Yes, the baristi have been playing…again.
We have a new espresso blend the guys are wild about. Wonderful crema, full but balanced flavor, smooth as “buttah”, to use the euphemism. It was only a short hop from there to playing with the grind a bit “just to see what would happen” if they lengthened the timing and shortened the volume. What they got was 35-second ristrettos from the triple baskets we’re using (so probably 22 or 23 grams for a double) Are we serving those to the unsuspecting public? Nah, but tweaking things like this when they have time is making supergeeks out of many of the baristi, and drinking them is ensuring that they’re awake to finish the closing list, too! Does anybody have more fun than we do? I don’t think so!
This is part and parcel of our retraining effort, fueled by those espresso geeks. Filtering down through our assistant managers (who by their own admission are sometimes so busy doing ancillary tasks that their espresso-geekiness goes into hiding), we’re about to begin the retraining of rank-and-file baristi. What we’ve seen is that our staff, some of whom have been here longer than I have, and I’ve been here 8 1/2 years, were trained by lots of folks over lots of years. Over the course of those years they’ve developed habits or perpetuated shot-pulling techniques that we’ve scrapped, altered or at least enhanced. So, retraining. Everything from elementary espresso production through latte art. It’ll take the better part of a month, but so far everybody’s been thrilled for the opportunity to spend one-on-one time with a trainer and happy to be adding new skills to their repertoires. Learning something new (or even relearning something a new way) is GREAT!
Filed under: Coffee
