Page 16 - CTI 79_EN
P. 16
C
Specialty coffee shops want
baristas who are meticulousness
because it helps to ensure
that quality coffee is made.
Anyone can make a cup of coffee but it takes a special that quality coffee is made. Following well-established stan-
someone to create a truly good cup of coffee. Firstly, a dards is a sign of meticulousness and someone who can make
barista understands how the grind size of coffee beans will a good cup of coffee.
affect the overall flavors. For example, they understand that Consistency When a customer orders a drink at their
if a coffee is found to be too bitter one solution is to use a favorite coffee shops they expect that every time they go it
coarser ground to slow down extraction and speed up the will taste the same. Consistency is a sign that the barista is
brew time. A second technical aptitude they will learn to meticulous and pays the same amount of attention to each
master is how to froth milk and how to simply pour it. coffee order. Consistency can be seen in how they keep their
Learning how to make a good cup of coffee takes a lot of stations clean and how they brew each cup of coffee.
time to learn. However, the end result is worth it! Speed and efficiency If you plan to work in a cof-
Nevertheless, today being a barista requires complete- fee shop then you need to be a person who is light on their
ly different skills from what it used to. Thanks to the growth feet. When customers order coffee, they do not expect to
of the coffee market and integration of coffee supply chain, wait very long for their orders so a barista has to act fast. In
on one hand, baristas need to learn more about different order to work fast they will multi-task and know how to
type coffee, find the relationship between flavors and cli- make standard drinks well in advance. They also use their
mate or processing, they are more like sommeliers in wine ability to work consistently to ensure that they get the ac-
industry. On the other hand, barista becomes one of im- tual drink order correct.
portant parts of coffee professionals’ group. Young baristas But to reach the peak of the ladder, one should be very
can strive to become a roaster, a green coffee buyer, a assertive: this job is easy to start, but deep to learn. “As long
trainer, etc. The career ladder has grown. as you are passionate with coffee and people, you are re-
Being a barista requires a range of skills however ally fit this job”, shared Jeremy. Francesco, on the other
there are a few which are more essential than others. hand, feels like being a barista involves so many interper-
These skills include: sonal skills that sometimes it might feel overbearing:
Meticulousness Meticulousness is a term used to “After some years it becomes harder and harder to wake
describe when someone pays attention to detail and takes up every day with a smile on your face to go and make
care in all the smallest details. This is an important soft skill other’s people coffee: this is just the right moment to take
when brewing a cup of coffee. Specialty coffee shops want a break or to look for other possibilities in the field of hos-
baristas who are meticulousness because it helps to ensure pitality or in the coffee industry.”
18 19