Q: Is there a preferred method or order (or general multitasking tips) for when making multiple drinks at the same time, or should I be focusing on each drink one at a time from start to finish?
A: It depends on the drink you’re working on. For most drinks though, everything begins at the cup level. Writing on cups is a great way to define each drink from one another. Coming up with
“lingo” that makes sense is also helpful (for example, a whole milk mocha could be W-MO and a decaf skim mocha would be DCF SK MO). The difficulty of creating this way of interacting is making sure everyone understands everything well. All this being said, I’d start by writing the drink info on the cup (or a piece of paper if in a mug).
At this point it becomes difficult to explain each step because every drink is different, but for our sake I will run down a simple latte.
Once I have marked the cup or somehow labeled the drink, I will first pour my milk into a pitcher. After this is done, I will start preparing my espresso ( I am not going to go into detail here about this process). After my puck is ready, I will load it in the machine, place my cup underneath, and begin steaming. If I had many lattes, I will prep 4 or 5 milk pitchers at a time, two or three pucks, and line up mugs to begin pulling shots and steaming. I’ve found that at my fastest I can make a latte in about a minute and a half. If I am able to steam for more than one drink at a time, I could possible make two in two minutes.
I will say - about 90% of the speed needed to make drinks this fast comes from pure intuition and repetition. At some point, you cannot think about what you are doing anymore to keep up. This is not easy for new baristas, but professionals with years of experience work this way everyday. Practice is very important to making drinks quickly and efficiently. Q: If making a hot beverage and an iced beverage for the same customer, which one should
I start first (if it matters)?
A. Generally I would begin by making an iced drink because, in general, iced drinks take a bit longer (maybe half a minute more for an average iced latte). Also, ice begins to melt
the moment it is taken out of the freezer, so iced drinks cannot be prepped long before
they are made, otherwise they begin to become watery and weak. In general I’d begin
with cold drinks and move to hot.
Q. How often should I be washing my hands?
A. This is a hard question to answer, and a lot of it depends on what materials you will be handling throughout the day. In all honesty, the average barista should wash his/her
hands at least once an hour on a busy day, but I know this isn’t a perfect world, and once
an hour can easily become overwhelming. What I would suggest is washing your hands
any time there is a lull in service. If you find yourself twiddling your thumbs, wash them.
Q. When should a pitcher be reused vs. rinsed vs. fully washed?
A. In my humble but professional opinion, a pitcher should never be reused. In between every usage there should be a rinse taking place. I could go into detail why I think this,
but once simple reason is because it acts as a “reset” between each drink, not to mention
it just keeps things clean. As far as a full wash goes, I usually do this at the end of the or
if the pitchers become particularly dirty in any way.
Q. Is latte art necessary? If so, why?
A. Before I fully answer this question, I will respond with a question. Can a latte have proper foam without latte art? The answer is simply no. I have never been served a latte with good foam that did not have art on it. I tend to think this is because of three reasons.
First, the microfoam needed for latte art is the correct microfoam for any latte. Secondly,
the integration of milk with the espresso makes a tastier drink overall. Lastly, the
aesthetic qualities of latte art help each customer perceive the drink as tasty.
a. If I may, I would like to state one very important piece of information regarding
latte art, and lattes in general. If your espresso sucks because you rushed through
it to pour a pretty looking latte, you are doing everything completely wrong.
Espresso is the base of any good latte so it needs to be more seriously than any
other aspect of the drink.
Q. What are the ideals parameters for a shot of espresso?
A. Our ideal parameters for espresso using our Volo blend are as follows: 17 grams dosed in - 35 grams out in 25-30 seconds
18 grams dosed in - 40 grams out in 30-40 seconds
19 grams dosed in - 45 grams out in 35-45 seconds
The time and dose out may vary depending on your water quality and grind consistency, but overall these are good starting places to pull a sweet and complex shot of spro’.
Q. What temperature should we steam our milk to?
A. The simple answer is 140-160 degrees F. Generally, you do not want to go hotter than 160 because the milk will actually begin to burn, causing a slightly caustic and bitter taste. 140 is a good number for a drink that will be consumed quickly, though some customers may not see this as hot enough. Q. Why is everything weighed in grams? Why can’t I just use a scoop or cup to measure everything?
A. Simply put, weighing is the most accurate method of measurement. Just to give a quick example:
Say you brew a 2 liter batch of medium coffee usually using 3 scoops before grinding and filling the brew basket. If you were to switch to another type of bean, say go from using a Colombian bean to a Rwandan, the bean size is not only quite different, which will throw off your measurements, but also the actual density of the coffee is different, adding another factor that will change the flavor.
Because of this, weighing is the superior method of achieving consistent and tasty results.
Q. How long does roasted coffee stay fresh?
A. After being roasted, coffee is usually considered ‘fresh’ for up to a month, though by the month mark the coffee has dramatically decreased in quality.
Q. How often should we be cleaning our equipment?
A. This is a difficult questions because some equipment needs daily cleaning, while some weekly or even monthly. Here is a quick breakdown of ideal cleaning:
Daily: Espresso machine (group heads and steam wands), airpots, anything in contact with milk, cups and utensils, counters and floor, etc.
Weekly: Refrigerators, syrupy tips and bottles Monthly: Grinders This is just a few ideas, your list will of course differ as you need to use different equipment.