![]() ![]() But instead of employing theatrics, they should showcase the level of detail and precision that goes into each drink: weighing the coffee in front of the customer, brewing a pourover coffee at their guests’ table, or frothing the milk and allowing the guest to make their own latte art. Hillary thinks that baristas should take a page from the bartender flair book. ![]() Customers might not be interested in listening to a play-by-play the drink’s assembly, and espresso machines and other equipment are often placed on the bar so customers can’t even see the coffee being made. There is often a disconnect between the customers’ knowledge of the coffee, the drink preparation and the skill of the barista. This is an area in which baristas can improve. Bartenders use flair to draw attention from their customer and direct it toward the craft of assembling the drink itself. Especially at higher end cocktail bars, mixologists are known for performing what’s called “flair” – a theatrical performance of cocktail preparation using magician-like tricks and techniques. “It wasn’t until I started going to bars that I noticed bartenders have the ability to ask the right questions to the customers to craft them a drink according to their palate.”Īnother strength of bartenders is their ability to communicate not just through words, but through their body language. “Sometimes as a barista I expected the clientele, for instance, to know the difference between a Cappuccino and a Flat White” Ximena said. In working closely with bartenders throughout her career, she’s noticed that bartenders have a knack for zeroing in on the experience of the customer by asking the right questions to pull out the right information. Ximena Rubio is a specialty beverage professional based in Mexico City working in both the coffee and liquor industries. ![]() But a more relevant issue with todays’ specialty baristas is their overzealousness in sharing too much information about the coffee: its origin, processing method, roast level, flavor profile. The stereotypic barista is a ‘coffee snob’ that is too cool to engage with customers. Specialty coffee shops have sometimes struggled to create an accessible space where everyone feels comfortable. “You need to understand the feelings of others and try to reduce the level of negative emotional impact by delivering a thoughtful and fair opinion and solution.”īaristas might not serve hordes of drunken customers at a coffee shop, but they can learn an important lesson from bartenders here: one must be overtly aware of the presence and mindset of their customer and have the listening and communication skills to understand and address their needs. “A bar is an intoxicating room, not a library, so people can lose their cool, refuse to pay bills and become fussy,” Hillary said. He said that the key to handling rowdy customers is to counteract it by maintaining a cool, balanced mindset. Hillary Mugasitsi is a bartender and a barista at The Lord Erroll gourmet restaurant in Nairobi, Kenya, and an Urnex Ambassador in 2019. Bar patrons might also visit their favorite watering holes to unwind after a long day, but they might go to meet new people, dance, and loosen their inhibitions with the effects of alcohol: they can become excitable or sloppy and create difficult environments for bartenders to manage. And with coffee shops open in the morning and afternoon, baristas operate in a mostly drama-free time of day.Ī typical bar, on the other hand, has the opposite energy. The average coffee shop visitor uses the café space to escape from the stresses of the day, to catch up with friends, or get some work done on a laptop. On the one hand, coffee shops are places of comfort and rejuvenation. But the contexts and style in which they work are on opposite ends of the service spectrum. As service professionals, the jobs of baristas and bartenders center around providing a wide range of drinks to different types of customers. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |