The 9 perks… of being a barista

My first two weeks as a barista in a high street coffee shop in LA were not what I expected. I thought I would hate having to talk to customers, hate the pressure of making coffee all the time, and generally just despise cleaning up stuff (which is all I ever see people do…), but this was not the case.

In fact, my first two weeks as a barista were actually the two of the best weeks of my life and here’s why:

That smell of coffee

There is nothing like that strong, pure smell of real coffee. When you work as a barista you get to smell that all day, everyday!

You never get tired

If you ever feel slightly sleepy when you come into work, don’t fear, there’s always great, free coffee freshly made by yourself for yourself. It’s heaven.

You have a skill

Before I became a barista I would always watch the clever staff that could whip up a smooth latte or magical mocha in minutes and fall in love immediately. That is now me! I’m the clever one.

You officially know about coffee

In your BB (Before Barista) life you knew nothing about “what makes a good coffee”, but now you can sip a coffee when you are out with a friend a throw specific compliments at her and the cup.

No spill is too big

When you work as a barista you get used to the mess, milk and coffee is sticky and spills everywhere, and you now know how to deal with it. It’s no biggie. Go you!

You have an interest

Once you start to learn about the beans, the roast and how to prepare great coffee you want to know more and more about it. And you have yourself a new hobby!

You can become an artist

You might have seen the impressive array of latte art made by talented baristas the world over? Well, that could be you!

You can wear what you want

Unlike a boring office job where you have to follow a strict dress code and tattoos and piercings are strictly prohibited, in a coffee shop individuality is usually encouraged, and you are able to express yourself.

You can be creative

If you work in an independent coffee shop you can start to experiment with your own coffee concoctions. Mixing different milks with various syrups and name it after yourself. There aren’t many jobs that let you do that! (p.s. – make sure you check with your boss first, we don’t want your creativity entitlement to cost you your job…)

There’s perks to every job, but there’s a lot more to mine! I’m still buzzing now! Too much coffee?

There’s no such thing!

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