What is your position in the coffee industry?

barista, manager, barista trainer, coffee enthusiast

Where are you located? ( City and Country )

Tampa, FL USA

How many years have you been in the industry?

1

If you are a barista or shop, are you interested in a barista exchange with another coffee shop/barista?

yes

Tell us more about your coffee shop or barista skills.

Well; My heart and soul is in Nola Cafe. I spend more time there than I do at home. I have worked there since May 2nd 08' and I don't even get hourly any more, but I'll put as much time in as I have too. It's a New Orleans cafe dedicated to time honored tradition and bringing the taste and nostalgia of Cafe du Monde and the rest of the French Quarter to Tampa. I am responsible for making sure quality is kept up, and training is done properly for all the new servers who come in. We use a classic Victoria Arduino espresso machine which is quite the temperamental queen, and the rest of the cafe has it's respective ins and outs whose secrets I hold. Being in recovery from an eating disorder and working around the corner from the treatment center where I started this very job, I am grateful for every day I work, and have worked diligently through many managers to get to where I am, leaving no cup unturned; I know this cafe, my menu front to back! I pride myself on knowing a regular the "Second visit" and running every open mic night since it's been run. I love that cafe, it's like a family.

My 2nd Job is less team oriented due to the isolation of the day-- it's more pure barista work! This is where I get to brush up on my drink skills and know what's going on in the business. I work my part time in the gem of Tampa's Davis Island's Java and Cream. We use local Roaster's coffee's like Joffery's, Rodger's Roast and Java Verde. We've always got fresh ground going in a regular, flavor and decaf daily, as well as a whole slew of espresso based drinks, ice cream from local creamiers and desserts. We serve local business people, joggers, stay at home's, shoppers walking buy, the locals-- but as always I have that niche of; "I love my regulars".

That skill? Whenever we get that new person in, that person without a drink, I get my co-worker who might be on shift, "Ask Ali, she's the girl who could make your drink/answer your question. She's the girl who can give you an answer-- she knows her coffee." I might only be in this a year, but learning, it's what I want to keep.

What cities or countries are you interested in traveling to?

Any and All; I'm out to learn about the business-- I'm like grounds; soak me with knowledge!

PS-- My info is all over the place.

About Me:

I work in two coffee shops/cafes; I love my jobs, my customers, and my life. I've never taken a sick day (Okay, I did leave two hours early when I had a kidney stone!) and I'm up 7 days a week to open not one, but two (that's 4 days out of the week though) coffee shops and help get the city I've adopted going.

I want to bring professionalism and art back to the barista-- back to coffee and the cafe-- I'm out there now, accepting deliveries from roastmasters and vendors, visiting cafes and talking to distributors who respect what I do, that I'm not a corperation and want to bring skill back to the individual. I love talking about coffee and learning the things I didn't know I didn't know, and being enlightening on things I thought I did know.

About My Company:

I work for Nola Cafe and Java & Cream, independent cafes.

What is your favorite thing about the coffee industry?

The way it 'grounds' me. It's an art and a science.

Website:

http://www.nolacafe.com