Baristas reveal the secrets of their careers. Baristas simply pull flowers and beat milk foam.

The barista is simply doing flower pulling and playing milk foam? Do baristas really earn tens of thousands of dollars a month?

This morning, the Hangzhou coffee industry held the Masters for the first time, and baristas from Hangzhou, Ningbo and Guangdong appeared mysteriously to compete. They compete for strength through three parts: coffee knowledge written test, coffee bean species identification, coffee tasting and operation. Contestants have to make the same 4 cups of espresso, 4 cups of cappuccino and 4 cups of their own creative coffee in 15 minutes.

The coffee in Hangzhou is only mediocre.

The national coffee competition has been held for five years, while it is the first time that a regional trial has been held in Hangzhou. Qian, secretary general of the Beijing Coffee Association, exclaimed that the citizens of Hangzhou are so happy that they have tea to taste. As a tourist city, with the improvement of its internationalization, all kinds of coffee can be drunk in the streets and alleys. Whether it is a few yuan of 85 °C coffee to dozens of yuan of Blue Mountain coffee, as long as you want, you can easily experience the coffee culture.

Apart from admiration, Secretary-General Qian also pointed out that coffee in Hangzhou can only be regarded as mediocre at best, and many of them are related to the level of employees. "the taste of coffee we know is related to coffee machines and beans, but the same thing is different in the hands of different baristas," Secretary General Qian said, for example. "the coffee made by the owner of Blue Mountain Coffee can taste its natural sour taste. If the ordinary barista makes it, it will be replaced by the astringent taste of the coffee itself."

Baristas can earn more than ten thousand a month.

Baristas refer to professional coffee-making service personnel who are familiar with coffee culture, production methods and skills. Since about 1990, the English word Barista has been used to refer to an expert in the production of espresso (Espresso)-related drinks. Italian Barista, corresponding to English bartender (bartender). Literally, it is not difficult to understand that baristas are different from cappuccino chefs who wipe coffee at the end of the table and can beat one or two cups of flowers. They are baristas who specialize in making coffee.

Jin Meiyang, president of the Hangzhou Coffee Western Food Industry Association and president of cross-strait coffee, said that at present, when ordinary baristas in Hangzhou first joined the profession, their income was only about 1,000 yuan, but when they reached the senior stage, it was absolutely true that they earned more than 10,000 yuan a month.

At present, apart from working in coffee bars, baristas may also work in teahouses, bars or western restaurants. Therefore, baristas who have knowledge of tea art and wine blending are particularly popular. In addition, barista training will also teach some general knowledge of coffee shop management. It is possible to change from a coffee shop worker to a professional manager, or to open a coffee shop in the future.

In foreign countries, baristas not only make a cup of coffee, but also create a coffee culture. They are mainly engaged in coffee making in various cafes, western restaurants, bars and so on. Good baristas generally have many followers. In some cafes, guests often come to taste the coffee made by a barista.

"barista" is not easy to do.

Baristas have good prospects, but they also need to undergo rigorous training in the training stage, like other chefs and bartenders. Secretary-General Qian said that in addition to savoring the taste of his coffee, the barista should also be judged on whether the bean powder will overflow when grinding and pouring coffee beans, whether the thickness of the milk foam is lasting, whether there are beautiful flowers on the cappuccino, and even whether the coffee cup set he has placed is correct.

Therefore, baristas must first have a good sense of taste and visual discrimination. Coffee actually has more than 3000 flavors, but the main flavors are sour, fragrant, bitter, sweet and mellow. So the barista needs to observe the beans, the powder, the foam and the machine if he wants to make all these flavors in tens of seconds. Master the temperature of the machine, the pressure of water and the proportion of coffee beans, all links should be well coordinated.

Second, experience is important for a good barista. For example, when making espresso, the production time is usually controlled between 20 seconds and 30 seconds. Because in this period of time, coffee taste and other aspects are the best state, if the time is too long, the caffeine part begins to precipitate, more than 37 seconds of caffeine precipitation begins to rise in a straight line. If you want to keep the caffeine out as little as possible, baristas have to be very careful with this time.

In addition, baristas should have relatively high cultural connotations, and only with a correct understanding of coffee can they have a deeper creativity and play to coffee. Baristas need to have an artistic sense. A lot of coffee is made by baristas at the moment of artistic inspiration.

Therefore, in today's competition, contestants have to make the same 4 cups of espresso, 4 cups of cappuccino and 4 cups of their own creative coffee in 15 minutes, which is the best test of their skills and quick approach under pressure.

According to reports, at present, people in the coffee industry are already formulating and studying courses and norms for barista training. in the future, various vocational colleges will also offer baristas' training and professional courses, so as to further promote the professionalization and standardization of coffee culture.