The young barista, in her black polo shirt and green cap, carefully pours the frothed milk into the awaiting expresso mix, and then adds sticky-sweet caramel syrup to create a caramel latte. A plastic lid is placed on the cup and she hands the frothy beverage to an awaiting customer.
"Here you go," she says with a smile, and the customer returns a grateful smile, pays for the drink and walks back out into Alden Library. Another latte served, and well, that is "a latte" of happiness that occurs in Cafe Bibliotech, the coffee mecca of Alden Library.
The young barista's name is Jennifer Kelly, a junior social work major from Ohio University and a student manager at the Cafe. This is Kelly's second year being employed at the Cafe.
As a student manager and a coffee barista, she is constantly expected to make the beverages that Cafe Bibliotech provides. It offers a bevy of hot drinks, such as tea, coffee and lattes, cold drinks, such as iced coffees, iced lattes, Italian sodas and a wealth of specialty drinks, such as seasonal mochas/ lattes, fruit smoothies and flavored ice mixers. This may seem like plenty of drinks to remember, not to mention the how-to-make-drink aspect and any customer's specialty request, but to a seasoned barista, like Kelly, all the drinks are a cinch.
"I remember when I first started working here, it was all so confusing because there are so many to remember. But once you have it all down, being a barista is pretty easy and it's simple to adapt to a customer's wishes," Kelly said.
Her favorite one to create is an iced mocha.
Cafe Bibliotech is a quaint little area, consisting of a small rectangular space behind a counter that houses the cafe workers, a bevy of mixer machines, expresso machines, coffee pots, soup pots, a bagel toaster cash registers. Mod yellow light fixtures hang around the Cafe, and booths and a study counter surround the outside area. Music and chatter from the baristas can usually be heard from the Cafe, along with the clinking of spoons on glass, the whir of the expresso machine and even the grinding of the coffee beans as well. With a Cafe, there is always sound.
Depending on the day and her schedule, Kelly can be found at the cafe making coffee and ensuring the shift goes smoothly. Her responsibilities include serving and making coffee, running the machines, delegating employee tasks (such as taking out the trash), counting money/ procuring the safe at the end of the night, and lastly but not least, keeping the Cafe stocked with coffee and food supplies. Most times, the Cafe stays pretty well stocked.
"On occasions we run out of supplies and have to get more supplies from the Baker Front Room," Kelly said.
Aside from her duties, Kelly interacts with her co-workers and coffee-loving customers on a daily basis. She says her favorite part of working at the Cafe is "my co-workers" because she likes to talk and hang-out with them while working.
Of course, interacting with the customers is simply a part of her job but also a service aspect. She enjoys customers who tell her exactly what they want, whom are talkative and especially ones whom smile back at her and wish her a wonderful day and who display a happiness for their coffee.
However, sometimes customers are not ideal, and Kelly must learn to adapt to the situation. She has tips stored away for this.
"Even if their drink is right, and they come back to you and say it is wrong, you remake it to please them. It's easiest to act nice no matter what, don't take it personally and find out exactly what the customer wants," Kelly said.
Another customer comes to the counter, and the whir of the expresso machine and the mixing of the coffee beans make a cacophony of noise behind Kelly as she leans forward to take the customers order. Before she turns to make the drink, she says,
"I love coffee and think I want my own coffee maker at home," Kelly says with a smile.
I guess you can't take the coffee lover out of a barista, and Kelly continues to make her next drink; a dark and sugary iced mocha.
How-- To --Moment*** Iced- Mocha
Need:
--Ice
--Mocha syrup
--Expresso
--Cold milk
Directions: Mix in a metal cup. Fill 1/2 of cup with ice. Use 1 shot of expresso. Add cold milk on top of ice. Add 1 pump of mocha syrup. Mix well. Pour drink into another cup, and you've got yourself a delicious iced mocha!
"Here you go," she says with a smile, and the customer returns a grateful smile, pays for the drink and walks back out into Alden Library. Another latte served, and well, that is "a latte" of happiness that occurs in Cafe Bibliotech, the coffee mecca of Alden Library.
The young barista's name is Jennifer Kelly, a junior social work major from Ohio University and a student manager at the Cafe. This is Kelly's second year being employed at the Cafe.
As a student manager and a coffee barista, she is constantly expected to make the beverages that Cafe Bibliotech provides. It offers a bevy of hot drinks, such as tea, coffee and lattes, cold drinks, such as iced coffees, iced lattes, Italian sodas and a wealth of specialty drinks, such as seasonal mochas/ lattes, fruit smoothies and flavored ice mixers. This may seem like plenty of drinks to remember, not to mention the how-to-make-drink aspect and any customer's specialty request, but to a seasoned barista, like Kelly, all the drinks are a cinch.
"I remember when I first started working here, it was all so confusing because there are so many to remember. But once you have it all down, being a barista is pretty easy and it's simple to adapt to a customer's wishes," Kelly said.
Her favorite one to create is an iced mocha.
Cafe Bibliotech is a quaint little area, consisting of a small rectangular space behind a counter that houses the cafe workers, a bevy of mixer machines, expresso machines, coffee pots, soup pots, a bagel toaster cash registers. Mod yellow light fixtures hang around the Cafe, and booths and a study counter surround the outside area. Music and chatter from the baristas can usually be heard from the Cafe, along with the clinking of spoons on glass, the whir of the expresso machine and even the grinding of the coffee beans as well. With a Cafe, there is always sound.
Depending on the day and her schedule, Kelly can be found at the cafe making coffee and ensuring the shift goes smoothly. Her responsibilities include serving and making coffee, running the machines, delegating employee tasks (such as taking out the trash), counting money/ procuring the safe at the end of the night, and lastly but not least, keeping the Cafe stocked with coffee and food supplies. Most times, the Cafe stays pretty well stocked.
"On occasions we run out of supplies and have to get more supplies from the Baker Front Room," Kelly said.
Aside from her duties, Kelly interacts with her co-workers and coffee-loving customers on a daily basis. She says her favorite part of working at the Cafe is "my co-workers" because she likes to talk and hang-out with them while working.
Of course, interacting with the customers is simply a part of her job but also a service aspect. She enjoys customers who tell her exactly what they want, whom are talkative and especially ones whom smile back at her and wish her a wonderful day and who display a happiness for their coffee.
However, sometimes customers are not ideal, and Kelly must learn to adapt to the situation. She has tips stored away for this.
"Even if their drink is right, and they come back to you and say it is wrong, you remake it to please them. It's easiest to act nice no matter what, don't take it personally and find out exactly what the customer wants," Kelly said.
Another customer comes to the counter, and the whir of the expresso machine and the mixing of the coffee beans make a cacophony of noise behind Kelly as she leans forward to take the customers order. Before she turns to make the drink, she says,
"I love coffee and think I want my own coffee maker at home," Kelly says with a smile.
I guess you can't take the coffee lover out of a barista, and Kelly continues to make her next drink; a dark and sugary iced mocha.
How-- To --Moment*** Iced- Mocha
Need:
--Ice
--Mocha syrup
--Expresso
--Cold milk
Directions: Mix in a metal cup. Fill 1/2 of cup with ice. Use 1 shot of expresso. Add cold milk on top of ice. Add 1 pump of mocha syrup. Mix well. Pour drink into another cup, and you've got yourself a delicious iced mocha!
