"Am I the only one that finds the new espresso drink preparation absolutely ridiculous?"

This was posted late in the OPEN THREAD discussion, so maybe you missed it. For readers who don't work at Starbucks, would someone please explain what the new espresso preparation is and how -- or if -- it affects customers.

Comments

[Coffee Soldier]

Haven't learned about it yet...our DM had his training today and all our SM's go to it next week...is there info on portal? I looked but didn't see anything....How about the new Sbux Reserve coffee? I tried the first in the series this a.m. it was wonderful! Veru intresting the way it grows as well in the micro climate! I can't wait to see what is next...we have already "reserved" 8 bags of the reserve for customers! great way to energize partners about coffee!

[Starbacker]

The new Beverage Repeatable routine isn't just about speed, it's about consistency, it's about customer interaction.

With the new method of building drinks, the bar partner has more still time at the bar in which they are supposed to be interacting with customers at the handoff plane.

The new method builds upon ever successful baristas main mantra, "always have your milk ready!".

You start steaming milk before you even touch your cup, after you aireate the milk and set it to auto steam the rest of the way, you start the shots to be pulled, as the epsresso is grinding you reach for the cup pump syrups and set cup under the now about to pour shots. As the shots finish pouring you pull the now completely steamed milk off of the want and wipe the wand. The shots are done pulling an you are now perfectly time to pour the freshly steamed milk in to the freshly poured shots. While all of this was happening you are also talking to customers.

The espresso bar stations may be moving around depending on the store. I will be separating my two bars and putting all syups and lids inbetween the two bars

There is still "double barring" you just don't have to do it as often. The bar partner is getting more support, some one else is rinsing pitchers (during rushes) and some one else is marking all cups.

While I was training on this, I improved my time a bit over "old ways" but also had a much less hectic time on bar. Another trainee actually gained itme, but his drinks went from horribly made to perfectly made and his time at bar was cool, calm, and collected.

[Siberiabux]

Hey starbacker, if you are who I think you are, my drinks weren't terribly made. Lol. And I went from 2:28 to 4:04, that's a little more than a little time. My take on the BR2 is that it levels the playing field for all partners so there is a consistency in production, resulting in consistent bevs.

[Seriously?]

This is not new. No one has followed the described routine anyway. What do you do in a DT store? The bar person marks all drinks and makes them -- including all coffees, teas, and frappuccinos

[Crema_the_crop]

This is blatantly a 6Sigma/Lean Sigma Kaizen event.

They are attempting (and will succeed) in lowering the standard deviations in beverage quality. More baristas will produce more drinks with fewer errors more often.

What will really open your eyes to the way things are now is by doing a Go See of your current bev quality. Most of the drinks that are made with 'batched' milk are under temp (or over temp) and watery (improperly textured milk).

Expect most store operations to come under Lean management, i.e., routines/repeatable routines soon. I honestly love it because it suits my OCD personality type to a T.

It is fast. I made two venti lattes on one machine yesterday in the the least amount of time that the machine is physically capable of producing the shots.

What is hardest is letting everyone know that we are starting over. You weren't fast on your first day on bar when you were hired, so don't expect to be fast when you start using the standardized work method. It takes time. That's why they're rolling out the milk routine first, to make it easier.

Also, it's an easy way to weed out the partners in the store who refuse to take direction and can endanger your business by not following other procedures. I catch you not using BR2 more than once? You're gone.

[Crema_the_crop]

Low volume = 1 bar partner who does it all, using Blended Beverage Repeatable Routine to make frappuccinos to make all drinks two at a time. Rinses own pitchers.

medium volume = 2 bar partners, one makes all espresso beverages and one makes all CBS beverages, Frappuccinos (using BBR2), shaken tea and iced coffees, spikes the cups, and rinses pitchers. The DTR or R1 is still responsible, as always, for sliding to pastry or brewed coffee/tea for those items.

High volume = 3 bar partners, 2 in production and one in support. the 3rd is there solely to rinse pitchers and can be double-deployed as DTO.

Not word for word but that's pretty much it. It changes double-barring deployment and forces others to use proper deployment and cellular layout (again, a lean concept).

[Crema_the_crop]

If you are DT you should be getting labelers in the next few weeks anyway.

[Doppio con karma]

@crema
source on the labelers statement? I've been explicitly told by My DM and RVP we're not getting them

[Starbacker]

lol siberia, It's all relative.

[hearbutloud]

Thanks for sharing the routine. Funny thing, this is how I'v always run my bar. We are the highest volume store in town (and only a cafe at that), I never need a Bar2 except to do CB station. I am the fastest barista in my store next to the boss and he does it this way. WTG STARBUCKS! A barista must have designed this. :)

[Crema_the_crop]

If there is one thing I've learned in my 4 years w/ Bux, it is never to say never.

[erstwhile]

I should elaborate a bit more on what I posted, because it was mostly just a venting of frustrations. I've always felt that among things for customers to complain about, espresso beverages haven't exactly been the number one concern, at least in my store. 85% or higher in all customer voice metrics, which I think is pretty good considering stores I've worked at in the past.

Let me start off by saying I understand where the company is coming from and why they think this is necessary. Not every market is like mine, and certainly not every store. Drink quality is apparently an issue. It just stinks being in a store where this is not the primary concern.

I think this system sounds great for stores that aren't shoving 70% of their drinks out a drive thru window, because it *does* allow the barista to sit there and twiddle their thumbs (while their milk is steaming) a lot more instead of being productive by making two drinks at once.

Instead of using two machines to make twice as many drinks in the same amount of time, I'm "limited" to one machine (unless I need more than 2 shots for the drink I'm currently working on). My customers at the drive thru window are waiting longer because I can only prep one drink at a time.

I'm moving left and right MORE than before, because each drink is requiring two movements to make instead of one. Pumping syrup doesn't take that much time. If I have three cups in front of me, I pump the syrups for each of the drinks, steam the milk on BOTH of my machines while I have shots queueing on BOTH of my machines... see where I'm going here? In my store our bar goes left to right. The new system is Left to right to left to right. (Left: Sticker on cup. Right: Steam Milk/queue shots. Left: Pump syrups. Right: Pour shots/milk/finish). We can't rearrange the flow of our bar because of the location of permanent fixtures like ice bins and hot water taps, not to mention the location of our drink labeler and permanent cup dispensers.

I am also irked because we still have Verismo machines. But we can't have thermometers in our pitchers. So we're adding an extra step by fishing out a thermometer every time someone asks for an extra hot or 130 degree drink (which seems like 1 in 5 customers in our store). And since I am only making drinks primarily on one machine, I'm filling my 1-lb espresso hopper twice as much (but not quite twice as much because I'm not twice as fast on only one machine).

But the biggest kicker for me is that you can't even get optimistic that because you're a high volume store that you're going to get to just keep double barring like you always have. Each machine is a separate entity, and each barista on bar is making only their own drinks. Which means what? Two people going for syrups at the same time, two people going into the milk fridge. Two people going at the ice bin. Absolutely ridiculous. There's nothing wrong with effective communication of what type and quantity of milk needs to be steamed. But apparently someone thinks there is. Not to mention the potential for lots of out-of-order drinks being handed out due to the simple nature of some drinks taking less time than others to be made (a particularly big headache in drive stores, but a universal one nonetheless).

I guess on the positive, unlabeled pitchers don't bug me much because I don't and never have batch steamed milk since we switched to small pitchers. I think this is one thing I'm okay with because those pitcher stickers were pretty gross after a few runs through the sanitizer anyway. Yay for prettier pitchers.

Basically all I take away from BR2 is that my morning customers are going to be pissed because they have to wait longer. "Oh sorry, I can't use that machine." We're going to go from serving 80 customers per half to 60, and sales will dip, because there's a limited amount of time people have to stop and get coffee before they have to get to work. In the name of quality we're lowering the bar at high performing stores to make everything consistent across the country.

I'm not unwilling to learn. I've learned how to make drinks, I've learned how to use small pitchers, I've learned how to grind coffee per batch. And I've agreed with all of it. But I have a hard time getting on board with something that's going to mean customers are actually served slower than they were before. Tips are going to suffer, because tips only exist "to insure promptness."

Maybe we're slowing down speed of service to hock some more VIA? Yep, Fall 2 focus. Customers will need that stuff since they can't get their quick fix direct from the source anymore.

[Darth Sidamo.]

Label machines are a waste of paper, money, and time. Marking on cups gave that customer atleast some sort of connection to the drink. Same with drink accuracy. People are much more likely to remember something they write. Ive worked at a cafe store with a label printer. There is no modify menu so the labels would have the beverage, without any description. If it is in a personal cup, prints a receipt separately saying it is in a personal cup. Wasnt the point of the personal cup to be green? Guess not.

Labels on iced cups are soggy and makes me feel like I just bought a McDonalds hamburger with a receipt for my hamburger attached to it.

[Darth Sidamo.]

And yes nothing ensures a speedy drink time and accuracy like turning your head away from the bar and having a conversation.

[Starbacker]

actually erstwhile, you do make two drinks at once. just using the same machine.

the process i described above is only describing one drink.

when you have more than one drink qued, you make them two at a time, but you stagger it slightly.

just as you are done steaming the milk for the first drink, you immediatly start steaming milk for the second drink and as soon as shots are done being pulled for the first drink you start pulling shots for the second drink.

this system produces a consistent fast flow of drinks from the bar. 30 seconds, bam! drink!, 30 seconds bam drink!, 30 seconds bam! Drink! and so on and so on. Yeesss...you could maybe use the second bar and involve other partners to produce drinks a few seconds faster, but at what cost? This system the bar area is always clean, pitchers are always rinsed, there is NEVER milk residue on your steam wands, shots never expire and there should be almost no mistakes.

[Starbacker]

Oh and when it gets VERY busy, and you have two partners making drinks, they still come out in the order they were placed, no different than now.

And I don't mean to seem all hunky dory about it, but I really think there are positives to standardizing this system.

I believe what other poster said. It's going to be slow at first, just as everyone was slow at making drinsk the first time they learned. Once your body makes these new motions muscle memory, you will improve on the speed even more. There will be a learning curve, and everyone needs to be on the same page!

[Starbacker]

Darth? Why would you turn you head away from the bar? Most stores you just look right over the bar, especially at mastrena stores. And you don't stare at the customers while you have conversation, you look up and make eye contact but focus on making the drink.

[REALLY!??!]

Long time lurker, 1st time commenter. @starbacker It's impossible to look over the bar, even with mastrena because of fixtures promoting via in front of the bar which prevents customers from standing there. So yes, you do have to turn to the side. I think Starbucks should stop focusing on things like this in stores that work, comp year over year even being 15 years old, sell what they are supposed to and have the best customer voice in the region. What they should focus on is how to keep the partners happy. For example, the SM hired externally who makes $5K more than the SMs who have stood by Starbucks for years. All of the SMs in the district know it and are already bitter towards the newly hired SM, even though it is not her fault for getting hired at that rate. Or spelling out the tip policy for partners so there are no more inconsistencies (do you get tipped for training someone, being in training, doing an in store qasa audit?). Or getting training back on track so RMTs and new baristas and shifts can actually attend classes again instead of being told they are only offered in a state 8 hours away and there is no money to send them to classes. Or teaching SMs how to plan properly so vacations are allowed at the shift and barista level, so the SM doesn't lose vacation time at the end of the fiscal year, or so the store is not ridiculously short-staffed all the freakin time. Perhaps things like that should happen before Starbucks tells me how to make drinks even though its been 8 years and I've been making them pretty well up until now.

[REALLY!??!]

Oh and just thought of this...my new DM was hired about 6 months ago and I have yet to meet him. Nice, Mr. DM, way to ignore the closers (and the ones who get the best customer voice scores by the way) to see what we are doing right. Oh and maybe Starbucks could teach new DMs (and old RDOs) about green apron cards/MUG awards or any kind of pat on the back that would make the store feel warm and fuzzy....just a thought. #justsayin

[Boston Bagel Bigot]

Partners have no visibility to this yet unless your DM has loose lips. This doesn't start until NOVEMBER!

[BAYAREABUX]

LEAN has always been and always will be a bunch of crock made up by people who don't understand what made the SBUX popular in its heyday. It was never perfect drinks that drove the brand -- it was good-enough drinks and happy, friendly baristas that kept customers coming back at record paces.

LEAN ignores this by trying to make everything in the store automated. Eventually there will be no need for baristas as customers can mobile pay and the Mastrena 2.0 will make the beverage for them. If it has to be written in the Frappuccino training and Beverage repeatable routine to connect with the customer, obviously there's something wrong. As in, exactly what have we been teaching since day 1? Make faces at the customer? Spit in their drink?

Coffee cadence, hut two three. Beep beep beep, hut to three. Timer off, turn your back on the customer, hut two brew four, hut two beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep. Warming over! Please wait. Oven warming up. Decaf! Hut hut two three four. How may I help you? BEEP BEEP BEEP safe for change BEEP BEEP BEEP. Beep beep. It's time for bold, sorry if you wanted a latte. Cadence, two, hut, two, hut two three four.

LEAN is just dumb. I can make two grande lattes in the same pitcher, and I can make two tall cappuccinos in the same pitcher while perfectly free pouring both.

The last time Starbucks did something this stupid was to close stores to retrain on shot glasses and esp. excellence only to go back to monkey-barring and SPEED SPEED SPEED NO LABOR FOR DRINKY!! FAST FAST!!! MINUS 3 VTI!!!! 6 mo later.

If it has Scott Heydon's name on it, it stinks to high heaven. And I was around for the heyday, as we now witness the DOH!

[Joe Clark]

Machine-made espresso is, of course, vile, and is the standard at Starbucks. I gather it is now even more entrenched.

[hearbutloud]

Yep; still going to use two machines. You cannot ROBOTIZE people. People are the ones who know the routine is STUPID and will work against it, people have COMMON SENSE. That's what you want, not robots! (Cuz if you had robots, there would be no "just say yes" cuz the darn things would explode!)

Anywho. Yup. I can do new routine. Make the triple shot drinks on two machines and still use two bars to make two caramel macchiatos at the same ding dang time. Guidelines, not unbendable rules. Cuz, they might as well take away the second machine if we can't use it. ARG!

[Ivoted]

The way Starbacker described the process is exactly how Caribou Coffee does it - and for the same reason: customer interaction... interesting.

[slaw275]

to all of the naysayers... you are right. this WILL NOT WORK in your store. why? because partners like you will not give it a chance. As for my store, this repeatable routine rolled out (in my area) over a year ago, and if a barista doesn't follow this routine, I write them up for not following policy.

THIS WORKS. Trust me, I was a holdout among partners when this rolled out and I have seen it increase our SWS, order accuracy, and barista morale. When you do it right, you have enough time to keep your bar clean, your pitchers rinsed, your customers happy, and yourself calm. =)

[usorthem3]

So how does this fit into a three person deployment during the morning rush? We have 3 for and hour and a half and two the rest of the day? My lids won't fit between the machines, I barley got the syrups to fit. How does the B1 do the CB job and still have conversation time? Every 30 seconds a drink is delivered, BOOM. Better be faster than that because your doing 50+ transactions (not beverages, that's more) every half hour. What about the time it takes you to make a venti water they didn't ask for? I agree that things should be LEAN as it were, but we are NOT a Japanese auto maker. I have said it before and say it again, Mathematically calculated coffee shops have no soul. I say it is another way to cut labor even leaner so that when the holidays roll round, -3% VTI will not shock anyone this time. It's close to what we run every week month after month. We have been used to under staffing since Dec 3rd 2008.

[Cafe Nervosa]

Wait... This sounds like what I already do. And it works. And I always wondered why nobody else did it. OH WAIT it requires a bit of skill, dexterity, and flair.

Making drinks this way will make you fly, but you need to be good. If they're going to make this the standard way of barring, what happens to people who can't quite make it?

[Post SBUX]

Anyone who believes that starbucks can be what it was in the "heyday" is sadly mistaken- This company's growth is it's biggest enemy. Living in NYC and having 170 something stores in Manhattan alone is direct proof of that.
This new system is needed to make a corporate giant consistent and I am happy that barista's are learning it but not even half the barista's I have worked with in the past were passionate about coffee like most of you. When you don't care you yell at customers, don't make drinks right, an you will never do anything if you don't want to. And I know they should never have even been hired, but firing them turns into court battles and HR complaints and even then to fill all these stores with genuinely good people is almost impossible due to the 9$ min wage with tips- When unassisted living on your own cost 700$-1500$ just in rent, it simply is not enough to attract people. Therefore you have to settle- all while RDO's and RVPs don't do anything to fix the situation- they don't fight for the barista, they fight for the bottom line.

If there was care for the store level- why after a very profitable year would you not give back to the people that you took so much from?

[Darth Sidamo.]

@Starbacker. Only cafe stores (about 20% of stores in midwest) have a bar lined up facing customers. When you are double baring you should be using DT bar since the order screen is there and it is closer to your bulk of business. This means that you should be having two conversations. One to the right and left. The wall is infront of you if you look forward. Even the cafe stores I know of force you to look diagonally left or right to chat, if you can see over the bar.

My stores been doing this for close to a year now. It works about the same as before. That is until morning rush stops and labor goes down to barebones in evening. This is so dependent on a support role like washing pitchers, making cold bevs etc that once that support role is lost it stops becoming effective. Double ringing does not leave that person enough time to handle these tasks.

At bar you should ALWAYS have been starting with milk in the first place. This hasnt changed. The only difference is each drink has the amount steamed for one drink at a time.

I dont know what gross beverages some of you guys pumped out by saying this way makes sure their temp of bev is better now, but you never should have steamed milk just incase you may need in it the next hour in the first place. We arent McDonalds, yet. We do not need to pre-make mochas that sit for an hour so they are readily available. Drinks have always been made to order. Steaming milk for one drink or two drinks at a time should have never effected beverage quality in the first place.

[(former) FLA SM]

So when you are steaming the milk, you get it started by holding the pitcher, and then set the pitcher down to let the steaming process complete on it's own? Didn't Starbucks close all the stores early a couple of years ago for a huge nation-wide renaissance called "Espresso Excellence" where we were told it was necessary to hold the pitcher during the entire steaming process to improve quality?

So you are pulling the shots directly into the cup? Didn't "Espresso Excellence" direct us to pull shots into the shot glasses so they could be inspected each time for quality?

You can't have thermometers in the pitchers? Didn't "Espresso Excellence" direct us to always use a thermometer to ensure the proper temperature, thus providing higher quality?

I guess speed is more important than quality.

[BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL]

The Beverage Repeatable Routine materials are already available in hard copy at all stores if you know where to look.

[Return of the laid off ASM]

I have always found this issue to be a little fascinating, considering the goals and trade-offs.

When i was with the company, and the issue of service time came up, i would just walk the DM over to the bar and point out "The Dance". Watching the partner move from the left to the right....sometimes 4 times in a row when they could just start from one point and end at the other. It had nothing to do with the partners speed, it was ALL in equipment/supplies placement. It always came as a shock to the DM.....like this was in front of them all the time and they never saw it, that sort of thing. Naturally, since all stores are laid out a little differently, we couldn't 100% fix the problem, as that would involve facilities physically changing the store, which is wildly expensive.
It always astounded me that the majority of DM's and RDO's never acknowledged that this was one of the main reasons for hitting a wall in speed of service time. Since it wasn't a problem they had the power to fix, they decided that it wasn't a problem.

In my opinion, its not the drink construction that needs to be overhauled, but exactly WHERE everything is in relation to the bar partner. It sounds like this is being addressed to a degree, but something else is bothering me......

It was NEVER viewed as "twiddling your thumbs time" while you were steaming milk. Thats the time when you connected with the customer. Thats also a few seconds that you spend refining your skill in steaming milk/frothing cappuccino foam. During high volume times, its those crucial few seconds that can let you get your bearings on what you need for the next drink.......reminding yourself that the frap mix is running low......that the customer in front of you never tells the register partner that they want a splenda in the latte youre currently making, but expect it to be in there.......noticing that the next 4 customers in line get fraps......and so on, and so on. Those few seconds IMPROVE customer voice scores. INVESTING, not using, those few seconds wisely makes you FASTER, moving MORE, not less customers out the door. Removing that time does the opposite.

The customer will get a MUCH better quality drink if the barista is more concerned with making the drink, rather than how much time is passing between drinks. That time can be gained not by rushing the barista, but by manipulating the environment AROUND him/her. When you do it that way, everyone wins.

It doesnt stop at the bar either. Adjusting your stores supply placement can knock SOOOOO much time off of your speed of service, and improve the general efficiency of the store. I encourage other store managers to take an objective step back and ask the question, "does this make sense"?, concerning WHERE everything in their store is placed. Most of the time, supplies are placed according to the Building layout, and not service needs.
Please do NOT ask yourself that question while reading company policies on the portal, as this has the unfortunate side effect of causing your head to explode.

[BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL]

@Return of the laid off ASM:
I moved the cold beverage cups over and the syrups into their place. Why? Because first there was always water getting under them and two you can now remain planted instead of moving to put a syrup or dry inclusion.

[Darth Sidamo.]

@Return. Most stores are designed to be visually pleasing and not functional. Ive worked in many different layouts and have noticed the layouts are actually getting worse as they get newer. Things are spread too far apart, with a pitcher rinser a good 15 feet from the bar, counters so low we cannot fit a trash can anyplace. I once worked at a store that used recycle bins as trash cans. They actually designed a store without a place to put a trash can on the floor.

[BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL]

Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that they fired the entire store development team because they were just making horrible stores. After all most a-holes at the SSC, have never worked more than a few shifts in the store and then went back to their fairytale ivory tower.

[wasatech]

Hey Boston Starbucks REbel. Save the personal attacks for Uncle Howard. Many of those "a-holes" up at SSC in store development came from the stores. And they laid off far more SD field partners and they didn't live in "ivory towers"; and loads of them probably didn't even have an office.

[otterinthewater]

Feh.

I'll give the new method a chance when it rolls out, and if it doesn't work well, then I'll just ignore it.

[erstwhile]

Steaming milk IS "twiddling your thumbs time" when you work in a drive store. I don't have a customer to talk to within 20 feet of me for 75% of the drinks that I'm making. So what's the point? I didn't get stressed out on bar before, and my drinks were obviously of acceptable quality. It's more frustrating for me to have to sit and listen to the open mic static of my drive thru line not moving fast enough.

Everything in my store is 5 feet away from everything else that I need while on bar. My cup dispensers are two paces to my left. My hot water tap and ice bin are two paces to my right. My pitcher rinsing sink is 5 paces to my rear.

Let's get one thing straight: People sitting in the drive thru don't give a squat about "customer connection." They want their drinks as fast as you can crank them out. This isn't faster for them at all.

[Spazzy Starbucks Student]

WAIT. Hold up. Labels? What is this?

I'm not sure if this rolled out in my store over the summer (I've been away), but I'll have to check it out when I get home. How do these labels work? Do they print out or something, including customization etc.?

Seems really strange to me. I really liked the cup markings!! Someone please tell me I misunderstood.

[JavaJoe]

the store i was hired at never gave me very much time on bar. it was a DT store, with a labler. i was usually stuck at DTR or R1 or R2, so i never got much time to bar, except that the DTR partner was responsible for blended drinks.

when i moved to another store i was very bad at bar, and had to relearn cup marking as the new store didnt have a labeler. so finally i have gotten some bar time and i just couldnt get efficient enough. eventually in my head, i started using this system and it has worked for me to get my efficiency up. in fact my SM told me that i have made such a noticable improvement that for my review next month i am going to be extremely happy. so i vote yes to this whole thing, and i will be using it to better myself even more. maybe for the low volume stores they will give us ideas on how to work cold bar and espresso bar at the same time.

[Nikki]

"Let's get one thing straight: People sitting in the drive thru don't give a squat about "customer connection."

That isn't true. I like the customer connection. If I only wanted fast service, I could go to McDonald's. I like the fact that baristas take the time to get to know me. Getting to know the customer improves service, IME. I'm also more likely to return to the store where I have a "relationship" with the baristas.

What annoys me most is other customers holding up the line. I don't mind waiting a little longer while you get my crack ready to go. But it drives me nuts when people have overly complicated drink orders or ask five million questions about a Frapp or have no idea what the hell they want. Orders are usually ready very fast. But the ordering process eats up a lot of time.

[Nikki]

Spazzy, they print labels at some stores that list the drink and any add-ins. Of the 4 (!) stores I visit on a regular basis, only one uses the labeling and has for about a year now.

[erstwhile]

Yes, it's true that any skilled bar partner is already steaming milk for a drink while their shots are pulling. That's common sense.

There's no reason to take away a machine. There's no reason to take away double barring "except when there are 7 or more drinks in queue." There's no reason to imply that one partner can't pump syrups while the other steams milk. What's the problem, are we all imbeciles incapable of communicating?

[baristamclane]

I've only read the go-see so far, but I'm not convinced that this is anything revolutionary. Any properly trained and seasoned barista knows that the trick to speedy beverage preparation is in the timing...

Oh, wait, that's right. Properly trained and seasoned baristas are a dying breed. As well as common sense.

Ugh.

[hmpht]

I just learned this new method. In theory if you are making just standard hot drinks its great. My time was slower but the time between drinks was more consistent.

However they have already changed the process for cold beverages three times and absolutely no training on how to transition back and forth between hot drinks and fraps!!!!

I can't wait to watch my SM have a melt down while trying to bar all by themself. *ha*

Oh, and the sound of the clink as the used pitchers hit the sink 5 ft away from the bar, because there is no one available to rinse.

Good in theory, but I loved to see uncle Howie come to my store and model it successfully during a rush.

[Presto!]

First time poster, long time reader. I'm a shift supervisor and this is already how I make drinks, except I do it with two machines at once. I make upwards of three drinks at a time on the regular. I can pretty much make three drinks max with only one machine. What gives? Is it not leaner to use one partner isntead of two? We're low volume store with a tiny staff, our mornings run on three people. I'm pretty amused at how Starbucks keeps telling me we're gonna get more labor hours or whatever everytime I get an oven or something changes. But I never do, and I just end up working harder and longer for nothing more than I was already getting. I'm not sure if my store manager has taken this training yet so I'm not totally sure how it works. But from where I stand I don't really see the need.

[javagirl666]

Im not sure where anyone wouldve read that we don't use thermometers anymore..thats ridiculous. We've been doing this in my store for over a year now..we were part of the test. It does work.

[erstwhile]

During my one on one training with my district manager, I was told we are not to have thermometers in our pitchers because every beverage is steamed to order and they are unnecessary. So ask her.

[fl sm]

@javagirl666

No thermometers on a Maestrena. Verisimos use thermometers only for kids temp or extra hot temp. Its in the training materials, maybe an improvement from the original test.

[C to the B]

@ Javagirl, Erstwhile and Fl SM -

Use of thermometers is a huge controversy in my store with half the staff claiming that 'Ecosure demands it!' and the other half saying that the Mastrena already shows the temperature so a thermometer is redundant and unnecessary. We all use thermometers - that haven't been calibrated in months, BTW - when the DM is around.

Is there something in writing that I can refer to?