Just a quick post to let everyone know that Ashford is officially available online at the link below. Amazon.com is currently pending, but it should be available there shortly, also available by request in your local bookstores and libraries. Anyone who requests it shall have my undying gratitude, and if you come to Chewelah I'll make you fresh-brewed espresso and home-made tiramisu. Tired now. It has been a very long but productive day, and I intend to leave my book-launch preparations for tomorrow and go downstairs to enjoy a cup of hot cocoa and somebody else's brilliant prose.
https://www.createspace.com/3695713
Showing posts with label coffee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coffee. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
The Unselfconsciousness of Age and The Coffee Myth
One aspect of my job that never gets old is the opportunity of observing people. As a barista you are perfectly placed for this type of observation. To the customer you are almost, at times, like a piece of furniture. You are part of the room, you belong there as much as the tables and chairs. They seem to forget that you have eyes and ears, until they need something, and then you must possess superhuman hearing and the arms of an octopus. Of course, no one reading this blog will never make that mistake again.
In any case, what I was much struck with this morning was something I've noticed before, but never with two such striking examples within minutes of each other. That is: that in general, older people are much more ready to ask for what they really want, where the younger set seems much more image-conscious. This is, perhaps, no great revelation in general, but still it amuses me.
First, there was the older man. I'll call him Aristophanes, just to be different. He came through this morning and said, "I want a 16 oz hot chocolate, but make it light on the chocolate and only half full, and I want the rest filled up with whipped cream." Now there's a man who knows exactly what he wants. I admire him for the same reason I admire the one (call him Hieronymous) who comes in and gets eight shots of espresso -- straight. Both beverages are incredibly intense in their own very different ways, and both Aristophanes and Hieronymous are completely alright with themselves and the world.
Then there was the younger one (shall we call him Mortimer?) who came in a few minutes after Aristophanes and ordered drip coffee with cream, though I always get the impression that he would much prefer a latte -- if he dared. Afterward, he stealthily steals over to the table where the other pot of coffee and the cream and sugar are kept, and treats his plain coffee to such an inundation of sugar that I nearly always have to refill the shaker after he is gone. Similar is the case of the young man who orders (let's face it) a very sweet, barely caffeinated, and highly caloric drink, but when you give him straws will disdainfully remove them with the exclamation, "No sissy sticks!"
These are only a few examples, but I think it's safe to say that there is a very persistent myth in circulation which says that your maturity, strength, and masculinity are somehow tied to how you take your coffee and whether you drink it straight from the cup or suck it through pieces of hollow colored plastic.
May I say that I find this myth to be completely bogus?
In any case, what I was much struck with this morning was something I've noticed before, but never with two such striking examples within minutes of each other. That is: that in general, older people are much more ready to ask for what they really want, where the younger set seems much more image-conscious. This is, perhaps, no great revelation in general, but still it amuses me.
First, there was the older man. I'll call him Aristophanes, just to be different. He came through this morning and said, "I want a 16 oz hot chocolate, but make it light on the chocolate and only half full, and I want the rest filled up with whipped cream." Now there's a man who knows exactly what he wants. I admire him for the same reason I admire the one (call him Hieronymous) who comes in and gets eight shots of espresso -- straight. Both beverages are incredibly intense in their own very different ways, and both Aristophanes and Hieronymous are completely alright with themselves and the world.
Then there was the younger one (shall we call him Mortimer?) who came in a few minutes after Aristophanes and ordered drip coffee with cream, though I always get the impression that he would much prefer a latte -- if he dared. Afterward, he stealthily steals over to the table where the other pot of coffee and the cream and sugar are kept, and treats his plain coffee to such an inundation of sugar that I nearly always have to refill the shaker after he is gone. Similar is the case of the young man who orders (let's face it) a very sweet, barely caffeinated, and highly caloric drink, but when you give him straws will disdainfully remove them with the exclamation, "No sissy sticks!"
These are only a few examples, but I think it's safe to say that there is a very persistent myth in circulation which says that your maturity, strength, and masculinity are somehow tied to how you take your coffee and whether you drink it straight from the cup or suck it through pieces of hollow colored plastic.
May I say that I find this myth to be completely bogus?
Monday, December 27, 2010
Setting
Today, as an after-Christmas treat, I have fled Chewelah in favor of the anonymity offered by the local metropolis. Protected by this anonymity, I can write undisturbed for several hours without being distracted either by familiar faces or by the variety of household chores which I ought to be doing.
The setting is important: the Chocolate Apothecary, a coffee shop specializing in gourmet chocolate, where you can find such gems as dark chocolate tiles with sea salt and ginger, or chocolate-covered passion-fruit caramels. It was here that I discovered the surprisingly delicious paring of dark chocolate with wasabi. More importantly, it is quiet, with a good variety of background music, a high table in the corner, and cappuccinos offered in real cups to go with the chocolate of your choice. It is the perfect place to forget about real life and focus on whatever other life you are currently inventing.
I have one hour left on my parking meter. So back to the novel I go.
The setting is important: the Chocolate Apothecary, a coffee shop specializing in gourmet chocolate, where you can find such gems as dark chocolate tiles with sea salt and ginger, or chocolate-covered passion-fruit caramels. It was here that I discovered the surprisingly delicious paring of dark chocolate with wasabi. More importantly, it is quiet, with a good variety of background music, a high table in the corner, and cappuccinos offered in real cups to go with the chocolate of your choice. It is the perfect place to forget about real life and focus on whatever other life you are currently inventing.
I have one hour left on my parking meter. So back to the novel I go.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Customer Service
After more than five years in food and beverage service I have to say, it's not as easy as most people seem to think. It's also more rewarding. There's a mixture of science and art to making a good latte, but that's only the first of a number of skills necessary for being a good barista, and certainly the easiest to define. Here are a few more.
1. Cheerfulness (preferably genuine). You are often the first person the customer sees in the morning outside their immediate family. They are tired and grouchy. Sometimes they have bed-head. Often they mumble incoherently. They NEED COFFEE. Always important to remember that you are supplying an addiction. If you give them good coffee and smile while doing it, they will love you forever. If you don't, they may come and kill you in your sleep.
2. A good poker face. They may have just ordered the most disgusting combination of flavors you've ever heard of. They might smell like they haven't washed in several months. That old man's tasteless joke was most definitely not as funny as he thought it was. The elderly woman just snapped her fingers and yelled, "Ma'am!" at you from across the room. Yet your countenance must betray no hint of what you're feeling.
3. Intuition. Sometimes a customer will not know what they are ordering. Sometimes they try to sound like they know when they don't. It is up to you to figure this out, without making them feel stupid for not knowing. Example: Preteen girl orders "espresso". You know she doesn't want a straight shot of espresso in a cup. But it really would be rude to laugh. So you smile and ask, "what size would you like?". If she says 20 oz, you know you're on the right track, because the shots it would take to fill a 20 oz cup would probably make her little heart explode in her chest. So then you ask if she wants any flavor. "Ummm, yeah, chocolate, and can you add caramel? And can you make it blended, with whipped cream?" Last question. "How many shots of espresso would you like?" "Umm, one." So there you have it. "Espresso" has turned into a 20 oz blended caramel mocha with whipped cream.
4. Creativity. When people don't know what they want, often the best thing to do is tell them. Invent something so delicious they'll never have to wonder what to order again.
5. A thick skin. Here I must state that nine out of ten customers I deal with are splendid, polite, wonderful people. But there is always that one. The one who is never pleased, who constantly makes unreasonable demands, who treats you like something sub-human -- some machine which exists solely to dispense coffee. And there's generally nothing to do but take it -- and mimic it to your friends later, which does actually help. Also, a side note to #5, owing to a growing number of "bikini stands" and "barista babe" Halloween costumes, it has become fairly commonplace to frequent coffee shops with the purpose of ogling the girls. This is rarely, if ever, pleasant for the person being ogled, especially when accompanied by creepy remarks or invitations to join the ogler at their "ranch". Of course, I am not referring to harmless flirtation, which is just that, but there is a huge difference between appreciation and the drooling of a lech. How to deal with this sort of situation has to be figured out on a case by case basis. Sometimes you can laugh it off, treating the whole thing as a huge joke. Sometimes the only solution is to turn on what my sister calls "Ice Queen".
1. Cheerfulness (preferably genuine). You are often the first person the customer sees in the morning outside their immediate family. They are tired and grouchy. Sometimes they have bed-head. Often they mumble incoherently. They NEED COFFEE. Always important to remember that you are supplying an addiction. If you give them good coffee and smile while doing it, they will love you forever. If you don't, they may come and kill you in your sleep.
2. A good poker face. They may have just ordered the most disgusting combination of flavors you've ever heard of. They might smell like they haven't washed in several months. That old man's tasteless joke was most definitely not as funny as he thought it was. The elderly woman just snapped her fingers and yelled, "Ma'am!" at you from across the room. Yet your countenance must betray no hint of what you're feeling.
3. Intuition. Sometimes a customer will not know what they are ordering. Sometimes they try to sound like they know when they don't. It is up to you to figure this out, without making them feel stupid for not knowing. Example: Preteen girl orders "espresso". You know she doesn't want a straight shot of espresso in a cup. But it really would be rude to laugh. So you smile and ask, "what size would you like?". If she says 20 oz, you know you're on the right track, because the shots it would take to fill a 20 oz cup would probably make her little heart explode in her chest. So then you ask if she wants any flavor. "Ummm, yeah, chocolate, and can you add caramel? And can you make it blended, with whipped cream?" Last question. "How many shots of espresso would you like?" "Umm, one." So there you have it. "Espresso" has turned into a 20 oz blended caramel mocha with whipped cream.
4. Creativity. When people don't know what they want, often the best thing to do is tell them. Invent something so delicious they'll never have to wonder what to order again.
5. A thick skin. Here I must state that nine out of ten customers I deal with are splendid, polite, wonderful people. But there is always that one. The one who is never pleased, who constantly makes unreasonable demands, who treats you like something sub-human -- some machine which exists solely to dispense coffee. And there's generally nothing to do but take it -- and mimic it to your friends later, which does actually help. Also, a side note to #5, owing to a growing number of "bikini stands" and "barista babe" Halloween costumes, it has become fairly commonplace to frequent coffee shops with the purpose of ogling the girls. This is rarely, if ever, pleasant for the person being ogled, especially when accompanied by creepy remarks or invitations to join the ogler at their "ranch". Of course, I am not referring to harmless flirtation, which is just that, but there is a huge difference between appreciation and the drooling of a lech. How to deal with this sort of situation has to be figured out on a case by case basis. Sometimes you can laugh it off, treating the whole thing as a huge joke. Sometimes the only solution is to turn on what my sister calls "Ice Queen".
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)