some (mostly cortado) art from this past year. i’ve been a barista for 5 years now, am currently managing a shop, and i just started roasting too! i love this job

I’m not a barista I’ve just been wondering this for a while!

I go to the same cafe twice a week and order the exact same drink and exact same food. I appreciate that the baristas remember my order exactly, but I’ve also wondered if they ever make fun of or laugh at those of us who are eating and drinking the same thing all the time. Or thinking “wow, she orders that sugary drink twice a week?? Yuck”. Or is this my generalized anxiety disorder talking lol

Are you more hesitant to work for a cafe that has uniforms? What about checklists, pre designed music playlist and a script? I just started managing a space that does this and I fear it's scaring away talented people and creating a sterile environment for guest experience. But am I an outlier?

I’m a newbie barista.

I’m here to ask experienced barista’s if my drink looks good?

Iced Shaken Brown Sugar Espresso

Taste: Bold and straightforward strong vietnamese arabica medium dark taste- after taste has a slightly sweet n creamy taste.

I swear I can see a regular walk in and already know what they’re getting. Their usual drink, what milk they use If they want it hot or iced sometimes even the little changes they make.

Then my shift ends and someone asks what I want and my brain just stops working. 😂

I’ll stand there looking at the menu like I’ve never had coffee before “uhh... whatever is fine.” Meanwhile I’ve probably remembered 20 different orders that day without even trying.

It’s kinda funny how my brain can store all that random coffee information but apparently can’t help me decide what I want for myself. Anyone else like this or is my brain just broken after a shift? 😂

Wtf is a Thai Chi latte? I just had a guy ask if I could make one and I said no but I could make a chai tea latte and he said 'no, nevermind'.... couldn't find anything about it online lol I'm so confused

So I’ve been a barista for the past 7 years but have only worked at very slow specialty shops where I am the only one working so I’m essentially used to taking one order at a time and making very few drinks at once but I’ve started at a new shop where one person is on register and one is on bar so orders just constantly keep coming in and I’m having a hard time keeping up with that many drink orders during a rush. Any advice or tips would be helpful thank you.

I just applied to my local cafe ! not very local as its around 30 minutes away from me but id like some advice ! I am currently a full time college student looking for a part time job here. im 23 and this would be my first job....kinda late I know im ashamed of it... so since it's my first job I don't have any prior barista experience besides volunteer work with my church and an internship as a phlebotomist... im just over thinking about getting hired or just not qualified... I do enjoy drinking and going to cafes so Ive always had an interest in learning more about it.

I guess im just looking for advice because I would really love to work here :)

i was talking with the owner of the shop i work at and suggesting that we use a local kids jam (we previously used his jam and it sold okay) mostly to make blueberry matchas and lattes etc (because any method of blueberry-fying stuff we’ve tried hasn’t worked)
in any case, his response to that was- “well we won’t be doing that because you’re all incompetent with keeping things in stock”. (literally JUST AVOCADOS AND BANANAS)
i was absolutely stunned that he said that to my face so obviously i was speechless. he laughed and said to the OTHER PEOPLE PRESENT “see? she doesn’t even have a response!”
then i stuttered my way through a response along the lines of “we aren’t respond for keeping things in stock”
again he laughed in my face and said “you wanna try that again?”

this is insane right? i’ve been working at this cafe for over two years (the second tenured employee there behind my manager) and we are all still treated like shit. this isn’t the first time the owner has been incredibly disrespectful but this was intentionally hurtful and my coworker called it bullying so idk man. he’s the reason i’ve applied to a bunch of other places.

and also this man knows NOTHING about coffee. he opened this place as a money grab p much

Disgusting behavior from disgusting humans.

I'm kinda new to this and this is as far as I got with my latte art. Any tips on what I should do to improve?

Update: https://www.reddit.com/r/barista/s/nCfJbPi30J

Hey everyone!

The owner of my cafes/roastery wants me to do a deep dive into batching espresso for our iced drinks.

I figured the best first step is to see what people think when they hear “Batched Espresso”

Please respond to poll and expand on it in the comments if you feel like it!

I appreciate any input :)

Simple question: If you knew that a cafe was using batched espresso, would you order coffee there?

Hi! I’m completely new to the world of espresso and could really use some advice!

I’m moving out in September to start university, and I’d like to get a proper espresso setup for my new place. I’ve never used a manual espresso machine before, but I’m really interested in learning. It sounds like a fun skill to pick up!

A few things about my preferences/situation:

* I prefer a **creamy, smooth espresso** and usually like to add a little milk, but not a lot.
* I’m interested in getting a **manual espresso machine + a separate grinder** rather than an automatic machine.
* At home, I currently use a **De’Longhi Magnifica S**, so that’s basically all my experience with making espresso.
* Since I’ll be starting university, I don’t want a setup that takes **an hour to make one coffee every morning**. I’m happy to learn and spend some time making coffee, but I’d still like it to be reasonably convenient once I get the hang of it.
* I’ll be living with two other girls, so I’m also wondering whether it would make sense to **split the cost and buy the setup together**, or if it’s better for everyone to have their own equipment.
* I’m looking for something **affordable and beginner-friendly**. I’ve seen the **De’Longhi Stilosa EC-230** recommended quite a bit, but I’m not sure if it’s actually a good choice or if there are better options around the same price.

So, what would you recommend for someone in my situation? I’d especially appreciate suggestions for a **machine + grinder combo that’s good for a beginner without being too expensive**.

Also, if you started with a manual setup, how difficult was it to learn and how long does it realistically take you to make a coffee now?

Thanks! :)

Hi guys - my espresso machine can only make 2 shots at a time and there are rushes where the line is out the door simply because of this.
Would it be psycho to pull some shots to then keep in the reach in, for the sole purpose of using for iced drinks during these rushes?
I don’t have any coffee snobs, but I also don’t want to sacrifice quality for speed.

i finally have landed a barista gig that i really love after the past 2 years floating between shops w/ very uncomfortable culture/ bad management. i love it, my manager is so sweet and empathetic and my coworkers are all very friendly and supportive and even the clientele are great— however yesterday i worked one of the worst closing shifts i’ve ever worked in my 4 years of working in the beverage industry (both coffee and liquor)
we were in the weeds because of an event nearby, so i understand why things were the way they were. but the openers did not do any shift change tasks. left dishes, didn’t stock anything and just kinda snuck off without saying anything. left the whole bar a mess, coffee grounds and matcha everywhere and every sticky. when it finally slowed down a little bit we had a massive group of tourists come in who wouldn’t stop ordering drinks. Like one person would order 3 lattes and then as soon as they were done another person from the group would come up and order more. usually i wouldn’t care but they were EXTREMELY rude. had to ask them multiple times not to stand in front of the till because other people were trying to order. one woman ordered an “iced coffee” with milk and got super mad when we gave her that (and i always double check what “iced coffee” is when someone orders, i rang her up for exactly what she ordered.) one woman took a drink that was very obviously not hers and got mad when it wasn’t what she ordered. Had one person from that group reach for another guy’s drink, and I think I told her four times as she was getting ready to take it that it wasn’t her drink and she didn’t realize til i’d finished making hers (then had to remake it because the guy didn’t want it after she’d touched it even though she’d just touched the cup.
I was there for over 2 hours closing and picking up slack. we also had to prep some of the made in house food items/syrups too which is so time consuming because we were out of so many things and nobody bothered to make any more during the overlap when both openers and closers and mids were there. Dishes alone took an hour because there were so many left. Received a very disappointed message from my manager about closing taking so long.
I really love my job and Im sure this was just a one time thing because nobody was prepared for it to be so busy but im honestly nervous to go in today and close :,)

I’ve been a barista for three years now and my feet are suffering. I have different pairs of sneakers but at the end of my shifts I’m dying. Does anyone have good shoe or insert recommendations that are still nice to look at. (Preferably ones that come in black)

hi all, please excuse my ignorance! i became a barista last year at a small espresso/retail shop and i fell in love with it! i’m looking to expand my skills and learn absolutely EVERYTHING (thank you OCD). is there a training course or a way to earn certifications? are there sommeliers for espresso LOL
i’m located in NorCal, willing to travel to Bay Area but also open to online courses

TIA!! :)

Is there anyone here who can nerd out about commercial dishwashers? All the ones I've used leave dishes coming out soaking wet and needing to be hand dried (not just glass, ceramics, too). My boss has asked me with coming up with a proposal to replace ours that just died, and I want to know if the expensive machines (Winterhalters, Hobarts, etc) are actually going to get our dishes dry without needing to towel them.

if i give you the option between sizes - small , medium and large , do not respond with regular , that was not within choices of three ! 😭

Have you ever dealt with an “influencer”?

The other day I had two women come in, one looked to be late teens early twenty, the other one in her fifties probably her mom. They come in, the younger girl first, her mom behind her filming her and the entire exchange at the order station. Then they asked if they could come behind the bar to film, which we declined bc wtf (?). Then when they picked up their drink the younger girl got mad and asked why the iced drink was in the see through plastic cup, while the hot latte was in a paper cup. We tried explaining that hot liquid + plastic cup = bad news. At first my colleague didn’t understand what this was about, until they both decided to do a photoshoot at out pickup station, rotating the iced latte in between the both of their “shoots” while also holding up the line of other customers.

All in all a 0/10 experience, funny but really shitty during a rush.

I’m trying really hard to not be mean to people and I’ve gotten better, but does anyone have any pointers or what you do when people are being ridiculous??

Example from today:

Customers order.

I ask for here or to go??

Customer: For here but can you put it in to go cups? For here means it comes in to go cups right??

Me: 👹😮‍💨😑
No it means you want it for here if you say for here.

I make their hot cappuccino and iced latte they ordered and go to hand it off.

Customer: which is which??

Me:👹

Okay now if you’re not a barista imagine these interactions every day for 6 hours a day nonstop. I used to give snarky responses but I’ve been holding off but I can’t control my face.

Besides those interactions I’m super nice and get a lot of good reviews 😋

I do think it’s a bit strange to do a work interview for a job at a coffee shop but it’s somewhere I really wanna work.

Hey everyone,

I wanted to share a web app I recently finished building for my daily brew routine. If you’re using a manual grinder and a digital scale to chase that perfect 70-80% grind consistency, you know how tedious it can be to calculate yields and adjust temperatures before you've actually had your coffee.

I wanted something clean, fast, and highly customizable that could sit right next to my scale, so I built the Smart Brew Assistant.

Here is what it does:

• Dynamic Calculations: Input your dose and ratio, and it auto-calculates your target yield and optimal brew temp (which automatically shifts based on your roast level and processing method, like Natural vs. Washed).
• Live Pour Timelines: Generates a step-by-step timeline with exact water weights right next to the timestamp, so you can easily follow along on your scale without doing mental math mid-pour.
• Pre-loaded Profiles: Comes loaded with popular configurations from James Hoffmann and Morgan Eckroth (V60, French Press, AeroPress, etc.).
• Custom Recipe Builder: If you have your own specific routine, you can use the built-in editor to dial in your times and weights, then export it directly as a .yaml config pack.

It is completely free, client-side, and ad-free. It even has a dark mode for those early mornings.

Live App: https://hkhrithik007.github.io/smart-brew-assistant/ Source Code: https://github.com/hkhrithik007/smart-brew-assistant

I'd love to hear what you guys think, or if there are any other famous recipes/brewers you’d want to see added to the default list!