r/barista

It boggles my mind how often customers will order a caramel latte with lactose-free milk, only to be shocked when I simply explain, "not a problem but just so you know, caramel is made with heavy cream, so it's not lactose-free."

- REALLY?!?
- Why do you have this kind of caramel and not the regular kind?
- That's not true, it's just sugar.

Yes, really. That is regular. I make it myself, so I'm not mistaken. I just give enough of a shit to explain to you, despite not needing to. In my country, we're required to list allergen numbers next to any relevant menu items, which we do, plain and clear and still this is a shock to so many.

It's just odd. No other menu items elicit this kind of reaction, but caramel does. Either it's a complete shock to them, or despite me being the one who pours the cream into the molten sugar goo, I'm incorrect.

NYC barista here. How feasible do you think it would be to work 7 days a week? I’m needed to balance 2 part time jobs at the moment, the shift lengths are between 5 hours and 6 hours, totaling 37 hours a week with very consistent schedules. The commute to each place is only 15 minutes by bike. That all seems manageable but not getting a day off seems… daunting to say the least.

Has anyone else here done this? What are some words of advice/ encouragement? Let me know 🙏

genuine question bc i feel like ive tried everything lol

we run a spot in boston and the food is good ppl love it but my biggest problem has always been getting them to actually come back. they come in once have a great time and then just vanish

i was wasting money boosting ig posts for like a year and couldnt tell you if a single person ever walked in from it

recently we started doing something different tho. basically we create a branded coupon for our spot and send it straight into local peoples phone wallets. like apple wallet google wallet. so its just sitting there next to their credit cards. they get auto reminders and actually come in to use it

ngl the results have been kinda crazy. ppl literally walk in holding their phone up showing me the coupon. and we finally have an actual customer list now so when its slow we can actually reach ppl who already fw us instead of trying to find new ones

also started getting way more google reviews from it which has been a nice bonus

anyway not saying this is the only way just sharing what finally worked for us after a lot of trial and error. curious what other owners are doing tho?? like are you guys just doing social media and hoping for the best or do you have an actual system

genuinely want to know bc i feel like nobody talks about this stuff enough

we’ve been messing with a few cold foam recipes. i’m curious how other cafes do it. things are picking up since it’s getting warmer out so we need a recipe that can be batched!

Hi everyone

I’ve been using the Normcore Click Tamper and the MHW-3Bomber tampers for quite a while now. I really enjoy trying out and discovering different tools.

Are there any tampers, or honestly any espresso tools in general, that you’d recommend? I’ve been doing a lot of research lately, so I’d really appreciate any suggestions or personal experiences you can share.

Just an informative post really, been seeing a lot of people on here struggle with durable shoes that don’t slip and slide too much. 

I got a pair of Doc Martens (used) and would walk about 10K steps with them everyday and they were honestly great but borrowed a friends brand new pair once and wow they fully had me on the floor with blisters by hour 6. I think I keep seeing Docs as the best non slip shoe and that’s factually accurate because the grip sole is great and they lace up super tight but the break in period is wayyyy too long. So I’d say only go for good condition thrifted original pairs here. The same goes for Birkenstocks that you have to break them in around the house before wearing them on your shifts for long hours. 

Any sort of clogs are great, Dansko are really really good. Really good grip on the sole and a little bit of height so there’s no flat foot issues. 

You could also go the trainers route where you get a pair of Brooks or Adidas running shoes and those should work great. But they cant be the chunky dad shoes because those soles are v high and cushioned and don’t have the best grip. So the trainers a little closer to the floor. 

Also, always always wear compression socks when you’re working a double or are gonna be running around for more than 6 hours, those are suchhh a gamechanger. Just get some from amazon or Bombas. 

I’m a barista at a chain coffee shop (not Starbucks or Dutch bros). Today I had a man and woman come in, and the man ordered a caramel frappe. The woman ordered a hot caramel mocha. Everything was fine and they paid, I made their drinks and gave them to the couple.

They went and sat at a table for a few minutes and everything was fine. Then they came back up to the counter and the woman said she didn’t want the mocha anymore, and that she wanted a frappe too.

I quickly asked my manager if we should have her just pay the difference or charge her full price for the new drink she wanted. My manager said we’d have to charge her full price.

I let them know that we could definitely get them another frappe, but that unfortunately they’d have to be charged full price.

The conversation then went like this:

Guy (G): really?

Me (M): yes, unfortunately that’s the policy here

Woman (W): we don’t have to worry about it today, we can just come back another day and get it

G: no! This is stupid! Can’t you just dump that out and get some ice and blend it up?
(He said this while pointing to the hot mocha 😭 I didn’t really say anything but no obviously we can’t take a piping hot drink and just blend it? The milk has already been steamed and that’s just not something anyone does?)

M: I’m sorry, but I was told by my manager that that’s our policy

W: really it’s fine, let’s not worry about it today

G: man I can’t believe this is an issue. You know what? You suck!

And then he angrily stormed out. I can’t comprehend how grown adults can act this way. It’s so childish it makes me laugh. I felt kind of bad for the woman because she was trying to calm him down the whole time. But seriously customers are just evil sometimes.

Barely a discussion because it was like a 5 minute interaction but my first customer today asked for a "decaf iced latte with a little bit of chocolate." We use toast as our POS, so they can see on their side what I'm ringing in for them. We have our syrups in one folder and chocolate is of course mocha. So I rang it in as Latte > Whole milk > Mocha, Light syrup > Iced. She's staring at the screen as I put it in (I don't really mind since if I get an order wrong it'd be a good catch) and I ask "can I get you anything else?" And she says, "no, but I wanted chocolate not mocha." I don't really know how to respond without sounding... rude? I replied "yeah! Chocolate is mocha." But I'm not sure if I came off rude. She just said, "oh okay! Sorry yeah I'm good!" How do you guys reply when someone asks for chocolate and not mocha?

I've been using the same old stovetop kettle for years and it finally gave out on me last week. I drink both coffee and tea daily so I need something reliable that actually holds temperature well and doesn't take forever to boil.

I've been looking around online but there are so many options now and I honestly don't know where to start. Some people swear by variable temperature settings, others say a basic one does the job just fine. My budget is somewhere in the mid range, not looking to spend crazy money but also not buying something that breaks in 3 months.

If you're a daily coffee or tea drinker, what are you actually using right now and would you buy it again?

what syrups do y'all make in house? I'm looking to revamp my shops drink menu, and I want to go with completely house made flavors. what sells best for you? what drinks do you use the flavors in? also down for tea flavors/other suggestions! i want stuff that's delicious but unusual

hi! i own a café and i’m looking for electric kettle recs. it’d be for matcha & eventually pour overs. what does your café use? anything to steer clear from? tysm!

Seriously.

I‘ve now worked at three shops where the owner/supervisor has never worked in a real coffee shop. Starbucks doesnt count either.

My supervisor now worked at starbucks for like 3 months so he could get this job and all his ideas are stupid and he bought a stupid automated machine and I hate steaming milk like that. my other boss just decided to open a shop for fun??? she had no experience.

was listening to this rich dude talk about how hes gonna quit his job so that he can open a coffee shop and this dude has no experience with coffee shops besides being a customer.

My only exception would be if you have business experience AND already know about coffee AND can get input from actual baristas too

Sorry, rant over

he comes in and flirts with me almost every shift i work… will not stop talking to me even when i’m soloing and visibly busy. he knows i have a boyfriend. today he told me he had drawn a photo of me that he put up on our cafe’s cork board over a week ago— this surprised me because i never saw it— but he told me someone threw it away and that he’s just going to have to draw me again. wtf? how do i politely tell him to please leave me alone? i am wildly uncomfortable.

i have a job interview for a new philz coffee location that is opening up near me. what does philz look for in candidates? work culture?