Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
↑
80
↓
green bean coaching (self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by BatWeary
we just had a girl transfer from a tarbux, said she started 2-ish months ago. my store is corporate, and i know things work different, but surely it can’t be that different? she’s been at my store for around two weeks now.
she asks for help on drinks often which is no biggie, i’ve been here almost a year and constantly forget what amount of syrup/shots drinks get. it happens. only thing is when she asks for help and is given said help, she does the exact opposite. tell her to put light ice, she puts extra ice. Ask for hot, she makes it iced.
today she asked how to make a salted cold brew, and when i told her it gets salted *foam*, she pours sweet cream into the cup and then puts a salt pack on top. and then looks at me, and asks “cool so how do i make the foam?” and honestly all i could do was stand there like 👁👄👁
y’all i’m not a trainer, but i feel like i give direction well enough. what advice do you give on coaching someone who just doesn’t *get it* when you coach them?? bc i can’t take having to ask for remakes of basically every drink while in dt during peak anymore
she asks for help on drinks often which is no biggie, i’ve been here almost a year and constantly forget what amount of syrup/shots drinks get. it happens. only thing is when she asks for help and is given said help, she does the exact opposite. tell her to put light ice, she puts extra ice. Ask for hot, she makes it iced.
today she asked how to make a salted cold brew, and when i told her it gets salted *foam*, she pours sweet cream into the cup and then puts a salt pack on top. and then looks at me, and asks “cool so how do i make the foam?” and honestly all i could do was stand there like 👁👄👁
y’all i’m not a trainer, but i feel like i give direction well enough. what advice do you give on coaching someone who just doesn’t *get it* when you coach them?? bc i can’t take having to ask for remakes of basically every drink while in dt during peak anymore
RistrettoIsBae 35 points 2y ago
Who is the trainer in your store? Can you suggest to your SM (without dragging the new person) to pair them up for a few shifts on bar *together*?
Cs0690 6 points 2y ago
I love this! Being an SM myself, I would love to have the feedback if a new/transferred partner needs some practice shifts.
RistrettoIsBae 3 points 2y ago
Good to know that an SM doesn’t mind. I know it really saved my bum to get in some practice!
HamiltonPolka 27 points 2y ago
There was a partner at my first store who was like that. Was slow on register, blended a Frappuccino without the lid on the blender, that kind of stuff. I usually tell new baristas it takes about 2-3 months to feel comfortable with recipes, this guy took like 5+ months but when he got it, he became one of my favorite people to work with. Some people just need more time.
In this case, I would have then think critically about what they did. Ask where foam usually goes on a cold brew. If they don’t know it’s on top, then (calmly) tell them. And then “so how do we make cold foam?” And same thing, if they don’t know then “well standard way is like this, and this is salted cold foam, so do this” and just go from there. If they have to think about what they’re doing and are talked through it, then it has a better chance of sticking
In this case, I would have then think critically about what they did. Ask where foam usually goes on a cold brew. If they don’t know it’s on top, then (calmly) tell them. And then “so how do we make cold foam?” And same thing, if they don’t know then “well standard way is like this, and this is salted cold foam, so do this” and just go from there. If they have to think about what they’re doing and are talked through it, then it has a better chance of sticking
throwawaygarbage3333 24 points 2y ago
also ask her questions as you walk through it, like explain first then coach her through.
ex:
“to make cold foam, you pour sweet cream into the cold foam pitcher to the 150 or 300 line depending on batch. place it in the blender and press the 3 for wet foam, 4 for dry foam.”
allow her to grab the materials and go
“ok, what’s step one?”
let her answer, if she’s wrong, correct her and watch her do the first step. then keep going and she’ll learn!
ex:
“to make cold foam, you pour sweet cream into the cold foam pitcher to the 150 or 300 line depending on batch. place it in the blender and press the 3 for wet foam, 4 for dry foam.”
allow her to grab the materials and go
“ok, what’s step one?”
let her answer, if she’s wrong, correct her and watch her do the first step. then keep going and she’ll learn!
medusas-garden 17 points 2y ago
I thought one batch of foam is 100 ml?
lobosloboslobos 6 points 2y ago
150ml
_candlestick 5 points 2y ago
It is 100.
edit: I think maybe it used to be 100ml for tall/grande and 150 for venti? idk. But now it’s all 100ml no matter the size
edit: I think maybe it used to be 100ml for tall/grande and 150 for venti? idk. But now it’s all 100ml no matter the size
throwawaygarbage3333 2 points 2y ago
it’s 150 for one, 300 divided by 2 is 150
sierrobear 1 points 2y ago
When I read through the recipe a few months back it definitely said 100, so that’s what I’ve been making. and 200 for 2 obvi
LatteMaster 13 points 2y ago
Ask your manager to schedule her with a barista trainer for bar practice.
rasperries 5 points 2y ago
Honestly if her tarbux is anything like mine maybe it’s not her fault. Sometimes I get confused when people explain things to me. At my store the training was such a joke and every employee told me something different. I also had to demand they let me even practice making drinks and if I didn’t I don’t think I ever would’ve learned (they had me there three weeks and I barely knew how to make a Frappuccino). Targets a hot mess w the training and recipe consistency and standards.
BatWeary [OP] 2 points 2y ago
yeah target is definitely a hit or miss on training. we have another partner who transferred from target around 6 months ago and she knew the drinks, but things like whip, sweet cream, etc. always had something off about the recipe because she was taught otherwise
throwawaygarbage3333 5 points 2y ago
honestly just take them through it step by step slowly when you have down time. what helped me get better as a barista was watching other people do it and then practicing during slow hours. i switched to evenings and i learned how to bar really quick because i got more time to focus of quality of beverages.
No-Instruction-7769 3 points 2y ago
Sounds like me a few months ago. I blame it on anxiety. I asked for help, get guided in right direction but then my brain always does the total opposite of what I WAS supposed to do. It was really frustrating because I knew I heard the directions they just didn’t commute in my head lol. I would say studying and putting up sticky note cheat sheets helped me a lot.
DeeEnn72 2 points 2y ago
Give her the benefit of the doubt. At Target training is not a priority as they’re always trying to fill in after baristas leave, rather than have enough. If she wasn’t trained enough for drinks, they likely had her do register all the time rather than complete her training.
Puzzleheaded-Coat-14 2 points 2y ago
Ngl this is almost comical and I had to train a barista like this. Think of it in the sense of skill vs will. Does she really not understand and somewhat assumes as you explain? Does she understand but doesn't really care enough to put the effort in? Ask questions to see how much knowledge she has retained. And you don't have to make it seem like you're grilling her, but make sure that if you're not around she feels more confident in her abilities!
This nonprofit website is run by volunteers.
Please contribute if you can. Thank you!
Our mission is to provide everyone with access to large-
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
©2023 HumbleCat Inc • HumbleCat is a 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Michigan, USA.