Starbucks' Coffee Minister: Mei Xue

Mei Xue is using the coffee mechanism to make an espresso. A lot of espresso cannot be done within the specified time and will be regarded as substandard products to ensure the quality of the coffee.

Photo taken by reporter Wu Huaiyu

The coffee shop has melodious music and a clean environment, and the work of baristas is often associated with words such as taste and sentiment.

When you really approach the profession, you will find that qualified baristas have to meet a variety of "stringent" requirements. When making coffee, they handle the time in seconds: the time limit for making espresso is 18 to 23 seconds; espresso must be used in time because it has a shelf life of only 10 seconds.

You can know the origin by tasting coffee.

Mei Xue, 26, is a barista at Starbucks Coffee Zhongshan Plaza in Shenyang. When she first started, Mei Xue was a "coffee bar clerk". Today, she has just been named one of Starbucks' eight "Coffee Ambassadors" in 2010. The title of "coffee minister" refers to the barista's knowledge of coffee and his outstanding ability to evaluate and make coffee.

During the examination, Mei Xue placed five cups of coffee in front of her, which was made of five different coffee beans. She successfully tasted the origin of five kinds of coffee beans and passed the border smoothly.

To master this ability of taste, Mei Xue has gone through nearly 3 years of training. She tastes at least two cups of bitter coffee a day, roughly a thousand cups of coffee in three years.

In order to maintain the sensitivity of the taste, baristas should drink a sip of water before drinking coffee and another sip of water when they change to another cup of coffee. Over and over again, the seemingly cozy coffee tasting process often becomes boring.

"A cup of coffee with authentic taste can be presented to customers only when baristas have a good grasp of every link. Mei Xue said that in order to make a cup of caramel macchiato coffee, heat the milk with steam and make sure that the temperature of the milk is between 65 ℃ and 75 ℃. In addition to making the milk frothy, the milk should not be overheated, otherwise it should be regarded as waste milk.

The time for making espresso is even more stringent. The time limit is 18 to 23 seconds. if the time is not enough or the time is exceeded, it will be disqualified. Once successfully made, espresso has a shelf life of only 10 seconds and should be added to the sparkling milk in time.

Coffee friendship sent postcards from abroad

"Sorry,too late. It's too late. I'm sorry. " Showing the process of making coffee, Mei Xue delayed making coffee for a foreign customer. She smiled and handed over the coffee and apologized. "baristas are not as simple as making coffee. What is more important is to provide customers with special coffee and satisfactory service. Especially when receiving foreign customers, you should not only pass your spoken English, but also show a good image of the Chinese people. "said Mei Xue.

Many customers drink coffee made by Mei Xue and become her "fans". An aunt followed Mei Xue's Weibo and found her online late at night and came to the store the next day to tell her not to stay up late. Some customers even mailed postcards to the store to say hello to Mei Xue and her colleagues when they went abroad. Some customers even came to the coffee shop with the cake for their birthday and shared it with the baristas.

In Mei Xue's view, this is the unique feature of baristas' work. Coffee makes many strangers make friends. "besides talking about coffee, we occasionally get together in private, that is, friends. "

Many of Mei Xue's classmates are teachers and civil servants. They think that baristas are service industries and "eat rice for youth". Mei Xue doesn't think so. "this job makes me more concerned about others, and making friends with customers also brings me enthusiasm for work, and I will continue to do it." "reporter Yang Baoding