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Permalink Reply by Tamara Vigil on March 30, 2011 at 2:11pm

Claire,

I'm in the same position (with only 5 baristas). But it can be very daunting. I am starting with a basic test for technical skills to see where everyone is in regards to consistency. All 5 of these baristas have been trained by a different person so we start from the beginning. 

-Technique(cleanliness, ergonomics, tap or no tap, dosing, leveling)

-Consistency (pull 15 shots in a row using the same technique and able to get the same results each time)

-Taste (grind, dose, time - basically can they dial in the espresso effectively?)

 

Baristas of any level can get something out of this basic structure. Another important thing is to ask "why do you do that?" getting them to think about what they're doing and to notice bad habits for themselves. 

 

I used to teach piano lessons. Sometimes kids who had been playing a while would still slouch, drop their wrists and forget to count. We have to adjust posture and play some scales before going on to more difficult music. 

 

http://www.jimseven.com/2011/03/17/thinking-about-barista-training/

 

Tamara

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