The Barista

This is Keith's first week at Starbucks. He L O V E S it! His schedule is sporadic, odd hours, but that is okay. His first day he said he learned to make whipped cream, frappacino base, and cream base. His first hour's assignment... sit and soak up the atmosphere! Imagine that!

They gave him something called a passport, which has all the coffees and teas in it. He has 3 months to try all of the flavors with each of the pastries. As he does so, he makes some notations about it in his passport. Have you ever gone into one of these types of places and can't decide what to order? Need a suggestion? This allows him to make informed suggestions for pairing coffee and pastries that compliment one another. How interesting. I personally always just picked whatever looked the best to me.

He has a cool hat and a couple of aprons. He went to Pittsburgh for a coffee tasting seminar. He tried about 6 or 7 different types of coffees there. He learned all about the company and some of the interesting employment opportunities they offer. There is something called a VP of Coffee. This guy (or gal) travels to worldwide coffee plant farms to inspect/investigate growing practices. Neat!

Why does Starbucks coffee cost so much more than other brands? Give up?

1. They provide all full time benefits to any employee that works 20 hours or less including stock, 401K, health, medical, and dental benefits.

2. They are willing to pay more than the average cost per pound of coffee beans than other brands. Why? This helps boost the economy in the growing region of the farmer.

3. They invest in their farmers by offering low interest high risk loans. Also an interesting fact -- they will not support farmers who utilize child labor.


Keith has learned SO MUCH about coffee and the company. He is turning into a "Coffee Snob." He wants a french press for his birthday. That's the snooty way to make coffee if you ask me! They give him 3 free drinks, anything, any size, for each shift PLUS taste testing in between. He gets one pound of free coffee each month. He gets a 30% discount at all Starbucks locations.

A couple of full time people at his location recently moved on to bigger better things, so they plan to give him more hours than we originally thought. He'll be full time in no time. He hopes to be a shift-manager in about 6-9 months and he'll move on from there. This is just one small step towards bigger better things. Keith has a dream of owning his own coffee shop someday. His plan is to know the business inside and out so he can achieve this dream with the knowledge to succeed in it.

If you aren't sure what to get there... I suggest either Marble Mocha Machiato (hot) or a Rasberry Green Tea Frappacino (cold). They are both DELICIOUS!!!