I’m a newbie, but how hard can this be? By Claudia Krek

I started working at Coffee Brothers over a year ago now while still an HSC student. My knowledge about coffee was pretty well rounded at the time – I knew that there were cappuccinos, lattes and I finally learnt that the weird mini coffees were called piccolos. Fantastic. I was ready. Bring on the hospitality lifestyle.

Turns out, as I completed shift after shift on weekends, and now working shifts day by day outside of school, what I thought I knew about coffee covered about 5% of everything. Or was it 0.5%? I actually don’t know how much there is to learn and what I know. But at the very least, I can say I have learnt these 10 things, just by being in the Coffee Brothers café. Here they are:

1. 1. I love people – the thing I love most about my job is the amazing people I get to see whenever I work, we are so lucky to attract such whole-hearted, kind and friendly people. Yes, we too get our share of odd nutters, but generally it is really fun just being around people.
2. 2. This being said however, sometimes it’s not so wise to ask people how their days is before their first coffee. It’s always best to start the conversation after their first sip.
3. 3. It’s ES-presso not EX-presso! Oh lord help me if I get that wrong.
4. 4. Seasonal blend is a blend of different types of coffee beans whereas single origin is only one single type of bean – a singular place of origin… It took me a while to wrap my head around this one…
5. 5. WHY SUGAR -  at the start of my coffee journey I was drowning my caffeinated beverage in sugar. I was not much of a coffee drinker, I would occasionally have a soy cappuccino with 1 every once and a while but only to be polite to a co-worker who would offer. But as the year went on and I watched the baristas drink sugarless I started to understand what makes a good coffee. So I went from a soy cappuccino, to cold drip. Then to almond piccolos, to espressos, to cold drip, to long blacks, to cold drip now am back at espressos because a gurl ain’t got no time for no 8 ounce drank! I have learnt to enjoy coffee stripped back of milk and sugar, especially cold drip – I think I have consumed over 1000 litres of this liquid heaven. But hey, if you like sugar in your coffee you keep doing your thang.
6. 6. TSK TSK – the magical sound of milk frothing away. I only recently learnt how to steam milk and golly-gosh is it a challenge. It’s all about learning how and when to stop letting the air into the milk, then, when it is at the right temperature, take it away from the steamer, and don’t forget to purge... don’t forget to purge. Claudia did you purge? Yes, judgemental barista watching over my shoulder, I was getting there…
7. 7. LATTE ART IS AN ACTUAL ART FORM AND WE MUST ALWAYS APPRICIATE THE SLIGHEST DESIGN!
8. 8. No barista makes the same coffee as another – I learnt this when we had a regular drink a coffee I had made. Meg watched everything I did, the weighed dosage was ok, the espresso pour was ok, milk temperature was fine and froth level was passable. But still: “its tastes… different…” Not the thing you want to hear when being compared to a nationally recognised barista. “Different… but good.” However, I was comforted by the statement “no barista makes the same coffee”. Not meaning one is better and the other worse, just different. Each coffee shows each baristas personality and style, and that’s a pretty cool thing.
9. 9. Everybody has an opinion (life lesson not just about coffee…). Recently I was summoned by Meg to the bench mid-shift where I saw two identical looking cups of flat white coffees. She asked (told) me to taste them. I pick up the left one to sip it... not my favourite. I pick up the right one… definitely not my favourite. I didn’t like either. But Meg was asking for my opinion on which I preferred. What do I say so I don’t sound like an idiot or disrespectful to our coffee? I ended stuttering out something like “I like that one worse”. I thought I was wrong. One cup was supposed to be right and the other wrong, right? Turns out, it ended up being both were made ‘wrong’ in two different ways, and she was showing me how a shot pulled outside of the desired specs can alter the flavour in a bad way. It’s these surprise little coffee quizzes by Meg that keeps me up at night… literally. Coffee is full of caffeine you know!
10. 10. And last but not least – WOW, people drink a lot of coffee. Like, wow!
11.  

So there you have it folks, a short list of some of my observations over the past year. Ultimately, Coffee Brothers is so much more than what meets the eye, there is so much work that goes on behind the scenes to make sure you get that amazing cup of coffee each and every day. It’s all thanks to the amazing staff that your coffee is as good as it gets.

- Claudia Krek

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