What is self-media? What kind of experience is making coffee from media?

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This article does not represent the coffee shop. I just want to talk to you about the daily life of the code clerk ("I" is used below). Although the article is a bit long, I hope it will bring some help to you who are confused about your coffee career and who want to get in touch with the coffee industry.

The main purpose of this article is to talk to you about what I have learned as an editor of coffee industry information over the years. And answer some comments and questions from daily netizens.

"Why did I get into the coffee industry? "

When we were young, the teacher would often ask us what we all want to be when we grow up. Without exception, there are three answers: veterinarian and barista. Finally, because I couldn't look down on the parting of life and death, I finally gave up my dream of being a veterinarian. ) I was already very interested in coffee more than a decade ago, more because my family has been in the habit of drinking coffee for generations.

My grandfather's mother came from Singapore and lived and grew up in Singapore until she got married and returned to her hometown of Nanfanshun (Guangzhou and Foshan, Guangdong). At the same time, she also brought back the practice of Nanyang coffee. Great grandmother (grandpa's mother) once said that this is the taste of home, and it is not easy for Chinese to cross Nanyang. I hope that every generation will remember this smell.

The generations I wrote down were all coffee gluttons. I grew up in the aroma of coffee. The reason why I wanted to be a barista was that when I was 4 or 5 years old, my grandfather took me to the revolving restaurant on the top floor of Aiqun Building in Guangzhou (which has been closed for many years), which was one of the few places in Guangzhou at that time to provide fresh coffee.

Also at that time, I drank the first cup of Blue Mountain coffee in my life, and felt the charm of freshly ground coffee for the first time. From this moment on, I was very yearning for the career of barista.

"in my seven years of working in the coffee industry, I have also been frustrated and confused."

Unexpectedly, coffee has undergone earth-shaking changes in the past decade. After I reached my working age, I suddenly found that the threshold for coffee shop recruitment was very high.

In 2016, I took a trip to Taiwan Province, which also opened the door to my knowledge of boutique coffee and the development of the coffee industry. At the same time, I also memorized three coffee boutiques to learn, nothing to look at, until now these three books have been very dilapidated.

At that time, I would think that as long as I read enough books and knew more about coffee, it was not difficult to find a job as a barista.

However, the reality is very "cruel". At that time, many independent coffee shops would not recruit fresh out of society, watching young students become baristas. So in order to have more experience as a barista, I worked as a barista in two large restaurant chains, in which I had the basics of making espresso and I learned the knowledge of management.

But I was lost. After rolling around in chain stores for three years, I began to feel tired about the industry. I felt very boring about the day-to-day "speculation" and standardized production process and management work. So I resigned and went to work in a matcha store to see if I could get myself interested in tea.

Actually, I can't, because I really like coffee so much! So I went to an independent roasting coffee shop. I thought I was just continuing to produce coffee on a daily basis, but I just started working on coffee media.

"when I first came into contact with the media, it was very excruciating."

Since the media has a wide range of work ~ at the beginning of my work is to constantly output coffee knowledge and update the official account of coffee knowledge. From the first day, I doubted my life. I resolutely found that the coffee books I had seen in the past few years were far from enough to support my daily work.

It can be said that it is a very excruciating thing to work overtime every day to finish my work. Because you can only keep flipping through books, constantly from different channels, each coffee producing area, coffee brewing technology knowledge, coffee roasting technology knowledge … Pick and search it clean. It is really scratched out, and every detail will be the subject of the output article.

For this reason, whenever the cup test, I am very distressed! Because I really can't drink it, I don't know how to tell it apart.

So in order to improve my senses, whenever I come into contact with fruits and sauces, I force myself to distinguish the flavors and smell the 36 bottles of fragrance. In this sensory training, after trying to record every day, it took me a month to learn how to distinguish and identify most of the smells.

Many people may think that these should not be done, because raw beans will provide flavor references. But everyone has different methods of roasting coffee beans, and the taste of coffee will be different.

Just like two beans baking on different curves, although the color looks similar to the naked eye, there is actually a very big gap, so why there is a gap should be discussed from the information, state and baking process of the raw bean itself.

Only by doing and feeling in person can we write more real feelings and understand that many things are not as simple as they appear to be.

"if it's boring, why would I choose to stay? "

When I look back at that time, I often laugh with my friends: for an anxious character like me, I find it incredible to be able to work here for three years.

As for why they stay, it may be because it is very interesting when people really calm down to learn more about coffee and the coffee industry.

It is really enjoyable to receive different knowledge, advice and sharing and feedback from coffee practitioners over the years. As a listener, I seldom express my personal position on the things I share with you, but I will share your personal experience and position with you, collect and synthesize articles to share with you, and give you an understanding of the real coffee industry.

"if there is no news, you don't have to send it! "

This is a comment that I have often seen in recent years. Different articles have different positioning, and each day's positioning will be updated with the information of the day.

The coffee industry says whether it is big or not, small is not small, will there be news every day? No, it won't. Well, when there is no news, my job is still to provide coffee-related information (which does not mean the same as "news").

Every day is distressed to write what, what things can be told to you from a pertinent point of view, hoping to help you understand this industry from different angles.

We can not guarantee that every day's articles will satisfy every viewer. what we can do, we hope you will have a chance to answer questions when you look up the relevant search.

"is it hard to be a coffee media? "

No job is easy, every position has its torment, and more importantly, how you look at the job. Personally, I enjoy this job very much, because what happens and goes through every day has become the key for me to open new doors.

While making coffee from the media, he will also be a worker in a coffee shop, and his daily work is certainly not in front of the computer.

The first time I wake up every day is to turn on the information software for a glance, then go back to the coffee shop to open a shop, and then sit down to take a closer look at everyone's questions and sharing. I also need to be responsible for producing products, chatting with guests and chatting with peers. Every minute of passing will be the key to my inspiration. Maybe not right away, but it will always be useful.

I enjoy this job because what I see and hear every day keeps me from being infatuated with a particular area / thing. To put it simply, my curiosity has made my attention very extensive.

You can't say that you can learn everything, but if you learn it, you earn it. I felt a great sense of achievement in being able to put what I have learned into practice, so I was able to stick to it.

"is the coffee industry worth sticking to? "

To persist in every profession, it is based on your true love for the profession and the ability to calm down to understand the industry. It is a very happy thing to enjoy your work.

There are different angles of development in an industry, so you must find a suitable one that can make you feel happy and have a sense of achievement in order to stick to it.

There are not only baristas in the coffee industry, but if you really want to work in the coffee industry, you might as well learn about the whole industry chain, find out where the stores you are interested in, and see how much time and experience you are willing to spend on the same thing every day. and then choose the direction of investment.