Tip your barista?
May 4, 2007 5 Comments
I guess I can see this guy’s point, but is he serious?
Jacob Grier, a barista at Baked and Wired in Washington, DC, and cowriter of the blog Smelling the Coffee, says he tries to tip a dollar per drink. “You tip a bartender if he creates a good rapport, so why not tip a barista for the same?”
Has anyone ever tipped their barista? I can assure you I haven’t.
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No. The difference between a bartender and a barista is that making drinks is much more complicated and concerns so many more combinations. Good cocktails take some skill and vary by bartender. Barista drinks are pretty formulaic and there’s not much you can do with coffees and teas. Good rapport is a secondary benefit, not the point of tipping. Extra
Chris, what would I do without you? Not only do you loyally read my blogs, but your comments are reliably knowledgeable and wise. My question is, why the hell are we expected to tip bartenders when we buy beer? If a bartender can get a dollar tip for operating a tap, why shouldn’t a barista get one for making espresso/milkl/mocha concoctions?
Thanks, Elaine. I guess I comment instead of writing on my own blog.
I don’t tip for beer…it’s not like the old days when the bartender had to get the keg down into the cellar/floor and connect keg to tap. However, some would argue that there is an art to pouring beer out of a tap…something to do with shamrocks or something.
You guys are missing one of the key point of why people tip the bartender: he decides who gets served and in what order. I see tips as an investment to make sure that I can get a drink quicker next time. With baristas it makes no sense because there is a line, and tipping them won’t get you your coffee any faster.
I don’t know what kind of coffee shops you have in your area, and certainly tipping a Barista who uses an automatic machine is little different than tipping a bartender for beer. Operating manual machines, however, does take a great deal of skill and many long hours of training.
While it is true, a beginner could walk up to the grinder dose a shot, tamp it, and put it into the machine and get an “espresso” I guarantee you it would taste horrible. Adjusting the grind, tamping the right amount, and knowing when to turn off the espresso machine are all crucial steps to producing a great shot of espresso. I tip baristas who have spent the time and effort to learn how to produce a good shot. Those guys at Starbucks who just press a button don’t get a dime.
Hope that helps!