What do you think of people who work as baristas, preparing coffee drinks, who don't actually drink coffee? Working as a barista myself (the coffee-drinking kind), I'm astounded and disappointed at how common this seems to be.

In your opinion, can someone who doesn't drink coffee be a good barista? Is it necessary to drink coffee if you prepare and serve it?

What about baristas (baristi?) who drink coffee only in flavored-/mocha-latte drinks? Do you need to love espresso?

To me tasting is an integral part of the process. It's the means to inflict change. Without tasting how can one truly evaluate and elevate their performance?

Interesting...

I've never heard of a great chef who didn't love food, a great sommelier who wasn't passionate about wine, or a great baker who wasn't fascinated by breadmaking. Why would coffee be any different? I suppose one could learn the mechanics and make gross adjustments by appearance of the pour ("eye cupping"), but truly exceptional espresso comes from exceedingly small adjustments based on tasting the result.

So what about a barista who doesn't like coffee? Well, all I can say is that I hope it's a (short) part time gig to earn money. For the long version, see Hope springs eternal.

Would you buy your meat from a vegetarian butcher (should one ever actually exist)?

I think its pretty shocking the distance allowed between many people serving the drinks behind coffee bars and the taste of the coffee they are serving. (if that makes sense?)

Hi there, it is more common than many people think. In many places in America, the barista is only the person who prepares hot drinks, just another employee with not much experience drinking coffee at all that has a training of two hours before preparing Espresso drinks.

In all cases the barista that never drinks an espresso, will produce the worst drinks. That is why Charbucks uses only super-automatic machines in all their stores, they don't have any trained barista to do the job.

My two cents,


Alex.:

Reminds me; when was the last time I had great coffee out?

Oh, that was when I was in Vancouver in summer at Caffe Artigiano!

Although this is totally not funny , I do see it as an great business opportunity.
-
Danny

HB wrote:So what about a barista who doesn't like coffee? Well, all I can say is that I hope it's a (short) part time gig to earn money.

I think that's a big part of the problem. For me personally, my job as a barista is the first step to a career in coffee. For many of my coworkers, it's just a job, where you put in your time and then go home and don't think about coffee.

As an example, my non-coffee drinking colleagues will set the grind by a stopwatch and nothing else. I've seen people get the coffee to pull in 25-30 seconds, and they're satisfied. Me? I'll adjust the grind until it tastes like I think it should, and then sometimes I'll time a shot out of curiosity. It's almost always 30 or 31 seconds. I prefer the taste of a shot pulled in that amount of time, I guess. Other people set the grind to whatever pulls in the requisite time, not because they prefer the taste.

I didn't drink coffee at all when I was hired, but then, I wasn't hired as a barista. I began to drink coffee and found myself fascinated by the stuff, and eventually convinced the management to put me on the bar.

Maybe it's possible to make good drinks without drinking coffee. But I think the quality of the drinks a barista is putting out goes up tremendously when that barista is tasting everything, and trying to produce what they find tastes best.

Don't blame the wannabe barista. Blame the owner. It shows they have no concern about the quality of what they serve. Sad, but true.

I agree that the owner is usually at fault. Often the owner or manager doesn't know coffee from a fetid dingo's kidney.
In my experience the people who drink their own pulls will pull better shots simply because they are more likely to change parameters once they have a few bad ones. But it is not impossible to find a few non coffee drinking baristi that know what they are doing. Rare mind you but not impossible. Usually these people have been trained well by someone who does know what they are doing and who critique the shots of the non drinker. In my work place I work with a young woman who hates the taste of coffee, but loves the smell and enjoys making the drinks. She actually pulls decent shots on a regular basis. She tells me she judges her shots by look and aroma, I don't know seems to work ok. The owners do know coffee and their training coupled with a barista or two that geekify on espresso help.
Out on the coffee shop prowl though, personally, I look for a barista that asks questions and understands the terminology. More questions often equals someone who wants to make you a drink that is worth paying for. When I walk into a new place I ask for an uncommon drink, like a ristretto, or throw out some Italian terms instead. The PBTC that has no idea what you just said, should NOT under ANY circumstances be allowed to make you a coffee. Ristrettos are a great way of separating the wheat from the chaff because when you have had one you know what it should be like. If you get a single normale instead, you can walk out the door and never go back. Or at least not to that particular barista. This doesn't by any stretch mean that I critique the persons shot pulling. I just keep quiet and leave. On the other hand when I get what I asked for and it is good I make certain that barista knows they did just what I wanted. Good feedback will keep that person in the job. Bad feedback usually just gets you kicked out on your keester.
Just my thoughts for $2.50.
Lynn