A few nights ago I was with a good friend, hanging out in the garage, as he taught his young teenage daughter how to change the oil on a SUV. They were both under the truck, poking around, as he explained everything about oil's function in engines.

This time they spent together was pretty awesome to witness. I saw a dad and daughter bonding, as she understood that her dad was giving her life-skills toward independence. More importantly, he was spending time with her.

As they emerged, task completed, I handed both of themsteaming hot chocolates. I then intentionally wandered off for a walk down the street, to give them space to chitchat.

Jeff from Mocafe

Operator Solutions Using Mocafe

In my prior career as a executive chef, I wrote hundreds of work schedules. Let's look at some factors operators have to take into account in managing efficient production labor cost:

• Staff training and abilities
• Anticipated business volume
• Local event calendars
• Potential constraints (risks to the schedule)

The question today is, when you write a labor schedule, do you estimatehow much you're going to spend for each day and for the schedule time period on labor?

By Christoper Porter, Cofficer

First of all, my thanks go out to Heather and Jessica, the duo at Rock n’ Java (Twitter/Facebook) in Tucson, AZ, who greet me every morning, keep my cup full and make it difficult for me to call anywhere else my Coffice.

Having said that, let me ask you, my co-Cofficers, a question (in several parts): Do you know the names of the baristas you see everyday? Have you ever had a small talk conversation about their ambitions? Hobbies? The weather? Anything?!

If you say you don’t care, you should probably move on to another website. This won’t apply to you. There’s nothing to see here…more

Saturday mid-day.

I'm at Boston South Station, waiting for a bus up to northernNew Hampshire. It's hot. Really hot. Not only that, it's also wicked muggy.

I have a couple hours to kill, so I've been outside on Atlantic Avenue. Across the street is a brand new Dunkin' Donuts - not even open yet. The pavement and brick radiate the heat on me. I'm sweating like a dog.

I duck back inside to South Station and wander the food court, looking for one of my favorites; Mocafe Ice Blended Frappes.

Nada. Zilch. Zero. No Go At The Station.

Finally, I settle on a large lemonade from McDonalds. Definitely not my first choice, but it's got ice in it.

There's two independent coffee bars in Boston South Station. Neither offered frappes. If I had a Mocafe sample with me - I'd drop it off for them to try.

Jeff from Mocafe

Operator Solutions Using Mocafe

• customer perceptions and demands
• labor force skill, knowledge and passion and budget
• brand promise and message
• production space, design and storage

We'll come back to this topic again in the future, so for this blogpost, lets just focus on the second item; labor. Let me ask this question..

Operator Solutions Using Mocafe

• customer perceptions and demands
• labor force skill, knowledge and passion and budget
• brand promise and message
• production space, design and storage

We'll come back to this topic again in the future, so for this blogpost, lets just focus on the second item; labor. Let me ask this question..

Operator Solutions Using Mocafe

Last night, a perfect New England summer night, I was talking about cafe and restaurant management with an old friend, a former executive chef (like me), restaurant owner and major lines food salesman. The topic of passion was how old-school successful operators calculate the hourly success of their business.

One of the tricks old-school operators use is knowing exactly how much money each item sold puts to their bottom line. A good operator can stand in the middle of the shop and point at each item sold and tell you:

That turkey panini puts $3 to my bottom line. That frappe makes me $2 every time one is sold. Thatapple fritter drops a buck in my pocket every time we sell one.

Now they aren’t telling you how much each item sells for; they’re telling you how much profit each item makes.

How many operators today, or, cafe managers, can tell you how much a sale of every item in an hour puts to profit?

How do you calculate this? In future blogposts, I’ll cover calculating food or beverage cost, calculating labor cost, and calculating operating expense and how to calculate each of these factors on a per item level. Basically, it works like this (example):

Item Sell Price – Ingredient Cost – Labor Cost – Operating Expense = Profit, or, “What Goes In Your Pocket”

By the way, neither of us ever shied away from revealing this information to our staffs. In fact, we often shared this information, as doing so 1. taught staff valuable skill toward becoming a more valuable employee and 2. motivated them to upsell customers to more profitable items.

Have you calculated the profit you make from the sale of each item you offer? We’d love to hear your opinion and methods of tracking cafe performance.

Jeff from Mocafe

Last weekend was the first day of the OC Fair in Costa Mesa, CA and boy was it packed!

Not only did it take fifteen minutes or so to find a parking space but there were hundreds of people in line waiting to buy tickets (good thing we already had ours, haha).  At least it was a gorgeous day out so time seemed to go by pretty quick.

Just launched my coffee blog:

www.shebrews.org

:) Flo

Wanted one for a LONG time, years. Was thinking the 124oz 44.5" tall monsters but more practical to get multiple of the smaller. So finally pulling the trigger on 4 32oz Yama Cold Brew towers. This way instead of just being able to afford 2 biggys now can have one each at two locations, 2 at third location/backup waiting for inevitable broken glass replacements. Can augment cold brew with current method if needed and still have the wow factor.

Would have ordered today, but called about 5 minutes after they (Visions) closed boo-hoo :( But no biggy, will call first thing after they open 8am tomorrow. Should still arrive Seattle to Vancouver, WA in time for our 4th of July bash!

 (Couldn't find 'em cheap on Craigslist:)

Looking for a barista job in the Chicago wicker park area 3 yrs experience as well as management position doing ordering,scheduling, hiring / firing  interviewing making drinks and customer service Any Leads?

Thanks

I might have been off more than I can chew with the body work.  I'm a technician not a stainless fabricator.  I've used many buffing compounds and  tried many grinders but I think it would be money well spent to let the pros' handle this one.  The machine is basically finished.  I pulled all the stainless off again for polishing so my poor machine is just a skeleton again.

Won't be much longer

Ethiopia Yirgacheffe

Grade 2 National Export

Acid: medium

Body: medium-low

Texture: slightly dry and hoppy

Flavor Profile: the  flavor profile of a typical conventionally grown and processed coffee from the region of Yirgacheffe.  Jasmine tea, hints of grapefruit, purple grape juice and floral lilac.  The acid is bright to start then leans slightly dry like an IPA.  Very aromatic and perfumy.  

Noteworthy: this coffee is a conventionally grown and washed coffee processed through the nationalization project in Ethiopia.  Heirloom varietals, varied elevation, grade 2 picking.

I'm currently getting a formal education in coffee at the Center for Barista Training in Indiana. I'm loving it, and I'm super sad that this is the last day. It's been an extremely concentrated dose of information that I'll probably be processing for weeks. And because I'm an intern at the roaster next door (and live in intern housing across the parking lot) I have access to the machines to practice literally anytime I want. It's pretty much coffee utopia. 

But at the end of the summer I have to go back into the real world. Back to a crappy job market. With only three months' experience to put on my resume. 

Will it be enough?

( In Manila, Philippines, there is a coffee shop that stands out from the rest; this is my 'letter' about it--the one and only Bona Coffee Company)

Dear Bona,

It's me again, a raving customer.

I know I haven't been around much, but I haven't forgotten you, on the contrary, I think of you often. Every time I pass by another coffee shop, I remember your steaming cups of coffee, their delicious aromas, and I immediately check my schedule to see if I can squeeze in a visit. No muffin is like your muffin (secretly, I like to call it my chocolate orange). You're inspiring, so much so that I came up with this: (Elizabeth Barret Browning, I hope this does not offend you).

How do I love thee?

Let me count your beans.

I love thee as each morning I get up and mourn over the mediocrity of instant coffee,

Pining in my soul for your bonalicious brews.

I love thee to the ends of my last paycheck, as I open my wallet in surprise to see that it's gotten empty save for your receipts.

I love thee to the level of every day's insatiable need for caffeine, as I get up and drink a cup to energize myself for the long day's work.

I love thee freely as other customers like myself pay ridiculous amounts for mediocre coffee,

I love thee purely while coffee beans all over manila are being over-roasted and overpriced,

I love thee with a passion as only a frustrated coffee drinker like myself can only exhibit,

And I love thee with a craving that I don't seem to lose.

I love thee with the whiffs, smiles, and tears of all my life!--and if my schedule be willing,

I will love thee better when we next meet.

So there you have it Bona, I hope my words did you justice. Going back, whenever my friends invite me for coffee at the other shops, it does not even tempt me. The very thought of going out to another coffee shop is insulting and absurd! I am faithful; you won't catch me hanging out with the others, no matter how fancy or inviting they look. I know they're bad for me, while you, oh beacon of non-fat awesomeness, allow me the luxury of eating delicious food without the guilt. It takes the load off of my mind to know that you don't load me down with the unnecessary calories—how considerate and thoughtful you are! Also, when I'm with you, I have this sense of relaxation. Your ambiance is perfect for studying, working, eating, or just plain hanging out and chilling! So, that's it for now, I hope to see you soon.

Much love,

an old friend

 Well, I've returned from another fantastic trip to Brasil, this time mostly in Belo Horizonte where I spent several days at Bruno Souza's new coffee lab and teaching facility, "Academia do Cafe". This is a state of the art facility equipped with a San Franciscan sample roaster as well as a Probat L-15, He also is working with La Marzocco, Bunn brewers and grinders as well as demonstrating the many methods of extracting great brewed coffee.
The classes were taking both experienced as well as novice baristas through the world of coffee, from harvesting and production, roasting and cupping and finally drink preparation, from the basics to latte art and machine maintenance. Check out pictures from the classes I was involved in and yes, we were filmed for the local TV station there, they were doing a feature on the up and coming speciality coffee scene in Brasil and the new, young baristas that, like here are in the forefront of the "New Wave movement".