coffee

Baristas see the worst of their guests.

Before he started working at the café, Devon rarely talked to any hipster or goth people, now he’d talked to more than he could count of his fingers; being a barista was similar to being a bartender in some ways.

Source: [WP] You are a barista in a 24 hour coffee shop. Every night at 3:33am a demon appears for the Dark Lord’s latte. : WritingPrompts

We’ve been both. We’ve been a barista, we’ve been a bartender.

And being a barista is far, far worse than being a bartender.

As a bartender people will come up to you and try to behave their best, hoping they will be able to get faster service.

As a barista we will deal with whatever bartender wrought. And all baristas will try to make the experience palatable, to that person who just left the clutches of a bartender, hours ago.

Baristas see the worst of their guests. Read More »

We would terrify

I’m not sure why that thing comes to my store, or where it takes that coffee, but I am sure it’s for someone or something else. I can recognize the bad temperament of an unpaid intern anywhere, and I can only hope whatever dark lord it serves is content with its beverage, for its sake and mine. I seem to be doing well so far.

Source: [WP] You are a barista in a 24 hour coffee shop. Every night at 3:33am a demon appears for the Dark Lord’s latte. : WritingPrompts

We have been of coffee service.

We will be of coffee service.

We would terrify Read More »

And in that moment I was happy

So the coffee grinder that I have is… mine! All mine!

First time in my life I’ve got a coffee grinder for my own use without having to depend on work to be able to grind beans using a quality device. It’s just a “cheap” Baratza Virtuoso I got off Amazon but… again, it’s all mine and no one else’s.

I won’t have to wait for a distracted barista at any of the coffee shops in town to grind the coffee for me. I’ll be able to do a good— nay, a great! cup of french press, or Hario V60 pourover. I’ll be able to do cold press in a good way without having to waste ground beans.

I won’t have to deal with the li’l temperamental pice grinder I’ve been using for years to brew my stuff. I can actually use to grind y’know, spices; at least until I get an actual burr grinder for said spices.

Yesterday I used it for the first time for a couple of cups of french press.

It was perfect.

And in that moment I was happy Read More »

Start of daytime week

Bit of a status update.

Typing this at Bachelor Farmer Cafe. Expensive but there’s good wifi and the chairs are comfy. It’s becoming a bit of a habit after a shift at SysadminJerb but somehow the vibe here lets me think, which is nice. I can then go home and sleep and still feel productive about my night at work.

It’s getting cold. Got me a cool leather jacket but I will definitely need more heavy winter gear.

Still working at merBOHjob… which makes for long shifts when there are days when I have to work at both places at once. Staying up 30 hours or more is now a common occurrence and it would seem my psyche has stabilized enough to be able to do this and not feel like I’m losing myself anymore.

Chuckling as I type this cos one of the barists totally looks like she doesn’t want to be here, and she looks like the old GM at 112 that is a… colorful character, to me.

Oh right, I got kicked out of 112 this past Sunday. First time I’ve been kicked out of a restaurant. Just walked out, didn’t fight it. At least now I know for sure they don’t want my business, nor any business I might send their way. Guess I could send people to bFOHjob but I’m pretty sure they also fucken hate me.

Guess I’ll have to send people to Bachelor Farmer.

Start of daytime week Read More »

Go big or go broke

The coffee industry suffers because its largest workforce (baristas and service staff) are often employed by the least experienced in the industry. We make it very easy for people to start cafes simply because they want to, rather than expecting them or demanding they at least know the basics of what they do. I worry we continue to set the bar too low to enter the commercial roasting business. I’m all for people being passionate about their product. I’m also passionate about people investing their energies in developing their skills before they try and leverage them in return for people’s money.

Cafe Imports and Roast Profiles « jimseven.

This is one of the reasons why coffeshops have the biggest failure rates in the whole food service industry. People don’t know how to keep the quality in their products, from acquisition to final presentation for the patron.

Go big or go broke Read More »

Yeah, it’s hard

Complaining about restaurant coffee « jimseven.

We don’t offer any form of coffee at work. How could we? There are two real coffeeshops within half a block and we’re next door to a bakery that is thinking of adding espresso to its menu. We don’t have the infrastructure to support even a simple espresso machine either.

Were we to offer coffee, it would have to be brewed coffee, either french press or chemex, and even then it’s not guaranteed it would even sell. Plus, who would make it? The waitresses won’t want to, and in the kitchen we barely have the time as it is.

Getting coffee right in a coffeeshop is hard. Getting it right in a restaurant is even harder.

Yeah, it’s hard Read More »