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C Story / Teresa Fan. Illustration / Circle

A s coffee became daily essential in our life, peo-

ple started to get to know more about barista
behind the bar who is specializes in making and
serving coffee and other beverages in a coffee
shop, bar or restaurant. Unlike in the traditional markets,
such as Italy, there are many baristas who have dedicated
their lives to the job. With the booming café culture, it has
become one of the trendy jobs in big cities in China. Being
a barista and working in the warm and friendly environment
could be interesting and rewarding at the beginning of your
career, it opens the door of the coffee world.

The start of my coffee career

I was very lucky for making a career out of my first
part time job. Back to my school days, after I tried all kinds
of part-time jobs: delivering brochures, tutoring etc., but
nothing was too exciting. By coincidence, I was introduced
to a translation job, it was to help translate a coffee brand
brochure and a coffee operation manual. I remember vivid-
ly, the very first word I needed to look up was “Barista”, I
couldn’t find anything in the dictionary, no result after
searching on Baidu (the most used search engine in China)
as well. As we always had a phrase for “Tea Ceremony Mas-
ter” for my knowledge which has been translated into “Cha
Yi Shi”, so I translated “barista” to “咖啡师”, a coffee master.
The day I went to deliver the translation in the coffee
shop, I filled my application for the part time barista job.
From there, I had my first cups of Espresso and Americano…
Coffee Way I learned how to roast coffee, what makes a good blend for
espresso. There was always something new to learn, every-
thing was fascinating. Without hesitation, I took the store
manager role when I was offered right after my graduation
instead of a job to work as a tour guide or work in a five-star
hotel. Since then, I did retail operation, sales, marketing,
What is Next for You? coffee Non-profit program, business development, green
coffee sales and then green coffee trading.

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