Tipping The Barista
When should I tip a barista big?
Nowadays with coffee, they're really built to take soy, half cap, blah, blah, blah. But if you are doing one of those really tricky picky drinks — I would recommend a little extra. I tend to kind of throw in some extra tips, you know, once a week or so just to kind of keep in their good favor. And a lot of times, if you're a regular they're going to start making your drink, as soon as they see you. Or sometimes they'll throw you a free drink. In which case, I would definitely tip more. Sometimes if I get a free drink, I'll just give them the cost of the drink in the tip jar, because it's nice of them. I had one really bad time at a restaurant, where the server, soon as he sat us he's like, "Well, I don't want to help you guys, but my boss is making me." And then that was the last we saw of him, and the busboy did everything else. And so I didn't tip him, and I did tip the busboy. I gave it to him. But I left nothing. And that really was like a weird struggle — internal struggle. But the bottom line, I think I did the right thing.
What should I know about a barista?
It's an interesting job. I mean, it's fun because you're interacting with people and it's social, but at the same time I don't know if people necessarily recognize the physical aspect of it. I mean, it is a lot of running around. It's a lot of hot steam as you're making these drinks and I got my coffee arm, it's definitely buff. At the end of the shift you feel it. You're tired. Your back hurts. People don't necessarily think about the crazy hours. If you're opening you may have been there at four o'clock that morning and if you're closing you can be there until two. Both of those shifts are really difficult. There's a lot of setting things up and breaking everything down and washing everything and making sure everything is up to code. It's a lot of activity. It's a lot of hard work. Just because we're smiling handing you a drink doesn't mean it's not a difficult task sometimes.
