I’m just curious! I’d love to know what type of cafés anyone here is working at.
My current café is kinda old-school Italian style coffee-wise but much more laid back and add some hippy-granola vibes for good mesure. Our beans are roasted in-house, and pretty much all the food we sell is made in-house as well, down to the sauces, and anything we don’t make ourselves is bought locally.
I’ve worked in two other cafés prior to this one. The first was a kinda upscale third-wave spot that mostly attracted yuppies, and the equipment far surpassed the training of any of the staff. We had pourovers on the menu and maybe 1 and a half employees actually knew how to brew with a V60.
The second was a hardline traditional Italian-style café, which, if you’re familiar with the coffee culture in Canada (where I live) vs Italy, is a silly idea. A lot of people here only know Tim Horton’s or Starbucks, especially in a mostly rural province like where I’m situated. You have to meet people where they’re at; scoffing at people for wanting sweetener in their latte isn’t likely to encourage them to jump into the coffee world in whichever way one deems proper. It’ll only encourage them to stick to Timmies or Starbucks instead of checking out local cafés with actually good coffee.
Glad to see some baristas on here! I don’t work in a cafe, but I work in coffee. Super happy to see people that aren’t pretentious. It really struck me with some of my favorite customers early on. No judgement and willing to help people learn and explore.
Keep up the good work!
I’m intrigued, what do you do?
And yeah, I have no patience for pretentiousness or snobbery. Sharing something like good coffee with someone is a lot easier if you approach it with enthousiasm and understanding rather than a false sense of superiority.
I had an experience when I was younger and just getting into specialty coffee where a barista made a snarky comment after I ordered an americano. I didn’t get a drink from a café for like two years after that. If someone comes into my café and is clueless about coffee, I’ll share my knowledge if they seem interested, or suggest whatever’s closest to their usual chain coffee shop order if they just want caffeine. I don’t get the judginess.
Yeah use your knowledge and skill to get them a coffee they like rather than feel bad about the coffee they like.
I work in equipment. Fell in love with coffee ages ago, and love to build things. It made for a fun intersection of hobbies.
Before I fell in love with it, it was just a thing that I drank in the mornings that tasted kinda gross and I’d add some sweet shit to in order to wake up. It took a bunch of folks like you to show me things like that Ethiopian coffee could taste like blueberries before I realized that there was a whole world of flavor that I hadn’t found. Similar experiences with things like wine or beer.
I’m glad that people like you exist to help invite a new generation of folks into this world!
That’s cool! I’d love to learn more about that side of things. My current boss has a side-hustle as an espresso machine repairman; I should really ask him to show me a thing or two.
Totally, we can always use more technicians! The machines aren’t all that complicated. We’re just heating and moving water around. 🙂
Pic semi-related; one of my better tulip stacks. I don’t often think to take pictures of my latte art, and even if I did my current spot is usually too busy to take the time for proper photos.
I know tulips are somewhat basic, but aesthetically they’re definitely my favourite kind of latte art.
That is so cool!! I am a home barista and recently started learning latte art. I really love the tulip stacks as well. A few weeks ago I couldn’t even do a heart, but I bought some cheapo beans and milk from Costco and spent a bunch of evenings spending time just practicing. Now I can do a bunch of stacks.
Understanding if you don’t want to risk a dox, but we will be traveling into east Canada this year from upstate NY. Any reccos on cafes?
Depends where you’re headed! I’ll just list a few random spots off the top of my head (without getting too dox-y haha)
In Grand-Pré, NS, there’s Just Us Coffee House, which is a coffee co-op with a focus on fair-trade and sustainability.
In Sackville, NS, there’s Cranewood Bakery and The Roost Café which I’ve both been hearing good things about.
If you’re in Moncton, NB, definitely check out Epoch Chemistry, especially if you’re into lighter roasts. They roast in house and their baristas are very knowledgeable and friendly. I highly recommend their coffee tasting flight!
If your trip brings you to the Acadian peninsula (which I recommend on its own, lovely places and people around there!) La Boulangerie Grains de Folie in Caraquet is a must, as well as Aloha Café in Lamèque.
Nice, thank you! We may be headed to the Montreal area first, so how about there, too? 😉
Haha sorry, Maritimer brain has a different definition of “east coast” 😅 I haven’t been to the city in a while so my knowledge of the café scene isn’t quite up to date but I have a couple suggestions!
Café Olimpico (the one in the Mile-End) is a pretty iconic spot, it’s like the grandaddy of MTL coffee.
Café St-Henri is another classic.
Café Lali is a newer place I went to last time I was in Montréal and I quite enjoyed it. Smaller, one-barista operation, which I always find delightful.
Haha, well we plan to go east east for hiking/backpacking/cycling, too, so the original reccos have been pinned. Our first stops will probably be in the Montreal area, though. These lists are great, we often base where we stop (we camp in a minivan) based on coffee shops or food so you just saved us a ton of research!
Ooo, that sounds like a real fun trip!
If you’re doing some cycling, I’m doubling down on the Acadian peninsula recommendation. They have a network of great bike paths that connects the biggest towns and brings you across some gorgeous views.
While that ride looks fantastic, we’ll be hunting down the gravel roads in the mountains 😉
That being said, the peninsula is definitely on our list!
Not professionally, but I got way into learning about coffee during the pandemic. I now have an awesome espresso machine.
I’m horrible at latte art though
Hey, everyone starts out horrible at latte art! If you’re looking to practice, Emilie Bryant on YouTube has a bunch of great tips and lessons that helped me out a lot when I was still learning :)
I must say though, it’s a lot easier for baristas to refine their latte art than home enthusiasts. Unless you have a huge, coffee-addicted family, you’re just not feasibly going to get as much practice as someone who works in a café :P
Yep, that’s the main problem: I live alone, and only drink 1-2 cups a day.
I could try practicing with like soapy water or something (I think I’ve seen that in a YouTube video at some point), but honestly, I’m just not motivated enough for that kind of effort. For me, my coffee looks pretty enough with my “abstract art” 😅
I agree, sometimes I like to just let the milk do its own thing and disperse freely. It can look real cool!
IMO latte art is kinda overrated and overemphasised anyway. I’ve had great cups that looked like blobs, and masterpieces of latte art that tasted bleh. I’d take the former over the latter every day of the week.
