Comments on: USBC 2008: The great barista battle is brewing, and how the big boys avoid embarrassment http://theshot.coffeeratings.com/2008/05/usbc-2008/ Rants and Raves on Espresso Fri, 29 Aug 2008 21:13:48 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Skip http://theshot.coffeeratings.com/2008/05/usbc-2008/#comment-3853 Skip Fri, 09 May 2008 05:32:07 +0000 http://theshot.coffeeratings.com/?p=668#comment-3853 As a former (brief) Starbucks employee...ouch. But true. I learned a LOT more about coffee, and began to care far more about coffee, after leaving that job than while I was there. Educating low-skilled, near-temp workers is obviously not the top priority for a Starbucks manager. I remember asking about becoming a Coffee Master around two months into my three-month tenure there, as it seemed like the kind of thing a Starbucks barista should be doing. If you're going to work in coffee, you should learn about coffee, right? But only shift supervisors and above were eligible. We were specifically not allowed to get certified in their education program. It was pretty funny whenever a customer would ask for an opinion about a specific variety. "Um...well that's from Asia...let me get the manager." Then again the same thing happened to me with the cashier at Café Grumpy a couple weeks ago. As a former (brief) Starbucks employee…ouch. But true. I learned a LOT more about coffee, and began to care far more about coffee, after leaving that job than while I was there. Educating low-skilled, near-temp workers is obviously not the top priority for a Starbucks manager.

I remember asking about becoming a Coffee Master around two months into my three-month tenure there, as it seemed like the kind of thing a Starbucks barista should be doing. If you’re going to work in coffee, you should learn about coffee, right? But only shift supervisors and above were eligible. We were specifically not allowed to get certified in their education program.

It was pretty funny whenever a customer would ask for an opinion about a specific variety. “Um…well that’s from Asia…let me get the manager.” Then again the same thing happened to me with the cashier at Café Grumpy a couple weeks ago.

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