygiene and job hygiene is the most basic professional quality.

If you have watched the WBC competition, you will understand that the more powerful coffee masters are, the more they pay attention to hygiene. They are clean and hygienic, and have infiltrated into almost every detail of their daily operation. Even if you are busy and in a hurry, you are still very sensitive to every stain, dust, and even fingerprints. This is a dedicated and professional attitude.

In my opinion, every bar should be affixed with a red slogan that reads "quality, Service, Hygiene".

A clean workspace is the key to service

Understand teamwork

If you have ever paid attention to the world-class competition of baristas, you will find that every contestant who successfully stands on the podium will publicly thank the team behind him for quietly supporting him. Yes, a successful individual can't do without a team. The coffee industry, from seeds to cups, is a team: from planting, picking, processing, transportation, baking and brewing, there are countless professionals involved in each aspect. The semi-automatic coffee machine you use must be assembled by skilled and professional workers, and milk must be provided by experienced farm manufacturers.

Therefore, in a cafe, teamwork makes everything work properly, and a reasonable overall workflow is the hallmark of a unified and cohesive team. Although I know it's difficult.

Share your enthusiasm for work and make colleagues good friends.

Learning, learning, learning

Imagine if you go to the computer city to buy a computer, and when you want to ask the salesperson about the model, power and configuration of the machine, he doesn't know anything about it, even if it's a new model. How awkward would that be? What if you replace the computer with coffee? We open and close the door every day, make coffee, sell coffee, collect money and check out, and then what? What else do we know?

Being a barista means not only cooking, cleaning and producing, but also the responsibility of teaching and guiding guests. The word coffee is broad and profound and immense. When your guests want to know something about coffee, do you know how to answer it?

The more people know, the more they understand what they don't understand. What baristas need is constant self-appreciation and constant acceptance of new knowledge, new information and new ideas.

Finally, I would like to say that it is actually easy to learn coffee, websites, forums, Wechat official accounts, professional exchange groups, moments. There are also a lot of useful professional books. As long as you think about it.

Just now I mentioned "quality, service, hygiene", but in fact, I think the motto of baristas should be "quality, service, hygiene, learning".

Teaching is as important as learning

Finally, what if there is no talent?

You know, there is no amazing talent that makes a person destined to be a good barista. In fact, the most basic and extensive barista skills, such as cloth powder, pressing powder, beating milk foam, drawing flowers, or injecting water around a circle, need to be mastered through a lot of practice and practice. Stupid bird, just fly first. So don't worry about your talent. Remember my advice: taste coffee and delicious food, maintain personal hygiene, get into the habit of learning and sharing, and communicate and cooperate with your colleagues more. Believe in yourself and you will become a successful professional barista.

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