I work a new cafe in a small town where speciality coffee is still new. We were using a roaster that at one point was top 5 in the nation(3rd in the US Roaster’s cup). Now we are switching to a coffee that myself and the other baristas don’t like. Our boss that picks coffee likes them though. What should I do? How do I be excited about this coffee that I don’t like the way it tastes? Any tips to tell this owner that the coffee isn’t liked by others in the cafe?
There is an old law of business… he who pays the fiddler calls the tune. You get paid to work there, so he who pays you can tell you what goes down.
NOW… depending on the model of that business, the employees may be more team members than flunkies… and depending on this dynamic, there may be a way to approach the owner and broach the subject.
I would say the first steps would be to make certain that, with the new coffee on board, it IS being roasted, handled, and brewed to optimum. I’ve come across coffees no one else wanted, they were “terrible”, defeictive… but roasting and cupping, I decided to shirt the roast profile in a given direction. Same nasties, but not as pronounced. Three or four more sifts in the profile, it came round nicely. I bought the whole pallet at a near giveaway price, and have yet to find anyone that did not REALLY like it.
This one mayn’t be so simple, though. But, if the roaster is open, perhaps he could be sweet talked into playing with it to see if he can’t bring some better flavours out of it. Could be the owner cupped it when it was roasted on a rather different profile. Is he hands on in the shop on a regular basis, cupping the products at random, or is he an absentee sort of chap who comes round on occasion but is not closely invoved with the day to day?
Could even be that the brew profile needs tweaked… in your spare time begin experimenting with it.
In any case I’d avise against allowing a “us against him” culture to develop. That can be VERY destructive.
sticky one, at best. Walk carefully, and see what you can find to do to find a better flavour profile in that bean.
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that’s a great answer.
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Yes, thank you for that response