No Update This Week

Sorry all, there's probably not going to be an update this week. (I know you're all horribly disappointed.)

A combination of factors has made this a crazy week.

Check back on Monday.

No Foam Lattes

If you don't like foam, order your latte with no foam.

You send our baristas into seizures when you order a light foam latte, and then freak out because there is foam on your drink.

One girl that I work with regularly really freaks out when a certain customer comes through. She spends a good 5 to 10 minutes pulling the foam out of this drink because when the customer orders "light foam" she really means no foam, at all.

One Handed Hand Offs

I work at this job all the time.

I’m sure I don’t have to explain that practice makes perfect, and there are a few things that I can do that I have learned/streamlined while on the job.

One such skill that I think most of us (as baristas) posses is the one-handed hand off.

When passing you your drink in the drive-thru, I can stick your drink, credit card/receipt, and straw in one hand.

Then as I lean out the window, you also try to grab the drink one-handed.

It should not affect your mojo at all if you have to use two hands, only you and I will know. You see, the problem is that when you try to grab whatever I have in my hand one-handed, the drink starts to fumble. Sometimes the lid pops off, and you get upset that there’s latte on your paint job. Or you are shocked when you can’t seem to get a hold on whatever I am trying to hand you.

This is not my fault.

I’m not expecting you all to go out and develop the skill of holding all these things one handed. Just use your brain.

Use two hands.

Then we will avoid all the problems of messes, dropped credit cards, dropped change, etc.

Make sure you pick up your drink from the counter

Here is a conversation between a customer and myself:

 

C: There’s no espresso in this drink.

(I stop making the five drinks in front of me to address this customer’s problem.)

Me: What kind of drink did you have?

C: A medium mocha.

(I look at the cup)

Me: This is a medium chai.

C: Well why did you give me a medium chai?

(I see the name WRITTEN ON THE CUP.)

Me: Are you Roger?

C: No.

Me: Well this is Roger’s chai sir.

C: Why did you give me a chai?

 

This happens a lot, so let me clear something up for all of you.

 

When it is the middle of the rush, the barista making the drinks focuses solely on that, not on keeping track of your beverage. (If we have to keep track of which one is yours, we have to keep track of everyone's. A huge feat considering that at top speeds we can make 50 or so drinks an hour.) Your name is usually written upon the cup, take a look and see if it is still there. Also, we usually call out the name on the cup, and the kind of drink, so if you are listening, you can usually hear which drink is the one you ordered. (This is not to say there are not mistakes made on our part, that drinks always come out in order, and that we always name the cup. But generally speaking, all of the above applies.)