Maxwell

Originally in our first little shop I would buy in high quality, carefully grown and carefully roasted beans and brew them to display the character of the coffee along with balance in the cup. I would taste the coffee in the morning as espresso, then get very excited and proudly serve it up all day asking “how would you like it?" People would drink it as an Americano and to my disappointment would comment that they didn’t think it was very good at all, that it was either bland or sharp and bitter. At first I thought that maybe it...

Brew bars are becoming an integral part of speciality coffee shops.  It’s a great way to experience the variety and quality from farm to farm, roaster and brew method.  I don’t think there should be a battle between espresso and filter; they can provide us with two exceptional ways of experiencing coffee.  I often note how shocked customers are at the polemic between the two beverages. This post is less about the worth of a brew bar and more about the functioning of one. We have been working with brewed coffee at a commercial and professional level for around two...

  It goes with out saying that employees are integral to the success of any said business. Each individual business requires specific things from their staff. In each sector of employment there is a general understanding of what a particular role in that sector requires in order for you personally to excel and for the employer to see benefits from your work as part of a larger structure. Mostly there is a crossover of skill sets that will allow you to progress more quickly and the length of the training period is defined by the complexity and character of the...

I know I said my next post would be on staff but I feel a short divergence is needed. I want to talk about the idea of quality. This term is used a lot in reference to our shop.  It’s a really complex thing with a malleable meaning. I want to explain what it means to us and therefore create a solid foundation for other posts. So how do you define quality? What makes something good? Well its relative. I have mentioned it before and I think I will come back to it again and again. It hinges off the...

We spend a great deal of our time assessing how we can best serve our prospective customers. I have a lot I want to say on the topic because it becomes multifaceted very quickly with many things affecting the end result, much like a cup of coffee I guess… So as a starting point for coming posts I am going to attempt to define service in direct relation to our business. Customer service is about understanding, communication and problem solving.  As the server, your job is to communicate to the customer about the high quality product you have on offer...