What does a barista's job look like when the café is crowded?

Stressful situations in the café

It is important to mention that for each café, stressful situationmaylook different. Each cafe has its own definition of rush, which largely depends on the size of the establishment.

For example, smaller cafes that only take orders at the cash register may consider five to ten orders at a time to be a rush, primarily because they have fewer baristas to handle such an onslaught.

Even during stressful situations, however, customers need to be given a quality cup of coffee. At Black Fox Coffee , baristas prepare espresso at such a fast pace during peak times that the quality is maintained - so customers consistently get high-quality coffee, says Tom Bomford, the company's director.

"One barista extracts the espresso and prepares all the drinks," he explains. "We are also supported by a barista at the back of the bar who prepares the cups to use for other drinks."

Everyone has a role to play

Thedivision of positions is particularly important behind the bar. Although it may not seem like it, working in the café is like a team sport. In order to properly prepare and dispense orders, it's essential to be clear about who has what role and what their main task is.

Divide the workspace into imaginary "stations". Each worker will occupy one station where they have a specific job to do.

Cashier

Communication with customers is the key to success, so we need someone who is not afraid to talk, can work the cash register and place orders blindly at the start of our relay.

He or she can also advise on selection and recommend the right product to the customer. And when asked: "I'll have a cappuccino." she replies: "And with a chocolate brownie or vanilla cheesecake?"

Barista

He has no problem making espresso and can whip milk froth blindly. Doppio, flat white, latte, iced... Hemust be able to prepare all this and more with his left foot.

Runner

You'll need someone with nimble feet. Run around the set, to one, to three, to the bar and back again? That's the job of the runner, who will take care of delivering all the orders so that every customer gets theirs on time and is happy.

However, it always depends on how many people you have on set. If there are more of you - you candivide the positions in more detail and instead of one barista, you can have two. One for espresso and one for milk drinks. You can supplement the runner with a waiter who will keep an eye on the set and leave the runner a spot at the dishwasher.

When assigning positions, pay attention to the skills and qualities of each worker. It is important that everyone is confident in performing all jobs.

Although everyone has a job to do, a worker should not be confined to one station for hours at a time. To ensure that quality does not suffer and the work does not become a monotonous activity, it is a good idea to rotate people at stations throughout the day to keep the work interesting.

Organisation of work at the coffee machine

There are a number of organisational techniques that can betterprepare baristas for busy peaks. These include replenishing all cups, saucers, cutlery, coffee beans and milk, as well as setting up milk jugs in the order in which the drinks need to be made.

For example, if you need to prepare foam for two cappuccinos, then two flat whites and one latte, you can either fill three separate pots at once, or prepare one for the cappuccino and a larger one for milk for the flat white and latte.

This way, the barista canprepare milk with the right texture for each drink, as cappuccino requires more microfoam than flat white and latte.

A coffee maker with a easy cream nozzle can also be your right-hand man, as it can almost whip up milk foam at the right temperature all by itself. Or a automatic milk frother Übermilk One Top, which makes professional-quality milk froth.

Cleanliness is also an essential aspect of a good job during a rush. It is important to keep track of the necessary cleaning tasks while still focusing on preparing drinks and providing quality service.