working in a coffee shop.

here are the five things you NEED to know before starting work at a coffee shop

1. People want and need caffeine. Therefore you will be looked at in ways that might scare you and possibly ways that will keep you up at night in fear for you life. But there is nothing to fear, they are merely human beings that are probably suffering from a lack of sleep and will return to a normal state of mind after that first sip of coffee.

2. People really will wait as long as an hour for a cup of coffee. Therefore when the rush hits, don't panic, just take it one or two people at a time and concentrate on the task at hand. The customers who aren't too desperate for caffeine will leave if they don't want to wait and the ones that want the caffeine right away are more than likely to stop at a gas station or McDonald's.

3. Milk does not heat up to 190 degrees, naturally. In fact, once milk hits 180 degrees a funny thing starts happening, the milk actually starts jumping out of the pitcher. I find this rather humorous because milk clearly doesn't want to stay in a pot that is being heated that much, so why make it that way? Customers who ask for milk heated up to 190 degrees are most likely crazy and it will be okay if you only heat it to 180 degrees. If you try to go the full 190 degrees you better do it when no one is in the shop because you will face the problem of having milk everywhere!

4. Always, always, always bring something to do. Especially if you are a coffee shop that stays open all day or for a good portion of the day. Now you may be asking yourself, but won't I be serving people all day and not have time to read a few pages of a book or check up on my facebook account? This is a very good question to ask one's self but you are forgetting a very important matter. Usually people only drink coffee at certain times of the day: early morning-when they need a caffeine pick me up from staying up late and late at night- when they need caffeine from the rough day they just had. Therefore always have something to do.

5. Running a coffee shop is a mission only the brave at heart should take on. It should only be tested by those who desire a challenge. And can only be accomplished by those truly too awesome to handle a normal everyday job. So before taking a risk and starting a coffee shop, think about how awesome you are and build an extreme confidences that says "Yes, I serve coffee for a living, and yes I know I'm awesome."



xoxo,
bekah