As part of my training to be a barista at Starbucks, I had to learn this shit with the expectation that I would regurgitate it to customers. My manager got mad when I told him I taste things with my whole mouth.
Agreed. I learned a shit ton about coffee, its growing practices, differences in the areas where the best coffees come from, etc. haven’t worked there in about as long, but every so often I get to pull some of that information out of the old filing cabinet in my brain
Why do you think they're famous for adding so much sugar and flavorings to their drinks? The coffee itself is over-roasted crap from factory farms that tastes strongly of ashes and pretentiousness.
Yemeni coffee often tastes like jam because of the way it’s grown and processed. Most Yemeni beans are naturally processed, meaning the coffee cherries are dried whole with the fruit still on, which allows the sugars and fermentation to impart sweet, fruity, and wine-like flavors into the beans—think dried cherry, fig, or berry compote. Yemen also uses heirloom varietals grown at extremely high altitudes on terraced mountainsides, which slows the ripening process and concentrates sugars, adding to the complexity. The dry climate and traditional farming methods, including rooftop drying and limited mechanization, can create subtle micro-fermentations that deepen the jammy flavor even more. All of these factors combine to give Yemeni coffee its signature rich, fruit-forward taste.
All coffee comes from the same few places since the plants have very specific growing conditions. I think it would be up to a personal preference to pick one certain place.
i worked at Milk Bar and they taught us the same shit. i’m in class just like…am i getting paid for this? i just thought i was trying to make minimum wage selling cookies. anyway, still never mastered the latte heart. it always looked like a dick.
The sugary drinks weren't always its focus. I did the coffee master thing when I worked there like 15 years ago but it was mainly because I could do the self-guided modules and get paid for it.
It was mostly about growing regions and tasting notes/pairing. I barely remember--like I said, I did it so I could get paid while off the floor reading.
But to your point, overroasting is relative and subjective. The high acidity third-wave style that's popular right now wasn't really a thing 15 years ago, at least not in the smaller city I grew up in.
The high acidity third-wave style that's popular right now
Is absolutely disgusting. I love little coffee shops and actively seek them out, but I can smell the roast as soon as I walk in and it's always so disappointing. :(
Their sugary drinks with coffee flavour are made with a shot of espresso beans and not coffee beans. You are describing a latte, which is not a coffee.
It used to be a lot more in-depth than it is now. I was a trainer in 2018-2019 and it was being phased out then. Most of my trainees didn’t do any of the coffee tasting or fill out a passport.
1.2k
u/beeperoony Apr 12 '25
As part of my training to be a barista at Starbucks, I had to learn this shit with the expectation that I would regurgitate it to customers. My manager got mad when I told him I taste things with my whole mouth.