Should barista drink coffee

[coffeegaz]

We had friends round for coffee and I ran out of beans ,so in an emergency I bought some from Gloria Jeans .The person who served me recommended a couple of blends and said that she was the only one serving who drank coffee so the others didnt know the different flavors.

What do you think , is it po :ssible to be a good barista who dosnt drink coffee..
Huh



Gaz

[Thundergod]

Re: Should barista drink coffee

Good yes.
Great no.

[GrindOnDemand]

Re: Should barista drink coffee

As a cafe owner, Id definitely say that EVERY barista needs to drink their own coffee to know with certainty what the customers are drinking. Sure, you can watch & time a pour, & texture your milk well, & make a decent LOOKING coffee - but what does it taste like??? Any barista worth their salt needs to constantly monitor their espresso through the day - this means changing the grind, the dosing, the tamping, and TASTING it to ensure that the customer will walk away satisfied. So, in short - any good barista MUST drink coffee!!! By-the-by, even a great barista would be challenged with stale GJ beans - I wouldve offered your friends tea instead Gaz!!!

[lucinda]

Re: Should barista drink coffee

I actually get coffee from a cafe that is excellent. The guy who runs it and makes the coffee does not drink coffee. However he smells it - and I have seen him dump a coffee that wasnt right.

I suppose he makes so many coffees that he has a feel for it when it is right or wrong. I have had coffee from other places where the barista drinks coffee and it is just terrible.

As for GJs. Their coffee is crap - no matter what blend it is.

[coffeegaz]

Re: Should barista drink coffee

My friends coffee was the last of my beans from brownbay and the coffee from GJs was a free sample , but you are right about the freshness there is no comparison ...........


gaz

[GrindOnDemand]

Re: Should barista drink coffee

I take your point Lucinda - but I believe that youre more likely to have a great coffee experience from a barista who has a genuine passion for not only making fantastic espresso, but loving the taste. And youre right, just because the barista drinks his/her own poison doesnt mean it guarantees a decent coffee.

[muppet_man67]

Re: Should barista drink coffee

Its like a Chef who only eats other peoples food. nuf said.

[scoota_gal]

Re: Should barista drink coffee

I dont acutally drink a lot of coffee during the day, in fact, I only have one! Generally, I check that my coffee is still up to scratch by asking any of my regular customers if the coffee is good or I use my other senses of sight and smell!

[marcstolk]

Re: Should barista drink coffee

I think smell is the gateway to knowing if the espresso is good or not... I can smell a sour espresso... so if you can pick that up, youre on your way to keeping your caffeine levels down throughout the day ;-)...

[recurve_boy]

Re: Should barista drink coffee

My friends coffee was the last of my beans from brownbay and the coffee from GJs was a free sample , but you are right about the freshness there is no comparison ...........
gaz

Hehe. Some guys in the office buy flavoured GJs coffee for their plungers. I took a look at it the other day. Its amazing how they filter out the uneven grinds to make it look perfectly uniform.

[muppet_man67]

Re: Should barista drink coffee

My friends coffee was the last of my beans from brownbay and the coffee from GJs was a free sample , but you are right about the freshness there is no comparison ...........
gaz

Hehe. Some guys in the office buy flavoured GJs coffee for their plungers. I took a look at it the other day. Its amazing how they filter out the uneven grinds to make it look perfectly uniform.

Ill think you will find that deli type grinders give a very uniform grind compared to esspresso/cafe grinders.

[NE14COFFEE]

Re: Should barista drink coffee

In my opinion a barista should drink coffee! Im not saying hourly but maybe once a day. At least drink it or how will you really know the taste. Others senses are great but nothing will articulate coffee as well as taste can.

Look at the end of the day we are talking about Gloria Jeans... need i say more?

So again, good maybe great id say no

[marcstolk]

Re: Should barista drink coffee

Look at the end of the day we are talking about Gloria Jeans... need i say more?

I think we can all agree that GJs isnt a specialty Coffee business anymore.. In its very early days it was... but franchises I believe dont really know what fresh coffee is - and the end sold product (bag of beans eg) is reflected in this... As a business, I love its concept, its ideals and ethics... but if your after specialty coffee, GJs is not the place to feed your hunger for amazing coffee to take home.....
Having said that, their roasting and processing is very impressive, I would love to taste some of their "fresh" stuff (not the special blend of course). I think it would be quite amazing.