Being a barista is a purely artistic profession, requiring an artistry in designing and making coffee. While it's easy to talk about, it requires significant qualifications and conditions for one to become a barista. Hence, the subject of today's article, where we'll answer the question: How can I become a barista?
How can I become a barista?
A barista is someone who transforms a cup of coffee from just an ordinary cup that one drinks every morning into an aesthetic work of art that attracts one's eye above all else. But how can I become a barista?
1. Enroll in a training course
This accredited training course prepares each applicant to handle coffee professionally. It gives them experience in their hand movements and flexibility while pouring the beverage, and also earns them a certificate accredited by specialists in this field.
2. Personal specifications
The barista must have certain personal characteristics that qualify him for this job. These characteristics include:
- good looking.
- promptitude.
- Deal politely.
- Flexibility in hand movement.
- High self-confidence.
- Ability to work under pressure.
3. A period of training
Experts agree that every beginner needs at least a year of training to improve their skills, reduce coffee waste, and acquire speed and professionalism in preparing all types of coffee beverages.
4. Distinguishing between types of coffee
A barista must be able to identify the types of coffee offered to him, as well as the best type to prepare a particular drink.
5. Roasting skill
A barista must regularly practice roasting coffee beans. With experience and continued training, they will be able to transform these green beans to a roast level appropriate for the type of coffee they want to prepare, in addition to possessing the skill to grind to the required level.
6. Learn from a professional barista
A novice barista should begin their career by learning from a professional barista for at least three months. During this period, they will hone their skills and acquire all the qualities of a professional. They will also gain an increased opportunity to learn new and correct knowledge about the profession.
What is the job of a barista?
The term "barista" has become a common word among coffee lovers, but what does a barista do? Basically, that's what we'll answer.
A barista is known as a “coffee maker” or “coffee artist.” He is basically a person who works in a café or coffee shop and is responsible for preparing different types of coffee, such as espresso, flat white, and others, according to the customers’ requests.
Meaning of barista
As we mentioned, the meaning of barista is (coffee maker), but not just regular Arabic coffee, but other types of coffee associated with a state of (art and concentration), where the barista is concerned with following specific standards in preparing any type of coffee required; this is done by following globally recognized proportions, in addition to being fully aware of everything related to (roasting and grinding) coffee.
Barista Terms
Since each job has its own unique set of terms, there are a number of barista terms that all professional baristas use. Below, we'll highlight several barista-specific terms.
- Grouphead: It is the heart of the coffee machine and is responsible for making espresso.
- Screen Shower: Located inside the group head, its function is to distribute water evenly over the coffee.
- The shin: is the part responsible for preventing water leakage.
- Basket: A perforated metal part that holds ground coffee while making coffee or espresso.
- Single basket: It is a funnel that holds ground coffee inside, but unlike the previous part, it holds (7 or 10) grams of coffee inside to make one cup of espresso.
- Double basket: It is the most used part among the previous types, as it contains a percentage of coffee ranging between (14:21) grams.
- Portafiter: The part responsible for pressing and extracting the coffee during preparation.
- Steam wand: This is the place where the water vapor is released, which evaporates and heats the milk.
- Coffee distributor: This is an important part of the coffee machine, which distributes the ground coffee evenly inside the basket to achieve optimal coffee extraction.
- The pitcher or milk container: This is the part for the milk, which resembles a feather when pouring, so that the barista can control it to draw a shape on the coffee with milk.
The difference between a barista and a head barista
Is there a difference between a barista and a head barista? This is a question that must be asked when discussing the barista profession. Like any other profession, the coffee-making profession has a career hierarchy. Therefore, it is important to understand the difference between a barista and a head barista.
It is worth noting at the outset that the job sequence for any coffee maker is:
- Secure.
- Barista assistant.
- Barista.
- Head barista assistant.
- Head barista.
From this sequence, it becomes clear that the head barista is the last job rank in the barista chain, which allows the holder to control all the staff below him, and which no one can reach without many years of experience, advanced skills, and study of the science and art of coffee.
Head barista tasks
After we have explained who the head barista is, we will move on to talking about the tasks of the head barista, which are as follows:
- Familiarity with all the elements of a coffee preparation place.
- Staff management and task allocation.
- Set menu.
- Clarify menu details for inquiring customers.
- Knowledge of the inventory of stored quantities of coffee and other tools.
- Providing training to employees on the components of the new menu.
- Giving advice to the staff.
- Innovation and keeping up with the latest in the market.
- Working to increase sales in the place.
Barista course with a certificate
A barista's first step in the field is to take a training course to learn all the details of the job and master it in a basic way. That's why we've compiled a number of certified barista courses for you in the following lines of this section.
- Skill Share courses on the site
- My coffee site.
- Nawaat Training Center.
- Training platform course.
- Course from SAA
Barista Coffee
In this section of our article, we will mention a group of cafes known as “Barista Coffee,” as well as their addresses and contact numbers.
1. Barista Coffee
- Address: Dhahran Laban, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
2. Coffee Barista
- Address: Najran, Saudi Arabia.
- Tel: 05577278109
3. Barista Cafe
- Address: Airport, Al-Qurayyat, Saudi Arabia.
- Tel: 966545764999
4. Baristas Coffee
- Address: King Abdulaziz Road, Al Basatin, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
- Tel: 966536622360
Here we have reached the end of our article, in which we explained how I can become a barista. In addition to (the meaning of barista, barista terminology, the difference between a barista and a head barista, and the tasks of a head barista), we also referred in the context of the article to (coffee barista and a certified barista course) and other topics.
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