Training staff to become productive, competent, and confident members of the team is a massive challenge all coffee shops face. In spite of our best efforts we often end up with baristas who have completed training but are still not ready to work the bar effectively and this brings about frustration for everyone. There is a better way and today …
291 : What to do if Your Baristas Wont Listen to You
Have you ever thrown your hands up in frustration and said something like, “Why won’t my staff listen to me?!” I get this type of question a lot from people attending my lectures at Coffee Fest. Managers and owners alike have this moment often. I know I have. We desire nothing more than generating buy-in and to be at peace …
274 : Crafting Specialty Drinks in your Shop w/ Matt Foster”
U.S. Coffee in Good Spirits champion Matt Foster is here to guide you to specialty drink success! We all want to have a menu that includes unique signature beverages that we love making and customers love drinking. Trouble is, making creative specialty drinks that in your shop that are delicious, practical, AND profitable is not an easy task. It …
235 : 4 Tips for Training your Staff
How do you ensure that what you teach in training is effective for both the employee and the business? Well, there are many different elements but amongst those element are four foundational mindsets and practices that serve to hold everything together. Today we are going to be exploring how focusing on minimum viable skills, patience, real-life training, and tracking/follow-up will …
192 : Freedom through Coffee w/ Esther Hope-Gibbs of Manumit Coffee
27 Million. That is the number of people who are trapped in modern day slavery. It is a number that may leave many wondering what they can possibly do in the face of such a daunting statistic. However, today’s guest decided that she needed to take action and try to make a difference. Esther Hope-Gibbs is a veteran coffee …
191 : Retraining your Staff on new Standards
Has it been a while since you last trained the staff and practices are outdated or ineffective? As a business grows the need for raising the standards in the shop becomes an absolute necessity. Â The new year is approaching and if you seek to bring in a new level of quality to you operation then making the right steps …
178 : Training Masterclass w/ Emma Haines of London School of Coffee and Caffeina Consulting
We all know that training is one of the most critical skills to master in the professional coffee world. Entire careers are made or broken by the influence of a great or a terrible training experience. It stands to reason then that we would go out of our way to find the best examples of training done right …
163 : Lessons from Crush the Rush w/ Josh Little Field
There is no better feeling than when the cafe gets busy, the pressure is on, and you and your fellow baristas dig deep, communicate well, get orders out quickly, accurately, and keep the bar clean in the process. You just crushed it! This is the idea behind La Marzocco USA’s amazing team based competition, Crush the Rush. A …
155 : A Conversation w/ T. Ben Fischer, Founder of Glitter Cat Barista
Less Bitter, More Glitter. That is one of the mottos for Glitter Cat Barista, a new barista competition training program designed to give  marginalized and underrepresented communities the resources to shine on the competition stage and address the problem of representation in the USBC. In it’s first year Glitter Cat has made substantial impact on the diversity seen in barista competitions …
144 : A Conversation with 2019 U.S. Barista Champion, Sam Spillman!
The Champ is in the house! 2019 U.S. Barista Champion, Sam Spillman of Dillanos Coffee Roasters joins me for this very special episode. In our conversation we discuss the evolution of her coffee career, her love for the community, what drives her as a professional, competition, challenges she has faced developing as a competitor, her first origin trip, balance in …
