/R/BARISTA

I work at a coffee shop and I’m trying to recreate the brown sugar shaken espresso from Starbucks.

We don’t have a shaker but we have pretty much everything else. We have brown sugar (bourbon) syrup, simple, vanilla, etc. cinnamon powder, oatmilk, etc.

My cafe opens and closes at the same time every day. We close at 3 pm every day no matter what. It very clearly posted on the door that we close at 3 pm. At 2:45/2:50 I go around and I say “hey! Sorry to interrupt but we do close at 3 which is in about 10-15 minutes. Just wanted to give you guys a heads up!” And people STILL continue to stick around past 3.

Today I had two older men blatantly disrespect me. I gave them the 10-15 minute warning and one of them goes “put another hour on the meter will ya?” And his friend just gave me a stink. They still hadn’t left by 3:10. I told them we had to start mopping AND THEY STILL DIDNT LEAVE. At 3:20 I told my coworker to just start mopping and they finally got the hint but not before saying “what’s the point of a coffee bar if you aren’t open until 3 am?”

SO my question is what is your favorite way to tell customers to gtfo when they don’t listen. Feel free to share similar stories too!

Hey everyone!

I hope you're all having a great day. I was wondering if anyone knows where to find flexible/temporary work in London, in hospitality, especially as a barista. I have over 3 years experience in the hospitality field as a barista, and I really could just do with something where I can see shifts people need covering, and pick them up as and when. Even a specific employer (hotel/cafe etc) with a zero hours contract would be fine. I have however had no such luck so far - I've tried limber, coople, red wigwam, everything! I feel like I must be missing some kind of trick - its London, there must be stuff around!

Thank you for the help :)

i've been practicing soy milk and i read a tip here that pouring a bit of cold milk into the espresso first helps and i found that this is true. does anyone have any other helpful tips for almond milk? i always struggle with it

Aside from the money , I dont see how it can hurt. People end up spending much more on things like clothing that they don't even end up wearing. And also the duration isn't that long

(For beginners)

Which one is better? I’m looking for a syrup kinda like the Starbucks toffee nut. Did not like the Monin toffee nut.

Hi hi, I've been a barista for about a year but the standards at my cafe are not very high, so I'm trying to learn about and fix the little things. I was wondering if it's better to have a damp or a dry cloth for the steam wand? Are there any sanitary issues from having one or the other? How often should you switch over/rinse out the cloth? Thank you

Edit: thanks for the answers, we do use a damp cloth, though I have accidentally used a dry cloth before - wasn't pretty, but I was wondering if there were any sanitation benefits for any reason - clearly there are not. Also, the misspelling of 'dumb' wasn't intentional - I am just genuinely stupid.

Also, a lot of comments have mentioned a tray for a steam wand cloth - we currently just leave it on the drip tray, is it worth implementing a separate tray? Thanks

Hey y'all, we have some awesome baristas in this community and I think it would be fun time to host our own little virtual competition. Please answer the poll below, I want to make sure we have enough people interested in the event before I start organizing anything.

Would you be interested in an r/barista latte art competition/throwdown?

View Poll

I heard some specialty coffee shops (that can afford it) will send their new baristas off site facility (not far, at least in the next city over) for additional training. Are these SCA run centers? Curious because I thought most training was done in the cafe itself

Does anyone else have the issue of MANY customers ordering in practically a whisper? I’ve worked in customer service for a looong time and never experienced this like the past year. I have to ask people to repeat themselves most of the time. Especially when asking for names people act like they’re telling me a secret and I cannot. Hear them. One of the worst things is they act annoyed when i ask them to repeat / speak up and some don’t raise their voice at all. Idk this is just very bizarre to me lol.

Im head barista in a very small local cafe where we run on a skeleton staff unless its summer holidays or Christmas.

What this means is if I or anyone else phones in sick or falls ill/hurts themselves on shift your pretty much screwed. Putting a message in the chat asking for cover is pointless as 9/10 the only person who would cover is myself and I would either be ill or already on shift.

Is there a way of staffing somewhere/contracting someone to help combat this? Or is it a case or just lump it 😭 we aren't stupidly busy but it's not something you can run solo if your second doesn't turn up. Just looking to pick brains 🧠

I have been looking into barista courses, and I am unsure on which I should take.

The first is a one day course for 150 euro, I really do like the sound of this one as I make 10 euro per hour and really dont want to spend alot of money, but I am unsure if this would really help me land a job?

The other is a three day course for 500 euro, way more pricy!! it is also a problem because i am working more than 5days a week so I would have to book days off for this course, i understand that this would look better on my CV, but is it worth that much money??

I hope this makes sense! I will attach screenshots of the courses down below. I would really appreciate help, thank you so much

https://preview.redd.it/f317e67euage1.png?width=855&format=png&auto=webp&s=89c55e2bc7d1fe3d4b876c1c9207d059d0a18b06

https://preview.redd.it/c2rrryrfuage1.png?width=1762&format=png&auto=webp&s=397fd9d608b7ef35055e694c9ce00f0bb7aa86cd

https://preview.redd.it/sd4d7vyguage1.png?width=1781&format=png&auto=webp&s=0e081d02230a38254e76a96c171b79e0a1eb9a95

Just checking. My last job had me at a 20oz Red Bull and a triple latte before I felt anything. Today I had a 16 oz matcha, a monster, and a 16 oz latte back to back and didn’t feel a thing.

Not the best picture, but I was proud! 😄

So not sure if this is the right flair but I’m just curious if anyone feels this way as well or has experienced this?

I feel like whenever I try to order a basic latte or a vanilla latte from Starbucks, it just tastes absolutely horrible. It’s like the shots are pulled incorrectly and/or milk isn’t steamed correctly either. I usually try to order it with less syrup so it balances out a bit but it doesn’t seem to help. Now when I go to a local coffee shop, it’s always better and it varies from place to place of course, but it is your standard vanilla latte and it’s drinkable.

Why do Starbucks espresso based drinks taste so off/bad?

Hello every one , I just wanted a second opinion on this. I live in Nyc and have been a barista\cashier for about 3 years now. I learned to make latte art by myself and at the moment I kinda feel like I want to work in another place. The pay is good and I can have a flexible schedule but If I leave I feel like I won’t be able to find another job like the one I currently have. I want to get out of my comfort zone and meet new people but I feel like I’m in a position others would like to have. I want to know if it’s easy to find another barista job similar to this ? I was kind of lucky to get this job since stores were opening after the pandemic and don’t want to make a mistake.

This happened multiple times today. And I do mean speakerphone- like, I could fully hear the other side of the conversations while they were waiting in line and while making their coffees.

Why do people do this??? I want to ignore them until they get the hint and stop their conversation, but I work at a busy store and there’s always people waiting behind them. And when they get annoyed with me for “interrupting” when I need to ask clarifying questions so the “latte” they ordered actually comes out as the “large iced caramel latte with oat milk” it makes my head explode.

I’ve really noticed more younger people, like 17-24 (I’m an older barista so you all look like babies to me lol) doing it too. So frustrating!

Looking to upgrade ice machine in the shop. I like little round nuggets that draw minimal splashing. Crescent shaped and square ones are the worst.

Do you like any particular ice shape?

I tried my first ever latte art today! I’ve only ever seen videos online of people doing it, so it’s not great but also not horrible as expected for a first try with no latte art training!

I have been promoted to Latte Art Trainer at my current work place, texture, flow all that good ish.

But I already feel challenged by the current wave of baristas I am training.

None of them have had previous experience, and what saddens me is they seem so disinterested in learning (like why do you work at a specialty shop???)

I feel like ive done everything I can think of as far as teaching methods, watching them pour, seeing how they hold their cup vs their pitcher, their vortex, their aeration etc etc, and I really do think my advice is adaptable to the person im with, but the results they give are one ear and out the other,

not to mention they don't feel the need to practice when im not around.

Im at a loss my fellow baristas, any other trainers feel like they run into this problem?

Any ideas on how to combat it?

Hi all!! Over the years, I’ve turned my fiancé into a semi-coffee snob and I love it. I’m kind of stumped on Valentines ideas (we don’t exchange huge presents or do anything crazy) and earlier I thought abt how cool it would be if someone recommended beans/coffee that they LOVE that we aren’t familiar with! Bonus points if it’s a smaller chain or local!! And obviously could be ordered someone. TIA!

ETA: I forgot to put our location.. whoopsies. We’re in NE TN!

Does anyone know the recipe for an ube latte? Or how to make an ube concentrate