Coffee shops, coffee shops and more coffee shops. Coffee became the drink of the year, surpassing even alcohol and Coca-Cola. It would seem that you can brew a drink at home by dissolving the 3-in-1 powder in a mug of boiling water, but it is much more pleasant to receive coffee made for you by an experienced person.
The aesthetics of street coffee shops and cardboard cups have permeated the youth. Now the barista profession has become not just interesting, it has become fashionable.
People imagine cozy hours in a homely atmosphere, where they are surrounded by coffee and good-natured people, but is it really so? Is barista as beautiful as we see it through the rose-tinted glasses of our dreams?
Today we talked with Diana . The girl not only shared her life story, but also lifted the veil of secrecy into an unknown trendy profession.
How did you become a barista?
— The story is quite simple: I dropped out of the university, and needed money urgently. At first I didn’t want to go into the “coffee business,” because it seemed too steamy and complicated to me, but in the end, I’m here and making cappuccino now.
At some point, I became inspired by rosy dreams of becoming a barista, which were based on my observations and Hollywood films. This was my personal aesthetic.
Of course, there were other options - working in window sales. You walk in this nasty winter weather through the snow, which freezes all your feet, knocking on the unfortunate houses and offering these windows that almost no one needs, but you keep walking, walking and walking. And you hate literally everything.
But the coffee shop is warm, you can drink coffee and you don’t have to offer anything yourself. People come to you, and this means less waste of energy and more pleasure from communication. Plus, my life theory is the following: you should always be able to do something with your hands.
If you are such an intelligentsia, and your only working organ is your brain, then at some point you will find yourself in an unpleasant situation when your mind will not save you.
Well, another motivation is your “coffee experience”. It’s very cool to understand coffee, go to establishments and comment on the work of your colleagues, having certain knowledge. This is a plus to your, one might say, show-off. Because coffee is a trend of the 21st century.
Ways to get a profession
Anyone can learn to be a barista from scratch. To do this, you need to use the services of private masters, enroll in courses or engage in self-education using specialized literature. When applying for a job in a coffee shop, training for new employees is at the expense of the employer.
At work
In large chain coffee shops such as Starbucks, Shokoladnitsa or Coffeemania, you can acquire the necessary skills on the job. The training is conducted by a senior specialist and lasts from 1 to 7 days. The employee is introduced to the basics of working with a coffee machine, trained to froth milk and prepare espresso using simple recipes. The beginner acquires further skills in the process of work.
At Shokoladnitsa you can learn the necessary skills.
Some retail chains have their own schools, where new employees are trained separately in specialized programs. This method of obtaining an education is convenient because in the process the student learns not only about the rules of making coffee, but also about the intricacies of working in a particular establishment.
Take training courses
For people without experience and skills, specialized courses are a good start to a career. They are carried out by large companies and individual masters. The duration of the training is from 2-3 days to 1 month or more. There are courses for beginners and experienced coffee makers who want to improve their skills. They study unusual recipes and subtleties that make it possible to turn the process of making coffee into a creative show.
Training courses can be taken:
- from masters giving private lessons;
- in training centers of companies, for example the Russian branch of the European Specialty Coffee Association;
- on online courses via Skype;
- in specialized schools - EBS, ONA.
There are courses for beginners from masters and in training centers. The cost of training for beginners will be from 4 to 20 thousand or more rubles. It depends on the duration of the course, the qualifications of the master, and the complexity of the program.
Academic programs
You can learn basic barista skills at professional universities. The duration of the academic program is 2-6 months. Profession training takes place in such areas of training as hotel and restaurant management, tourism, personnel management, etc.
So what did you expect from being a barista?
— First of all, I expected a normal team. A friend of mine worked in a coffee shop, and the staff there were simply fabulous. Everyone is nice, they will always support and help, they get together often.
I was inspired by dreams of that sweet society, because all coffee shops are permeated with such a friendly and aesthetic atmosphere, but I was disappointed.
Of course, they haven’t touched me yet, but there are tense moments that spoil the impression. I also thought that my main responsibility was to make coffee.
I didn’t expect that making drinks would be ten percent of my job here. I have to clean, order groceries, wash things I didn't know existed. You still have to constantly count the cash register, which is very tedious.
I started to be afraid of money after I came here. And the best part is training beginners. I myself am not a professional barista, but they also gave me “green” boys and girls so that I could teach them how to brew coffee!
They are so shy, they don’t understand anything, and I am a hot-tempered person. And these two components create such a hellish cocktail of anger and nerves that sometimes you want to see no one, hear nothing and not even smell coffee.
My expectations did not come true one hundred percent, but these twenty-five still suit me.
What kind of people are not destined to become a barista?
“It’s important, as they say in our coffee shop, to “come out face-to-face.” If your appearance is below average, then you most likely will not be hired.
After all, you are a representative of the establishment. You should smell nice, your hands, hair and clothes should be perfectly clean and neat.
They also don’t want to hire people who don’t know how to smile. Just imagine that you came to a coffee shop early in the morning to cheer yourself up, drink something tasty, and you are greeted behind the counter by a “sour face” barista.
We had one guy who worked for us, who, it seems to me, never smiled. That is why, when I worked with him on a shift, I was at the cash register, and he was at the coffee machine. Because even I felt a chill run through my skin from his stony, and sometimes even angry, face.
Those who cannot find something to do are not yet destined to become a barista. It is very important to be active. Many interns were not hired because they just stood there, they had to be constantly pushed into action: “wash the dishes,” “go make a solution,” but even just coming up and asking for a job is already a plus in the piggy bank.
Well, you need to be interested in barista. You will not be able to withstand all the difficulties without love for your business and for coffee.
You can’t sit and think: “Well, the kofan was made there somehow, who will understand what?” - after all, at some point a knowledgeable person will come and it’s good if he simply doesn’t finish your drink and throws away the full glass where no one can see it.
Coffee machines: what they are and how they differ
Special attention should be paid to coffee machines and preparation technologies: from brewing coffee in a Turk to an Europress. Regarding coffee machines, there are three classifications:
- automatic
- manual
- collaboration of automatic and manual
The whole point is in the supply of pressure and the temperature of the water; in manual mode, the whole process is more controllable, and, therefore, the quality of the drink will be maximum, but the preparation time increases, which is not cost-effective, for example, in commercially oriented organizations.
Technology has been able to optimize automatic coffee machines to balance quality and preparation time, resulting in semi-automatic coffee machines. Coffee machines can also be divided into two groups.
- carob
- capsule
A portion of freshly ground grains is poured into the carob beans and crushed with a holder. Capsule ones already contain a certain gram of coffee and chemical additives; the quality is significantly lower compared to carob ones, but they are easier to use and care for.
It’s worth keeping an eye on the coffee machine better than the cash register, because the price for one machine starts at 200,000 rubles!
There are also two types of drainage, which determine where production waste will go
- down the drain
- in a separate container
A coffee machine for you is like an ax for a woodcutter and a weapon for a military man - your faithful friend and comrade-in-arms.
There are courses and startups that teach the profession and the intricacies of the work process. During the interview, the employer looks at your work experience and you as an individual, because the barista is the face of the establishment.
If you do not have experience in this industry, attention falls on your interest in this profession, as well as your desire to learn and be useful in the project.
It is also worth paying attention to the potential boss and his ideas and plans, since all people are different and it is very important who your boss is. There is a fairly large percentage of unreasonable and fraudulent entrepreneurs in this business.
What keeps you going as a barista?
- Well, definitely not money. We don’t have a fixed salary, so I don’t know until the very end what will be on my card at the end of the month.
I have always believed that the work itself is more important than profit. That is why I am here now, and not selling windows in villages. I like to communicate with guests, because each person is a little story that can sometimes amaze you to the core.
I like to “play” with coffee, invent my own drinks, learn more information that is related to my business. Yes, there are a lot of rocks here that are easy to break on.
In a team, you can run into trouble, and your work will often be underestimated, and there are also a lot of guys who constantly want to teach you how to make coffee “in their own way.” You don’t always know everything, it’s awkward to disturb someone, but it’s necessary. But the process itself is simply wonderful.
I want to make coffee, I want to see my colleagues every day, I want to come to the outlets and spend my time there, meeting dozens of new faces. That's what's holding me back, I guess.
What disadvantages can you find in your work?
— Well, the main disadvantage for me is the phrase “I work as a barista.” It sounds like you have failed in life. If you are thirty years old, and you make coffee with young guys who don’t yet know what they want from this life, then many will think that you are a sucker who doesn’t know how to do anything.
Everyone views this job as temporary. There are no people here who want to work for a long time: a month or a maximum of a year. Barista is an occupation that will keep you going until you are thirty at most.
Yes, you can forget about everything and work as much as your heart desires, but it won’t be so presentable. But here’s the catch: once the barista accepts you, you can’t leave her.
You yourself want to continue doing this, but your brain screams at you: “Diana, you graduated from the BSU Lyceum with a gold medal, what kind of barista?”
You realize that you can do much more than just brew coffee, but you don’t want to stop. So the main disadvantage of barista is that it is so interesting, but it is not suitable for a lifelong activity. But I think that this can be corrected, because the “coffee BOOM” that is now booming with all its might will not just pass for society.
Can you make the TOP 5 most “favorite” types of clients?
- Well, let's start small. Not all guests who come to a coffee shop understand what they want. And you stand there for about thirty minutes, talking about this 100 percent Arabica, and he looks at you and says: “I’ll have regular coffee, without all this.”
As a result, you make an Americano, give it away, he drinks it, doesn’t understand anything, and he’s not interested in all your work. And why ask all this if you don’t care and just want to drink coffee in the morning so that your eyes don’t swell?
The second “favorite” type of clients are people who do not understand anything, but pretend that they know more than you do. They ask what country the coffee is from. Well, you answer that from Ethiopia. And when a person finds out that Arabica is a variety with sourness, he begins: “Ugh, how is this possible, sour coffee, but your Rabusta is bitter! Is there any normal coffee? You stand there and don’t understand: have you lost your mind or has the world gone crazy?
When you try to explain that Arabica is a noble variety, and Rabusta is in our blend, they simply don’t listen to you!
There are also “aesthetes” who tell you something about cooking techniques, their already hot brains are soaring, and then you hear that fateful “good coffee,” “latte,” or “expresso.” And some coffee shops have a policy of not correcting the client.
That is, the guest said “latTE”, you give him the coffee, smile and say: “your latte”. We don’t have that, which is good news. There are also these guys whom I call “surprises.”
And the whole surprise is that you find out about their preferences when you’ve already done everything. That cappuccino is too cold for them, they like it hot. They like it when the Americano contains less water than needed. Can't you tell earlier? I don’t know how to read minds, but every day I understand that I need to learn this.
Well, I really like those who like to drink. They come and immediately: “Is there coffee with alcohol?”, “Can I have Irish, but have a lot of whiskey and not enough coffee?”
Sometimes they are so sweet, and sometimes you can’t close yourself because of them, because it’s hard to send them away and you always need to talk. And lastly, these are those clients who can be called “expensive”.
They come, ask for coffee, find out that the price is 2 rubles, and off they go: “Why is it so expensive? I can buy myself a pack for 5 rubles and make 10 mugs of coffee! Can I have a discount? Can you pour a little less water so it’s not two rubles?”
It makes me angry, but it’s funny to sit here and remember. Still, not everyone should understand coffee; that’s what we were created for.
Short description
In recent years, stylish men's hairstyles, as well as images with a beard and mustache, have become the height of fashion. The beauty industry demanded changes, so barbershops began to open everywhere - unique beauty salons for men. The dominant number of barbers are also men, which ensures psychological comfort for clients. Barbers work with adult men, as well as preschool and school age boys, and teenagers. Barber is well versed in fashion trends, care cosmetics, and hair types. He is able to create a stylish image, taking into account the appearance and wishes of the clients.
What “hot stories” happened in your workplace?
- Well, I can tell two stories. The first story happened to me somewhere in the second month of my internship. Then a woman came to our coffee shop in a not very sober state.
I asked for cognac, but our price for 50 ml is 10 rubles. Well, of course, it was dear to her. I saw liquor. The price there is lower - about 6 rubles. Well, she paid, I poured it for her, and she looks at the glass and asks: “I mean, I bought a bottle!”
She spent about twenty minutes proving to me in all seriousness that she bought a bottle of liqueur from us for six rubles. My partner saw that I couldn’t cope, she came over and sorted everything out.
Then, two hours later, she was still walking around the shopping center staff asking for 150 rubles to buy more alcohol from us.
Another funny story happened when I was not working yet. It was Easter. And we had a festive composition at one of the points. And then a tourist, apparently from Japan, came to us. I saw this composition and wanted to buy it.
The girl who was on shift at the time was surprised, of course, but she sold it. Then our director comes and asks: “Lisa, where is the composition?” Well, it's already sold. We went to look for this tourist, found her, bought her at a premium for moral damages.
After all, this is Easter, the thing itself consisted of eggs that were at room temperature, so selling it to a tourist was a very bad decision. But we got out of it. And sometimes it’s very funny to remember such stories.
Tea master
A tea tester (from the English tea - tea, tester - one who tastes) is a tea taster, he is also often called a tea sommelier. In Europe, every self-respecting restaurant has already acquired a personal tea sommelier; in Moscow, more than 60 restaurants use their services, but in the cultural capital, which has been actively sipping this drink for centuries, this tradition has not yet fully taken root. Mikhail Kabanov, tea tester of the Bakhchay restaurant and manager, one of the first who felt the need for this profession and found himself at its origins, will talk about the intricacies of the tea business.
Essence:
Knowledge and personal qualities: “The most important thing in our work is the love of tea. If a person loves this drink, then he himself can gain knowledge and develop in this direction. Of the personal qualities in this work, responsibility and communication skills are valued above all, namely the ability to beautifully talk about a product and present it correctly. After a month of training, trainees can already understand different types of tea. My task, as a leader, is to teach them to draw their own conclusions about the taste characteristics of tea and remember them.”
Training: “It’s enough to love this product, and if you really want to, you can learn this profession in any city, with the Internet at your fingertips. The learning process itself is highly individual and can last for different periods of time. Of course, ideally, to know all the intricacies of the Chinese tea ceremony, you can go to China, but even if you are in Russia, you can see their videos.”
Pros: “Working in a restaurant is good because here you can meet people of different views and worldviews. As for the work itself, it is not at all difficult, but still requires certain knowledge.”
Cons: “Of the obvious disadvantages of this job, I can only highlight the long working hours. The salary of a tea sommelier is not so high, but it is comparable to the salary of representatives of other professions in the restaurant business.”
Debunking myths: There is an opinion that there are some professional limitations for a tea tester, just like a sommelier.
“It is not advisable to try tea after fatty and spicy foods, when the receptors are clogged. But such restrictions exist only at the beginning of training: future tea sommeliers try tea on an empty stomach, and that’s when tea is understood and memorized.”
