cinco2shanghai-blog

[cinco2shanghai-blog]

A spontaneous latte art throwdown for my now family. I miss the feeling it gave me and I yearn to achieve this feeling of elation everyday at work to know I'm going full-potential.

[cinco2shanghai-blog]

What is amazing as I continue on everyday toward the goal of opening the next Roastery. I am fulfilled with inspiring moments that help keep me in check about what the goals are really about. Human connection.

With all green lights, it is okay to check your speed, and slow things down to refocus.

[cinco2shanghai-blog]

At the end of Tuesday, I felt really happy, I had made new friends, felt really accomplished in my duties to help them experience the roles we learned, but also felt humbled by the experience.  I talked a lot with Saoirse and we traded philosophies and culture of the coffee community. To my biggest surprise was the culture between barista and guest. American culture is very forward and talking to strangers it is normal to get to know someone while they are in the facility.  In China or the Asian Pacific market, the culture is not geared to talk to customers, getting to know them, or talk to strangers.  It is mechanical, no present, and disconnected.  There is not much culture to getting to know a stranger.  Baristas are not considered hospitality business in CAP and it made my heart sank.  Saoirse's passion showed and she was determined to change this culture.  This was the beginning of a story I was not prepared for.  This was the beginning of my desire to be apart of Shanghai, to change a culture, and show the world how passionate we could be.

There is no greater emotion than unreasonable passion.

[cinco2shanghai-blog]

Today, I did a quick recap of Heritage from my experience and was very forward about being apart of the Shanghai open. The idea is supported and everything looks good for now, just gotta pray that the logistics of everything work out for Seattle baristas to get those work visas.  It feels good to be a part of the picture in a photo that is not yet taken.

31.10.2016. Shanghai calls me.

[cinco2shanghai-blog]

It's Tuesday and I am looking forward to this new experience of teaching the future of Shanghai. I am responsible for Kevin from Beijing and Saoirse from Shanghai, they will learn Brew Bar and Bartending. I arrive at 2pm and they are in retail with Blues and Bonnie tasting coffee. I walk over excited to meet them all and then proceed to the engine. What happened next was when I realized the responsibility I had. The coffee canisters were labeled for each coffee in not just English, but Japanese and Chinese. Gaofeng! It was getting busy and we had no time to learn. So we learned by fire. Up to ten minute wait times I hovered over both of them as they learn to double team brew bar. I could see the difficulty they were having keeping a flow but there's language barriers, questions, and recipes we have to learn, all on the fly. We learned to make iced tea, the melrose, hot teas, clovers, dosing siphons, pour overs and setting up trays of flights. What I found to be the best practice was to have them both focus on one thing together while I filled in the gaps to get the store caught up on everything for production. Before they could finish a two drink ticket I had finished three flights and several cups. When they both realized how fast I was, I reassured them that it was okay because I have a lot of practice and time and this station. We broke for a ten and returned for lessons on bartending. This was fun because I learned how well Kevin was at making siphons. We make siphons the same and it was a breakthrough in realizing our similarities. I think this sparked our first connection through the language barrier. He approved of my way of making siphons and we tasted each other's in approval. Saoirse also learned to make a siphon through Kevin and we were all able to realize the beauty of it. Theatrics and brewing skill. We learned connecting at the bar and hospitality. However it got really slow and boring. We were able to just talk for a while and get to know each other. I found out that the bartending lesson was new knowledge because it was a good change to be able to share coffee knowledge openly and be actively listened to. I lead by example and talk to our guest with love and passion for what we do. When we were getting a chance to know each other I told them my philosophy on hospitality and it really got to Saoirse that I love my job so much. I focused on small details like performing while working and always thinking that you are on a stage. The building of a Melrose drink is enjoyed if the barista can engage and produce a beverage at the same time. It creates an exciting environment for the guest. I had them experience this themselves by seating them at the bar and connecting and producing all at the same time. Saoirse said that it feels good when this is done right and will try to do the same in Shanghai. We broke for lunch at 6pm and that was the end of our time together for the day. Before we all left I made sure to give a bag of coffee to them for our time together. A bag of Hacienda Alsacia with a thank you note on the bag.

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On Monday, I did not know what to expect. I walked into work like any other day and saw a few familiar faces in the group. This was the heritage team. It was so busy I could not introduce myself yet. They were on the stairs. It was all a blur because it was so busy. I do remember bussing their two flights of coffee and accidentally impressed them being able to carry a large amount of dishes all at once, pus getting up from a seated position without dropping anything. But the look in their eyes were excited. They were ready to be Roastery Partners. I could FEEL their energy every time I passed by on the stairs. Unaware, my life would change the next afternoon.

I probably looked like a mess because I was on engine support. Sweating my heart out.

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This is me. I am a barista. I love what coffee has done to bring people together from all over the world. This blog will be a documentation of my journey to Shanghai when Starbucks opens its second Reserve Roastery. I am not the best at making coffee but I can't deny that I love what I do as a barista, bringing together a sense of belonging and nurturing the human spirit. This blog's beginning is inspired by the 2016 Heritage Experience I was able to be a part of from the week of October 24-29, 2016 at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery. An experience I have documented and will write about as I find time. Perhaps experiences at work will spark a moment to recap a heritage experience moment. I hope that this blog is used for greater purposes than remembering the good times we had, but to inspire others and my new friends on why we are here. My experiences with them are limited to memories at the roastery. These individuals are amazing, passionate, loving, and handpicked for the purposes seen and unforeseen. With the limited time I had to get to know them, I learned from them and about them as much as they learned about me. We worked, sweated, suffered, made mistakes, ...we cried, loved, taught each other, broke boundaries of communication, ..we made amazing coffee, shared unique stories, spread love, learned responsibility and leadership, roasted coffee, and laughed together. There were no limits to communicating passion for our job. Seeing was believing. Living was like dreaming. Because we were living a dream come true. Together. My name is Kevin. I am a barista at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery. This is dedicated to the Heritage Experience 2016: Ayako, Hiro, Yong, Ryan. Huntery, Kevin, Blues, Saoirse, Bonnie, Simon, and Anita. Each one of you changed my life. I am proud to be your partner, your friend, and your family.

#heritageexperience