Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders

It is not so much the fear of change that keeps us from moving forward in the areas we know are necessary. It is the fear of what will happen when we implement the change. The fall out, we imagine, is too much to handle and so we stay where we are.

On today's Shift Break we will be talking about why you need to embrace the fallout related to needed change and how doing so in a people-first way will, in spite of the inconveniences, lead to a better outcome.

Listen to these related episodes next:

• 301 : Hiring and Training for Excellence
• 191 : Retraining your Staff on new Standards
• 080 : Changing things in the Cafe : A workflow for Refinement
• 179 : What you MUST Know About Employee Culture w/ Stan Slap

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Custom branded mobile apps for your shop!

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One of the hardest things to make consistent in the coffee shop is your espresso. There are so many variables that contribute to the final product, not to mention the number of different baristas tasked with making coffee daily. can be very overwhelming and inevitably we throw in the towel and end up with a let than optimal product. Well good news! Today we get to dive into the science of optimizing your espresso with coffee scientist Samo Smrke!

Samo Smrke is a scientific associate at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) in the group of prof. Yeretzian. He is involved in coffee research projects in collaboration with industry partners and in fundamental research on various topics of coffee chemistry and coffee science. He is leading a module of the Coffee Excellence continuing education course at ZHAW, and various other educational programs with partners of ZHAW.

Samo is actively participating at coffee conferences, is one of the co-authors of the SCA Freshness Handbook and Water Handbook and has contributed to scientific papers and book chapters about coffee.

In this episode we discuss several major factors that need to be considered and optimized in order to always have the consistent and excellent espresso you want to serve on your coffee bar.

We cover:

• Samo's journey into coffee
• Ideal resting times and CO2
• Aroma and taste variance in coffees
• What causes crema
• Various roast levels and decaf
• The grinder's role
• Steps to take in addressing problematic coffee
• The importance of tracking and systems
• The science communities role in tandem with professional baristas

Links:

• Samo's Instagram Account @samosmrke
• https://www.zhaw.ch/en/about-us/person/smrk/

Listen to these related episodes next!

• 372 : Milk Steaming Master Class: Science + Craft w/ Morten Munchow and Emilee Bryant!
• 350 : The Physics of Filter Coffee w/ Jonathan Gagné
• 196 : Understanding Customer Preferences w/ Peter Giuliano Transcript
• RoR #16 : Ideal Resting Times for Roasted Coffee w/ Joey Stazzone of Cafe Kreyol
• 389: How to Approach Modern Coffee Processing w/ Christopher Feran

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Like you, I have been to and conducted my fair share of cafe meetings. And also like you, I have seriously questioned the effectiveness of these get togethers. In fact, in many cases meetings can hurt more than help. How do we avoid this?

On today's Shift Break I will be taking you through a few big mistakes that contribute to bad or ineffective meetings, and what to do instead to make sure your gatherings are assets to the business and not liabilities to culture.

Related episodes:

• Communicate, Duplicate, Repeat : Key habits that make information stick
• Turning the Ship
• My #1 Interview Mistake
• 229 : 7 Tips for New Managers

• 194 : Encore Episode! Leadership in the Cafe: 10 Steps to being a People First Leader | Aired January 17 2017
• 244 : Top 10 Ways to Lose Employees
• 179 : What you MUST Know About Employee Culture w/ Stan Slap

Visit our Sponsors!!!

The best espresso machines in the world!

www.lamarzoccousa.com

Custom branded mobile apps for your shop!

www.espressly.co.

The world of coffee is saturated with suppliers of tools and equipment. Most are seeking the transaction and chasing the opportunity the current market has afforded them. Precious few suppliers are truly passionate about their customers in a meaningful way that results in the love and respect of the barista community. Slow Pour Supply is one such company, because Anita Tam is one such person.

Anita Tam is the owner and founder of Slow Pour Supply Co., a socially driven coffeetools company that is dedicated to serving coffee people and small businesses around the world.

Prior to coffee Anita spent decades in the world of professional music as both a professional classical musician, instructor, and conductor. She discovered a passion and fascination for the craft and science of coffee that set her on a course to not only work in coffee but to establish Slow Pour as a platform to foster the same discovery for baristas globally through quality tools.

Anita is a long time certified AST with the SCA and you can find her and her team at almost any coffee event or competition spreading joy and positivity and serving the community.

Today we are going to be getting to know a bit about Anita's entry into coffee, the passionate and philosophies that drive her, and how she approaches business and relationships in coffee with wholistic generosity.

We cover:

• The link between music, art, and coffee
• Founding slow pour and guiding principles
• Passion for the product and end user
• Milk pitchers, brewers, and tools as catalysts
• The need for in person connection and community
• Creating, serving, and passing on gifts
• Peace through the circular flow of experiences
• Thoughts on the future of coffee

Links:

www.slowpoursupply.co

@slowpoursupply

Listen to these episodes next!

• 127 : Passion and Curiosity: A conversation w/ Starbucks Global Sr. Project Manager, Major Cohen
• 089 : La Marzocco USA General Manager, Andrew Daday : Leadership, Innovation, service, heritage
• 136 : Nourishing the Barista's Soul: A conversation w/ Deb Kaminski of Pacific Natural Foods
• 324 : Encore Episode! Organizing the Community w/ Espresso State of Mind Founders, Javier Alvarez and Joseph Gonzalez
• 394 : Happy Coffee People w/ Wendelien van Bunnik

Visit our awesome Sponsors!

GROUND BREAKING BREWING MADE SIMPLE!

www.groundcontrol.coffee

THE BEST PLANT-BASED BEVERAGES ON THE PLANET!

www.Pacificfoodservice.com

On this Rate of Rise episode I am thrilled to get to have a conversation with the new U.S. roasting Champion, Andrew Coe of Elevator Coffee in Portland, OR

Andrew Coe is the owner and roaster at Elevator Coffee in Portland, OR, founded in 2016. Andrew launched his professional roasting career by winning the first Cascadia Cup roasting competition at Buckman Coffee Factory, a co-roasting facility across the street from his cafe, using a Behmor 1600. He currently operates out of another co-roasting facility in NE Portland called Roast, which is home to a fully customized 1938 12kg Probat (probably one of the cooler machines in town). Andrew also private label roasts for Two Stroke Coffee. He has a masters degree in Mathematics from Oregon State University, and worked as a Transportation Planner prior to coffee.

In our conversation we chat about Andrew's entry into coffee, competition, and insights learned over his career

In our conversation we cover:

• Community and its role in learning
• Key turning points in his understanding of roasting
• Methods and disciplines for consistency
• Favorite part of the competition
• Collecting, curating, and using data
• How his career experience helped in roasters competition
• Optimizing green and roasted coffee

Links:

• www.elevator.coffee
• Instagram @elevatorcc + @andrewcoaecoffee

Related Episodes:

• 286 : Coffee Roasting Best Practices w/ Scott Rao
• RoR #5: Time and Color in Roasting w/ Morten Munchow of Coffee Mind"
• 147 : U.S. Roasting Champion, Shelby Williamson of Huckleberry Roasters, Denver, CO
• 026 : What Your Roaster want you to Know w/ U.S. Roasting Champion, Mark Michaelson, Onyx Coffee Lab

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It's Founder Friday! I just learned of the news that the original sidewalk bar for Espresso Vivace is going to be closing permanently. This is very sad news given the rich history of that cafe and the impact it's had on so many. So today I thought it would be a great idea to re-air a conversation I had with David Schomer back in Feb of 2019!

Since its founding in 1988 Espresso Vivace has been home to David's groundbreaking and paradigm shifting experiments with espresso coffee and drink presentation. His work has been foundational and formative in the lives of countless professionals around the world. In this interview I get to talk with

We discuss:

• The early years of Vivace
• David's philosophy on service
• What he wants customers to experience in his stores
• His desire to remain small and impactful
• What makes a great espresso
• Hiring
• The secret to longevity
• how he has personally grown over these 3 decades of meticulous pursuit of his espresso ideal

There is a lot to take away and be inspired by here. Enjoy!

Links:

www.espressovivace.com

Instagram

Listen to these episodes next!

• 323 : Reflecting on 5 Years of Keys to the Shop w/ my Wife Lynnsy Deferio
• 128 : Terry's Top 10 w/ Terry Ziniewicz : Best practices for how not to kill your espresso machine
• 349 : Talking About 21st Century Coffee w/ Kenneth Davids
• 376: Career, Coffee Quality, and Advancing the Industry w/ Mat North, of Raw Material
• 205 : Inside Caffe Florian, the World's Oldest Coffee Shop ! | Venice, Italy

Visit our awesome Sponsors!

GROUND BREAKING BREWING MADE SIMPLE!

www.groundcontrol.coffee

THE BEST PLANT-BASED BEVERAGES ON THE PLANET!

www.Pacificfoodservice.com

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Today we have an incredible number of options to increase efficiency and outsource everything we do, including the things that people would normally assume come from you as a creator. This presents a problem that I believe is based either upholding or violating a common trust between the consumer and the provider.

Today on Shift Break we will be talking about the use of A.I., white label coffee, authenticity, and what I believe is the necessity for us to fight for the integrity of our communication.

Related episodes:

• 227 : Connecting with Hearts and Minds
• 215 : Communication and Marketing Master Class w/ Spencer M. Ross, PH.D.
• 321 : Marketing and Moral Injury w/ Josh Tarlo of Kiss the Hippo
• Bridging the Values-Actions Gap
• Commit Before You Communicate

Visit our Sponsors!!!

The best espresso machines in the world!

www.lamarzoccousa.com

Custom branded mobile apps for your shop!

www.espressly.co

Out of all the reasons that may be contributing to customers either loving or avoiding your shop, the quality of your drink beverages actually ranks pretty high. The trouble is, we all tend to assume that we have pretty much achieved a level of quality that "should" be sufficient to attract and keep customers and in that assumption we are lulled into a place of security and chance down other means to bring in more people are areas to refine, all the while our coffee is literally leaving a bad taste in people's mouths.

On today's episode I am going to be sharing five things that you can do in your cafe that will absolutely level up and improve your coffee quality. When your marketing and word of mouth brings customers in to the store, both you and them will be confident that you can deliver a truly consistent specialty coffee experience worthy of the hype.

Let's lean into the uncomfortable and embrace the refinement of quality as a constant pillar of who we are and how we operate!

Related episodes:

• "Local" does not Equal Quality DETAILS
• 235 : 4 Tips for Training your Staff
• 191 : Retraining your Staff on new Standards
• Taste the Rainbow! : Menu knowledge, tasting, flavor, coffee cupping approach to your offerings
• Drink Drills! : Guidelines for using this powerful training tool in the coffee shop to get baristas ready for anything
• 307 : 10 Simple ways to Level Up your Coffee Shop

Visit our awesome Sponsors!

GROUND BREAKING BREWING MADE SIMPLE!

www.groundcontrol.coffee

THE BEST PLANT-BASED BEVERAGES ON THE PLANET!

www.Pacificfoodservice.com

When it comes to leadership, the power and authority that is inherent in the position creates a need for higher degrees of responsibility to facilitate and support those being led. Be that as it may, for those who are being led, this is not a reason to outsource to other personal responsibility and accountability in your work and career.

On today's Shift Break we will be discussing some things that are not really able to be provided for you by "the company" or your boss, but re up to you to bring to the table for the sake of your own flourishing in work and in life.

Related episodes:

• Shift Break: Hard Work is Hard
• 355: Baristas! 6 Essential Qualities to Get Yourself Hired
• 331 : The 7 Deadly Sins of my Career
• The Barista Slump : Thoughts on how to deal with times of love-loss, uncertainty, hardship, and weariness in your coffee career
• 292 : How to Take Charge and Drive Your Career w/ Ed Evarts
• Episode 31 : Essential Advice for New Baristas

Visit our Sponsors!!!

The best espresso machines in the world!

www.lamarzoccousa.com

Custom branded mobile apps for your shop!

www.espressly.co

Technology and tools are meant to serve people, not the other way around. As we multiply apps, software, snd services in the name of optimization and ease, it can become harder to truly connect as we begin relying on these innovations to replace the very relationships that will sustain our coffee shops.

The tech for making the schedule in your cafe is one of these areas that has seen an enormous amount of growth and proliferation over the years. Amongst these options stands a company that has been consistently and decisively people focused, radically simple, and hospitality minded in their quest to truly serve their clients the way their clients serve guests. I am thrilled to be talking with Wil Brawley of Schedulefly!

Wil is Co-Owner of Schedulefly, a simple online restaurant employee scheduling platform that has served over 17,000 independent hospitality businesses since 2007. He is also host of the Restaurant Owners Uncorked podcast and author of two Restaurant Owners Uncorked books.

In this conversation we will be talking about the genesis of Schedulefly, how they have stayed simple and effective for these past 16 years, and what Wil has learned as he has built relationships with and heard the stories of cafe and restaurant owners.

We cover:

• The story of Schedulefly
• The schedule's role in your businesses operation
• Why integrations are not all they are cracked up to be
• What hospitality looks like between service provider and client
• Leaning into relationships
• The art of saying no and knowing who you are
• Lessons Will has gleaned form interviews on the podcast and in writing his books
• The need for simple people first hospitality and systems

Links:

www.schedulefly.com

Related episodes:

• 170 : Why your Inventory Counts w/ Albert Amar and Pierre-Francois Rio of SwiftCount
• 194 : Encore Episode! Leadership in the Cafe: 10 Steps to being a People First Leader | Aired January 17 2017
• 089 : La Marzocco USA General Manager, Andrew Daday
• 302 : Data's Roll in the Success of your Shop w/ Mark Calhoun and Jim Strarcev of Perfect Cube
• 351 : Pro Tips for Using Spreadsheets w/ Maxwell Mooney, Narrative Coffee

Visit our awesome Sponsors!

GROUND BREAKING BREWING MADE SIMPLE!

www.groundcontrol.coffee

THE BEST PLANT-BASED BEVERAGES ON THE PLANET!

www.Pacificfoodservice.com