Barista do's and don't's when making coffee

I’m not a fan of the dish cloth on the steam wand, it just ends up yucky! If I get build up on occasion, I’ll soak the wand for a couple of minute (only!) in a glass of hot water allows really clean up!

Our owner and manager insist that we always keep the grinder hopper “topped up” that the grinder needs the proper pressure to work. Is that true? It means we can never wipe out the hopper.

I could attest to me personally looking at the steam wand if it's clean or not. If the barista is not cleaning it after use, I am JUDGING him/her.

Don't touch tip of the glass/cup

sydney's caffe barista have to learn from this. they reuse milk , don't care espresso ,dose, time, extract, dirty wand, any ratio. density of espresso , even some of them don,t taste coffee

Clean as you go, even if you're slammed. The clutter/filth will build up very quickly. The coffee shop I barista at is very small, and when we get rushes sometimes people are bad at keeping the bar and prep area clean. It's stressful, annoying, and potentially dangerous, especially in a much smaller work area.

Peace Shalom Salam Namaste 🙏🏻 😊 🌈 ✌ ☮ ❤ 🕊

Thank you Jimmy. Love your passion for great coffee. I am learning so much from you . Thank you again !!!

Just starting, what kind of milk are you using???

I have been a barista for 6-7 years and at my current workplace, I make around 500-800 cups of coffee in the morning. I really dislike that someone keep the cloth wrapped around the steam wand. The cloth soon end up saturated so badly, condensation and milk residue… yuck… Wiping the wand off properly with a “damp’ cloth several times until clean, then flushing the wand once without the cloth wrapped around, does the job beautifully!

What machine would you recommend. I am looking for something powerful but not as expensive. 2 groupheads. La marzocco is too expensive 😓

Hey guys, how can I stop my tamper from sticking coffee?

If i were to dump excess milk into a seperate container that is in the fridge for it to cool, what is wrong about that from a milk froth quality standpoint

When they put matcha powder on the milk jug and then steam the milk so that it mixes and heats up at the same time.... i have always found that really bad. The steam wands should only be used on milk in my opinion.

the backtamp😭😭😭

You guys need to look at this after a year I’m so impressed

Awesome videos Jimmy! Being from the east coast hope you don't mind WA's own Long mac topped up promotional channel tuning in? 😂

So cool!

The cloth you wipe the steam wand with is actually to wipe the tray. This is so that underneath of the cups remains clean and unstained. You should have a cloth separate to wipe the steam wand with, it's more hygienic and better for not spreading allergens. Great video non the less 👌

I'm enjoy daily home expresso and have been following you guys for a while, learning so much! I have the Breville Oracle and it continues to deliver marvellous coffee (I drink a soy flat white) BUT only if you keep the hopper topped up and use fresh beans. The grind is more consistent when there is some pressure from weight of beans. This isn't an issue, easy to do and fresh local beans are my only choice anyway. My question is do you guys know the best way to brew half a shot by myself without wasting beans? Let me explain. Any home machine single cup filter is useless, you even said this yourself in a video. So one uses the double cup filter. I have programmed my machine to run for 35 seconds (as my hubby likes a large mug) but I always watch the coffee and as soon as it starts spiralling, I cut it short, every day it seems to be different. My point is, I only want HALF of this 30 to 35 second pour. So I end up using two smaller cups and tip one down the sink and enjoy my perfect half dosed double cup filter. Yes, I could make a larger cup and only drink half, I know. It's still going down the sink :) Any ideas and advice would be appreciated, but I think I am already doing what needs to be done? Would there be a straight walled single cup filter basket out there that would work with my Breville? I feel this is the issue with the home machine single baskets. Thanks.

The big mistake :don't put your fingers on the edges of the glass were the customer put his lips.

Don’t over heat the milk

Hello fellow baristas! One tip I was hoping to find in this video was about the spouts on the portafilter. We use a double spout, and I notice that the area around the threads that the double spout twists onto gets a lot of gunk in it. I have unscrewed it to help me clean the gunk out, but now when I screw the spout back on, it's not screwing on straight. My co-workers seem unconcerned with the gunk, and now seem annoyed about the spout not being straight. What should I have done differently? Am I crazy for thinking that gunk needs to be cleaned out? Any advice about this would be wonderful! Love your videos! Always incredibly helpful! Thanks!

Fingers on the lip of cups during latte art or handling of cups is a big no no too

Nice video, good practices for home use as well

Smile a little 🙂

There is nothing wrong with the spoon! 😛

What brand grinder do you use? Or do you have some suggestions?

Can you recycle steamed milk for iced latte? I mean your not resteaming.
If not what to do with it? Trow it away?

Don't put the Coffee packages into the fridge (temperature difference)

Wat een naam Barista gewoon een koffie maker ???

Thanks for all the great content Jimmy and Luke! I am in the US, and from what I’ve seen most of the best professional barista online content and training comes from Australia!
1. Thanks for the tip about nothing aside from empty cups on the machine.
A quick way to deal with the oil on the hopper is to steam it with the wand and dry with paper towel at the end of the day
Questions for you and the community:
2. I have been following the instructions on Biocaf: Soak wand daily for five minutes, and steam two times in clean water to Rinse. is this reasonable or overkill?
3. Like sandalls, I’ve been soaking the Porta filter (and basket, screen and block) in Puly caff for 15 minutes. Makes sense, or overkill?
4. Like another guy, I think it would seem to make sense to flush and rinse the Porta filter at the same time?
5. Is there a practical issue with using the spoon to regulate the amount of foam, besides that it’s not the traditional craft?
6. Do you have a batch brew AirPots that you clean, and if so how much, and how often? How do you clean your dosing cups? I tried the dishwasher, and just steaming and wiping them.
Thanks for taking the time to reply!

B S

re: the steam wand advice, is soaking it in Rinza for 15 minutes still considered safe?

I use pink cloth for steam wand as well. But could you please fold that and keep it tidy? It looks much better from customer's eyes.

Nicely organized and presented! You covered a couple of things I've not seen addressed before. I.E., soaking the 'handle' in water. I've always done that between the time I stop making espressos (idle mode) - GS/3 - and end of day shutdown and cleanup. I DO keep the rubber above water at least, but never been sure if the soak of just the steel bits is even necessary. So far (knock on wood) all the parts still look brand new after 14 mos of use (including the rubber).

gorilla tamp with all the bent joints possible because ‘ay bro thars how ive always done it’

physio in the nederlands wrote her thesis on barista wrist so just a complete lack of overall understanding of workflow and ergonomics from management to bariste

the plural of barista I believe after some cursory italian is bariste, not baristi as it’s used in a gender neutral form

insistence on using bonsoy


ongoing elitism or disparagement of customer taste preferences including decaf. I’ve had some great decaf. I’m far more ready to chuck a little hissy fit over skim milk not being as healthy as it markets itself to be and this definitely has nothing to do with latte art and foam stability :p

flat white vs latte arguments and through it, customer disparagement since ‘ahh they can’t tell just serve it’ note at end

a uniquely SA thing in macchiatos, because even in a city a third the size of melbs we have 3x as many macchiatos but one word
some people want piccolos really, some want almost a whole latte, and it’s at the point where it’s easier to give the customer the milk because of the lack of a consistent definition. Order a long mac here and you’re just as likely be given a double ris piccolo as you are a long black+milk stain.

on fw vs latte I believe there to be a fundamental textural difference between the two based on original origins out of ww1:
the story goes that americano’s origins come from trying coffee on the old espresso machines that took so long to heat coffee came out burnt and bitter, so they topped it up.

I believe anzacs did this too but also added milk as is the tea culture coming forward, and in many people also doing coffee at home instant+water+dash of milk, in a cafe scene asking for a flat white are asking for an imitation of what they make or have had at home, a wistful recollection of older times.
My anzac theory would also explain why both NZ and Aus lay claim to the flat white origin: because they both are.

Great tips Jimmy!

🐶🦁

I wish cafes would list what their espresso dose, yield and mL of milk they use for a standard latte. It varies so much from cafe to cafe and that variation espresso dose, yield and mL of milk overwhelms the variation between latte vs flat white vs cappucino easily.

Yay

Im seeing people steam milk by just leaving it sit there on the drip tray

I even seen some not tamp the coffee, and im just thinking "why arnt u tamping, ur not only leaving the milk to steam on the drip tray, but ur also not tamping?!?!"

Don't knock the milk jug onto the floor.

Tack!

My biggest don't is definitely Crema stains from the shot sitting too long before adding the milk

Good tips!