In today's post, we'll tell you what it means to be a barista . The word barista is of Italian origin and refers to a coffee expert and the person in charge of serving quality coffee at a bar. To be a barista , you need knowledge and a lot of experience; your role is essential to ensuring that customers at the place you work can enjoy a good cup of coffee.
Barista is not only the art of preparing different varieties of coffee , but a profession dedicated to knowing everything about it. A barista is a specialized professional capable of recognizing high-quality coffee, who works to create new and diverse beverages based on it, using various types of dairy products, essences, and liqueurs, and mastering different preparation methods. They are also responsible for the presentation of drinks and can complement their work through the use of latte art.
To be able to represent the role of a barista in the hospitality industry, a good barista must understand the requirements that make this a trade and a profession. If we limit ourselves to referring to a barista as someone in charge of preparing and serving coffee, it would be like saying that a sommelier (a wine and spirits tasting expert) is in charge of opening wine bottles in a restaurant.
Here we're going to review the ABCs, from our point of view, of the main aptitudes, skills, and activities that a good barista must fulfill and develop in their profession:
- A barista must have a passion for coffee and its surroundings. This passion is what drives them to deepen their knowledge and strive to improve day by day to become a better coffee professional.
- Baristas must understand the coffee they work with, its origin, its production process, quality, roast level, and freshness, as well as the attributes it offers in the cup. Therefore, they must constantly train to update their knowledge and explain all the characteristics of the product they are serving.
- As the person ultimately responsible for the cup, the barista must master all the technical aspects related to the equipment with which the coffee will be prepared, whether espresso or through one of the existing extraction methods.
- It's essential for baristas to be tidy when handling equipment and accessories. Wiping up spilled milk, ground coffee , or liquid spills during work is a sign of tidiness. Each cleaning cloth should be designated for a specific purpose (wiping the bar, cleaning the espresso machine, cleaning or drying utensils).
- A barista should always avoid wasting coffee; grinding adequate amounts per serving will accustom us to not having excess or unnecessary waste.
- The order of the work sequence is just as important as the arrangement of utensils on the bar. The barista must have all of their utensils or ingredients in an accessible place that facilitates their work.
- It's important to pay close attention to the preparation and avoid overdoing the extraction process, which would leave the coffee brewing process unattended. It's also important to strictly follow the steps for making the coffee.
- A good barista must demonstrate skill, creativity, and ability in creating their own drinks. If you know the characteristics of the beans you're working with, it will be easy to find the ingredients that best match them.
- The barista will know the proper way to handle milk in terms of temperature and texture, and will be able to implement different latte art techniques.
- If coffee preparation is important, so too must its presentation to the customer, which is why the barista must have a very neat image and overall appearance.
Regarding the latter, it is important to highlight that there must be a protocol and etiquette in the work of the barista , which, although it is focused on the preparation of coffee, it is also important that he understands and uses the procedures for proper customer service:
Barista Customer Service Protocol
These five recommendations, we believe, although there are many more, are the main characteristics that a coffee professional dedicated to barismo should possess.
The world of coffee is surrounded by many interesting things, from the planting of the seed in the fields, through roasting and production, to the coffee shop where a good cup of hot coffee finally reaches us from the hands of a barista . That's why we invite you to learn more about this wonderful world every day.
