"baristas" news and stories

Erin Meister trains baristas for North Carolina-based Counter Culture Coffee and sporadically maintains the blog Meet the Press Pot from her home in New York City. This is part of a series for the caffeine-addicted.

Ah, the triumphant leaning back in your chair after a great meal at the season's "it" restaurant, pushing away the licked-clean plate and wishing you could loosen your belt in polite company. "Why sure, we'd love to see the dessert menu. And I'll have a cappuccino."

But then the cappuccino comes. It's got bitter, thin espresso topped with stiff, dry peaks of overdone milk covered in heaps of cheap cocoa powder. And, well ... it's not worth the $6 they're charging for it.

Does it have to be this way? Can there be such a thing as truly great restaurant coffee? Find out after the jump.

Starbucks just can't stay out the news these days. The chain coffee shop has been told its stock is dropping, its ubiquitous presence is annoying, and its coffee sucks.

Now it's been informed that it's been ripping off its barista's as well. A judge in San Diego, CA ruled that the company had improperly distributed tip jar funds to supervisors and would need to reimburse rank and file baristas, in its California stores, tips they didn't get...with interest. The judgment could cost Starbuck's more than $100 million. That's a lot of tip jar change.

Predictably, the company is crying foul, and says it will "vigorously appeal." According to a press released cited by the Los Angeles Times: "Our shift supervisors deserve their fair share of the tips that they receive from the tip jars in our California stores...The decision today in our view represents an extreme example of an abuse of the class-action procedures in California courts."

The company also noted that the case was filed in 2004 by a single barista, and that the interests of shift supervisors (who also make coffee and work with the public), were not represented in the litigation.

Much as I dislike Starbucks, this is one case where I have to express my disdain for class-action lawyers even more. From my completely unscientific, anecdotal experience as a customer, I can't see any difference in the duties of baristas and their managers. Both work the machine during slams, both take orders, both dish up the Rice Krispy treats. Inasmuch as any clerk who's not a waiter deserves a tip, everyone behind the counter should share the wealth.

What say ye, Starbucks watchers?

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I've always found latte art with its hearts, ferns and even lions drawn in steamed milk quite impressive. The photo above takes coffee art into the realm of otherworldly high-speed photography. This surreal shot is from a set called "Milk Meets Coffee" by photographer Irene Müller. I realize that this is a completely different craft than that of the barista, but the medium is more or less the same. Actually, a bit less. Müller used a pipette to carefully add miniscule amounts of milk to the coffee. This particular shot is aptly named Coffee With a "Drop" of Milk.

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How do you feel about this quote, one of the many quotes you can currently find on the coffee cups at Starbucks locations?

"Why in moments of crisis do we ask God for strength and help? As cognitive beings, why would we ask something that may well be a figment of our imaginations for guidance? Why not search inside ourselves for the power to overcome? After all, we are strong enough to cause most of the catastrophes we need to endure."

Starbucks customer Michelle Incanno hates it, and she has decided she can't go to Starbucks anymore.

That's the claim by an anonymous Starbucks barista in a rant posted over at Jim Romenesko's Starbuck's Gossip Blog. It was originally posted on the Chicago Craigslist, but was removed.

While the barista really isn't saying anything new here, it's actually a good one-stop summary for everyone who doesn't like the coffee shop chain, and a funny, revealing rant for people who do like the chain. A few tidbits from the article after the jump!