odd question, and a rant; to be consolidated and edited later.

So as I’m leaving work today, at the prescribed hour like I’m supposed to; I went downstairs to gather my things. Hong, kitchen manager and owners wife, askes me if I like my job. 

I do, I really do. it’s a huge opportunity. Though I’m sure Jamie doesn’t feel like my ‘sensei’ I definitely see him as that. so I work hard and try and make this behemoth of a store work. I bust ass and bust other people’s asses because if we all aren’t on our A game, then why the fuck are we there!?

I’ve come to the point in my life where I feel that there is a true calling for people to be service professionals, and though I don’t want to make a career of being a ‘counter bitch/pourover bitch.’ I was really taken aback when reading this book about coffee culture in japan; usually one person owns and runs a whole shop, it’s really something awesome; and they’ll do their own roasting and sourcing, essentially it’s a one man show. and thats really special, so maybe you don’t have the volume of a shop that’s in prime real estate, but if your customers (regulars especially) make your shop a destination, then there is no reason not to succeed. From a business standpoint, if you’re the only one that you’re dealing with payroll, then it’s all you! which is so boss.

I feel like there is a huge group of people that don’t have ownership or investment in what they’re doing for a grand majority of their time, I saw this consistently in corporate coffee, where the umbrella was SO huge that noone could be invested in what they were doing because at the heart of corporate coffee is someone that doesn’t leave a desk and stares at numbers all day, and somehow still can live a damn comfortable life. which is too bad, because a large number of people work like that; and there is no sense of ownership or pride in what they do, physically. 

I’m not sure where this rabbit hole will lead me, but I’m very glad to be here; I want to learn anything and everything I can. Making a parallel with the music world (whose historical reach is 10x that of ‘specialty coffee’) I feel that pedagogically I’m in an excellent place. I never want to be in direct competition with my sensei, but I want to do things right. Coffee is a commodity that consummates agricultural science with some thermodynamics thrown in with some physics; it’s voodoo you can taste. The proof will always be in the cup.

There are four large variable groups in coffee production; if you’re specialty is that last step, brewing, thats the step that everyone sees and is most familiar with. That final step is your hook line and sinker in getting someone truly interested in what you’re doing as a whole. You must piecemeal the coffee world for the consumer, not only will that person come back for another morsel, but it’s a long story that started many years ago. Save you’re breath and read the customer; if you can own them verbally, you can own them fiscally. You’re selling a drug, put on a show; a customer can get a coffee for $1 down the street, it’s self serve and it’s shit but a few variables have told the customer that it’s the best coffee he can get for a dollar. If he’s going to pay $3 for a cup of coffee, don’t cite the roaster and how you need to pay everyone up until then, he has no idea the amount of work and how many people have touched those beans before he could drink it, all the customer sees is you. Make it worth their while.

2 weeks ago  /  0 notes

youcancallmeleia:

Loitering for 3 hours pays off. Free scone. These bitches love me.

best you watch yo’self

2 weeks ago  /  1 note  /  Source: youcancallmeleia