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Permalink Reply by Brady on October 18, 2010 at 10:20am

There's a nice graphic banging around somewhere... try Google.

HOWEVER, what worked just as well for us was a pack of plain index cards, a recipe box, and a black sharpie.

Seriously, I know it sounds silly, but it took me an hour to do all of the cards and cost less than 5 bucks. Just kinda sketch out each one in pencil first so that you can tweak the layout as-needed. Requires almost zero artistic skills - just draw a cup shape with lines across.

I did the basic cup outline, then started from the bottom with the ingredients in the order they are added. For example, the vanilla latte starts with syrup, espresso next, latte milk last. Mocha's get a little cloud of whip cream, plus a black squiggle to indicate drizzle. Each layer gets a label off to the side, with amounts indicated. Quick and easy.

People get a little intimidated by stuff like this, but remember that to be effective it just needs to be clear. It doesn't need to look professional as long as its readable.

The cards are filed in a standard plastic recipe file box in alphabetical order. This box comes out when we have someone new, or at season change when we start getting calls for the new drinks. Any new signature drinks, special concoctions, or "can you make this" drinks get a card too. This way, if someone asks for a strange drink six months from now you don't have to go from memory... and the other baristas can exactly duplicate "that special drink that I made up for them 3 weeks ago".

Hope this helps, good luck.

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Permalink Reply by suzanne on October 18, 2010 at 5:26pm

Thanks...true we could do this...but really want it to look clean and a bit more professional. Like I said there's not a lick of artistic talent in this joint...not even drawing straight lines...That post was superinformative and appreciated...I found 2 illustrated espresso drink recipe cards/charts on google images but that's it...after 7 hours of looking...UGH!

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Permalink Reply by Brady on October 18, 2010 at 6:52pm

Try this or this or this (sorry).

Hope that helps.

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Permalink Reply by suzanne on October 18, 2010 at 7:13pm

WOW! Thanks...You Rock. I'm glad to know that I wasn't going crazy and you too did not find a plethora of illustrations. I had found the first set of illustrations and altered them to fit our specific drinks. Please don't be sorry I am incredibly impressed to receive a response and one with researched info...thanks again!

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Permalink Reply by Kim Sammons on October 19, 2010 at 12:14am

Hi Suzanne,
I have a few free recipe cards i give away with my training course that might be of help to you. I use my recipe cards for training people so that they can understand what goes into each drink & what it should look like.
If you go onto my site and add your email address then you automatically get sent an espresso test ebook which is great to go through with new Baristas. Again, its something i use when training - it gets peoples senses working so everyone sings from the same sheet. It doesnt cost anything to stick you email in & get these freebies, plus i wont spam you and you can unsubscribe at anytime.
hope this helps, and good luck with the training
Kim xx

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Permalink Reply by Johnny Chappell on October 19, 2010 at 9:14am

I recently bought this more artistic take on what you are looking for. http://blog.plaid-creative.com/perfectpour

Not necessarily a training tool, but a cool representation.

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