February 22, 2006 - 9:21 p.m.
i had my first day of training today.
first, we had a lecture: "roasting theory"
see...i told you these guys were serious!!
during this class i learned about every aspect that determines whether your espresso will be sweet or not. (sweet is what we want) when i say sweet, i don't mean "sweet" as in "rad" or "neat-o". espresso from nothern italy is sweet, not like with sugar, but it is very delicate and smooth, not bitter. thats what we're going for. i had no idea how complex it was! everything! the beans, roasting, grinding, humidity, brewing water temperature not differentiating more than two degrees from the ideal temperature while pulling the shot, ppm of dissolved solids in the water, packing technique, i could go on...oh man, i am learning so much!!
i have a book to read, a dvd to watch, and two years of backdated quality control memos.
today, after "roasting theory", the boss, who ironicly closely resembles the actor who played the gay dad from kids in the hall-brain candy, showed us how to properly pull a shot. he demonstrated several times, and then each of us tried it. i went second. i only did it two times, which is great, meaning i did a really good job-i wasn't doing anything that needed correcting. everyone else had to do it 7-10 times!
one girl even got fired on the spot, because she was so careless! if you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. if she doesn't care to do it the right way in front of him, how good is she going to do it when he's not there? its his business, he can choose who he wants to represent it.
i respect him so much for that. it makes sense, but when he told her to go home, the rest of us were all shaking in our boots!
he said that there were two barrista positions to fill, and the rest of us (five total, after that girl was gone) would be barbacks to start, then work their way up to barrista. i think there is a really good chance that i will start out as a barrista right away.
this is serious you guys!!
i'm so pumped. i want this job like i've never wanted any job, ever in my life.
i am now officially a coffee snob.
p.s. i drew the line and said au revoir to decaf.
