tips! ha!

tips are important
to people like
captains and barmen
for them it's a tip, see?
for me, i'm a gypsy
just toss me a coin
and i suddenly feel like i'm carmen
--from WORKING: the musical

tipping.
do you tip your barista?
are you supposed to tip your barista?
WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD YOU TIP YOUR BARISTA?

well. it's important. that's why.

even if it's only a quarter, tips are important. we don't do the work that waiters and waitresses do, but it is similar in some ways.

we serve. that's about as similar as it gets.

but we also create. we direct you toward the drink that we think you might like depending on the small bits of information you give us. (see: the barista game in the coffee dictionary.)

we (those of us who take our jobs too seriously) try our best to entertain you to the extent that we can for the amount of time that you're in our shop.

and baristas, like elephants, never forget. we remember the tippers and the non-tippers. if we're in a position to see what you drive or meet your family, we'll probably remember what you order after a few visits to the shop.

so how much should you tip?

well, just like when you go to a restaurant, tip what you can and what you feel the barista deserves. if you're a regular at a shop, you don't need to feel obligated to tip every single time, but a dollar here or fifty cents there will make your barista very happy.

if you've ever worked in a restaurant or coffee shop, your money probably works something like this: your check goes to gas, bills, food, etc. and tips pay for your habits. so remember that your barista is living on tips just like a waitress does.

there's also the tipping dilemma for baristas: will people tip if the jar is full or empty? whenever i start a shift, i put a dollar in the jar. it's habit and it also reminds people that there is a tip jar there and if they can spare some change for their caffeine provider, they can put it in there. but then, usually (unless you have a particularly large tip jar), your jar fills up to the point where you need to take some money out.

here's my system:

if there are any bills larger than a $1, i take them out and put them in my wallet. i have experienced tip jar robbery and sometimes fingers will get sticky if they see a $5 bill.

after removing large bills (which i RARELY have to do), i count how much money i have in the jar. if i have ten dollars, i put it all back. if i have fourteen dollars, i put four back and pocket the ten and so forth.

my theory is that customers are not sympathy tippers. if customers see that you've been an efficient, pleasant barista, they are more likely to tip. it is likely that your customer won't know how long you've been there, but they'll assume the worst when it comes to whether or not they'll give you their money. so a full tip jar will secure a full tip jar.

hope everybody is having a fun, safe, and sufficiently caffeinated holiday. i'm back in my hometown working at a coffee shop. it's the building of my very first shop with its third set of owners. all of whom i have been hired by, now. i'll be back at the bus in a month or so.

"I never laugh

until I've had my coffee."
--Clark Gable

in my previous post, i mentioned that i drink black coffee. if i had religion, anything but black coffee would be against it.

i don't drink lattes.

tonight at caffiend, asheville's 24 hour coffee shop, i got a latte. i humored my favorite barista, ian, and let him play the fun barista game. this is the game when someone walks into your shop and says, "what do i want?"
usually, at this point the barista gets over-excited and starts asking you lots of questions.

"hot or cold?"
if hot:
"caffeinated?"
if cold:
"blended or over ice?"
then:
"do you like chocolate? white chocolate? fruit? nuts? strong? weak?"

tonight, i was on the other side of the counter and played the game.

"hot or cold?"
hot.
"caffeinated?"
yes.
"chocolatey, nutty, or fruity?"
chocolatey.
"okay..."
small. skim. have fun.

he made me a delicious peppermint mocha. he can foam the jesus out of some milk. (does milk have jesus? SHOULD milk have jesus?) and he completely reaffirmed why i don't drink lattes.

they're too delicious and sinful.

i started the consuming process by taking off the lid and enjoying the foam for a bit. then i started on the latte. it was creamy and delicious and not too sweet. i finished it and drank every last bit of foam and stared at the bottom of my empty cup with great disdain.

after i realized what i had done (drank the latte, enjoyed it to the point of feeling contempt for the small size i chose, and thought about getting another one), i wanted to take myself out back and give myself a good talking to.

that is the last latte i will drink for a long time. it was a perfect, delicious treat that i will not let myself indulge in for quite a while. and, well...sugar and milk aside, there simply isn't enough caffeine in lattes. a small cup of coffee would have given me a little more of a jolt (or psychological jolt...caffeine is a topic for another day) and i wouldn't have felt like i'd just committed a mortal sin.

i am grateful for that little creamy, foamy, sweet, delicious drink. but the next time i go to a coffee shop...it's back to black drip or espresso.