The Life of a Barista 咖啡館服務(wù)員的一天

2017-12-25 13:10:01ByJamisonWendlandt

新東方英語(yǔ)·中學(xué)版 2017年12期

By+Jamison+Wendlandt

在咖啡館做服務(wù)員似乎是一份既輕松又浪漫的工作，在充滿文藝氣息的環(huán)境中工作，每天被咖啡的香氣所包圍，用雙手為顧客制作一杯杯充滿誠(chéng)意的咖啡，想想都令人羨慕不已……那么，做咖啡館服務(wù)員究竟是一種怎樣的感覺(jué)？他們的每一天都是如何度過(guò)的呢？一位咖啡館服務(wù)員在下文中現(xiàn)身說(shuō)法，為你揭秘。

Many people think that being a Barista is an effortless job. These must be the people that don't see us pacing frantically2） to and from the drive-through3） window trying to get customers started with their day.

Those who work at a coffee shop typically start their day about an hour and a half to two hours before the typical 9～5 worker. Think about it， they have to have coffee brewed4） and bakery items frosted5） by the time everyone else is on their way to work. Customers can start rolling in6） around 6：30 or 7：00 in the morning and they expect their morning cup to be just the way they like it， fresh with a little bit of cream and sugar， or black—you get the point.

After arriving at the coffee shop， you unlock the door and turn on the lights. The first thing you do after putting your things down is grab7） the brew pot and beans which you measured out the night before. Oh， and start preheating the oven. The beans which were roasted just a few days ago （if you work at a coffee shop that serves good coffee） go into the grinder8） and then into the basket9）. It is essential to start your first pot right away because customers will be wanting their morning coffee before you know it. While that is brewing start your scones10） which have been frozen and sat out overnight to ensure easy baking.

Ok， you've got the essentials started， and now you can put money into the cash register11） and begin turning on the rest of the lights that you missed in your rush to start working. But hurry， your first pot is done and it's time to start the next one！ It is important to brew your coffee in the correct order. This varies based on customer favorites. While the second pot is brewing you might do some clean up that was missed from the night before. There is always some dusting and a window that needs to be cleaned. Ding！ The scones are done and it is time to frost them. Of course， wash your hands first. By the time you are done， your second pot will be finished. Stock the bakery case， and look out to see a customer waiting for you to open the gate. It is typical for customers to be out there at least 15 minutes before you open. Being a caring Barista， you open up early just for them. Now that the gate is open， you must finish brewing coffee and continue to wait on customers at the same time， which will be a continuous task until about 9：30 or 10：00 when they have arrived at work. In most cases you will be by yourself until about 8：00， so good luck with that！

After the morning rush， wash your dishes because you will need them again， and very soon！ It is now time to prep for lunch. More than likely you have already started the soup during the coffee rush because the local artists will be in promptly at 11：00 and they will expect their favorite soup. Cut your vegetables and make sure the meats are ready. Pull your bread out of the freezer. Once lunch starts， there is no turning back and no room for error. It can really put a twist12） in your day if you don't have enough chicken thawed13）， or greens cut for salads.

There is always at least one customer who asks for something that isn't really an option， but you do it anyway because you want them to come back and enjoy themselves. Many times you make old items that used to be on the menu because they are still a favorite for your "usuals".

After what seems like an infinite amount of lunches， it's time to clean again！ Things are a little slower because it will be the casual shopper or Wi-Fi customer drifting in and out. Also depending on where you work， you might be closing in a couple of hours because it will be 4：00 and people aren't in the mood for coffee anymore. Needless to say， after a full day of work， it's time for a break. Did I say break？ I meant， you feel like it is time for a break！ Now that you are cleaning up and getting ready to close， a steady rush of people will come in right about ... NOW！ It never fails， just when you think you can rest， you are right back up on your feet.

This may seem like a stressful job， because it can be， but here are some of the perks14）： Even while you are rushing to serve customers， you see your friends all day long. You've served your regulars15） from the time you opened to the time you closed. You know what they get16） before they ask for it. You know what time they come in and who they will be meeting. Sometimes you have their order ready before they get there. They have told you about their day and what new and exciting things are going on in their lives. These people who used to just be customers have become your friends. By now， it isn't just the coffee that puts a smile on their face， it is also seeing their favorite Barista！ That is probably one of the most rewarding things of the job. The fact that you can make someone's day better is worth it. The free coffee is worth it too！

Here is one disadvantage of being a Barista： You will forever be the biggest critic of any coffee or espresso17） drink you taste！ But most likely you won't drink many coffees from other coffee shops because you won't have time to！ This is the price the modern day Barista superhero has to pay ... but it is so worth it！

很多人都覺(jué)得做咖啡館服務(wù)員是一份輕松的工作。這些人一定沒(méi)有看到我們手忙腳亂地往返于“免下車訂餐”服務(wù)窗口，努力幫顧客開(kāi)啟新一天的樣子。

那些在咖啡館工作的人通常要比朝九晚五的典型上班族早1.5～2個(gè)小時(shí)開(kāi)始一天的工作。想想看，等到其他人踏上上班路時(shí)，他們就得把咖啡煮好并給烘烤食品撒上糖霜。顧客有時(shí)會(huì)在早上6：30或7：00左右就開(kāi)始不斷涌入，他們期待早上所喝的咖啡正是按自己想要的那種方式做的：現(xiàn)磨的并且加了一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)奶油和糖，抑或是什么都不加，你懂的。

到達(dá)咖啡館以后，你首先要開(kāi)門、開(kāi)燈。放下東西后，要做的第一件事情就是趕緊拿出煮咖啡的壺以及頭天晚上按量配好的咖啡豆。對(duì)了，還要開(kāi)始預(yù)熱烤箱。把幾天前才烘焙好的咖啡豆（如果你工作的咖啡館咖啡不錯(cuò)的話）放入研磨機(jī)研磨，然后再倒入濾網(wǎng)里。第一壺咖啡要趕快煮上，這一點(diǎn)極為重要，因?yàn)轭櫩秃芸炀蜁?huì)想要喝他們的晨間咖啡了。煮第一壺咖啡時(shí)，你就要開(kāi)始準(zhǔn)備司康了，為了確保它們好烤，它們已冷藏、靜置了一晚。

好了，基本工作你已啟動(dòng)了，現(xiàn)在你可以把錢放入收銀機(jī)，開(kāi)始把一早匆忙開(kāi)工還沒(méi)來(lái)得及開(kāi)的其他燈都打開(kāi)。但動(dòng)作要快，因?yàn)榈谝粔乜Х纫呀?jīng)煮好，是時(shí)候開(kāi)始煮下一壺了！用正確的順序煮咖啡很重要，這隨顧客的喜好而有所變化。煮第二壺咖啡時(shí)，你可能需要打掃一下頭天晚上那些漏掉打掃的地方。總會(huì)有一些浮灰需要打掃，總會(huì)有一塊窗戶需要擦。叮！司康烤好了，該往上面撒糖霜了。當(dāng)然了，要先洗手。等你撒完糖霜后，第二壺咖啡也快煮好了。把糕點(diǎn)柜擺滿糕點(diǎn)，留意一下有沒(méi)有顧客在等你開(kāi)門。有顧客在還有起碼15分鐘才開(kāi)門的時(shí)候就已等在店外是常有的事兒。作為一位體貼的咖啡館服務(wù)員，你早點(diǎn)兒開(kāi)門就是為了他們。既然已經(jīng)開(kāi)了門，你就必須把咖啡煮好，同時(shí)繼續(xù)等候顧客，這個(gè)工作會(huì)一直持續(xù)到9：30或10：00左右，屆時(shí)顧客已經(jīng)到辦公室了。在大多數(shù)情況下，你都將一個(gè)人撐到8：00左右，所以，祝你好運(yùn)吧！

早高峰過(guò)去之后，就該洗餐具了，因?yàn)檫€要再用，而且很快就要再用！現(xiàn)在該準(zhǔn)備午餐了。你很有可能在咖啡供應(yīng)高峰時(shí)段就已經(jīng)開(kāi)始準(zhǔn)備湯了，因?yàn)楦浇乃囆g(shù)家11：00準(zhǔn)時(shí)就會(huì)光臨，他們會(huì)期待喝到自己最愛(ài)喝的湯。把蔬菜切好，并確保肉已備好，并從冰箱里取出面包。一旦午餐開(kāi)始，就不能回頭，絕對(duì)不能出差錯(cuò)。如果解凍的雞肉或是為做沙拉所切的蔬菜不夠，那么你這一天可真要出現(xiàn)波折了。

總會(huì)有至少一位顧客想要菜單上并沒(méi)有的餐食，但無(wú)論如何你還是滿足了他們的要求，因?yàn)槟阆胱屗麄兂蔀榛仡^客，想讓他們用餐愉快。你經(jīng)常會(huì)做菜單上以前有過(guò)的一些老菜品，因?yàn)樗鼈內(nèi)允悄愕囊恍俺？汀钡淖類?ài)。

在做了似乎無(wú)窮無(wú)盡份的午餐過(guò)后，又該打掃衛(wèi)生了！這時(shí)工作節(jié)奏慢了一點(diǎn)，因?yàn)橹挥须S便溜達(dá)進(jìn)來(lái)的顧客或是來(lái)蹭Wi-Fi的顧客進(jìn)進(jìn)出出。另外，你所在的咖啡館可能再過(guò)幾個(gè)小時(shí)就要打烊了（打烊時(shí)間視你的工作地點(diǎn)而定），因?yàn)榭斓?：00了，人們就沒(méi)有心情再喝咖啡了。不用說(shuō)，工作了一整天，該休息了。我有說(shuō)休息嗎？我的意思是，你覺(jué)得該休息了！你都在打掃衛(wèi)生準(zhǔn)備打烊了，就在這時(shí)又有一波顧客持續(xù)涌進(jìn)店來(lái)……都什么時(shí)候了！正當(dāng)你覺(jué)得可以休息時(shí)，你又站起身來(lái)，這種情況總會(huì)發(fā)生。

做咖啡館服務(wù)員可能看似是一份壓力很大的工作，因?yàn)橛袝r(shí)壓力會(huì)很大，不過(guò)也有福利，以下便是其中的一些。即便當(dāng)你匆忙地在為顧客服務(wù)時(shí)，你這一天下來(lái)也見(jiàn)到了你的朋友們。你從開(kāi)始營(yíng)業(yè)到打烊一直都在為常客們服務(wù)。他們還沒(méi)開(kāi)口你就知道他們要點(diǎn)什么。你知道他們什么時(shí)候來(lái)，將要見(jiàn)什么人。有時(shí)，他們還沒(méi)到，你就已經(jīng)準(zhǔn)備好了他們的訂單。他們向你講述自己的一天，講述自己生活中發(fā)生了什么新鮮事和激動(dòng)人心的事情。這些曾經(jīng)只是顧客的人已經(jīng)成了你的朋友。現(xiàn)在，讓他們臉上露出微笑的不僅僅是咖啡，還有見(jiàn)到他們最喜歡的服務(wù)員！這大概是這份工作最有意義的方面之一。你能讓某個(gè)人的一天變得更加美好，這一點(diǎn)很值。你還能喝到免費(fèi)的咖啡，這也很值！

做咖啡館服務(wù)員一個(gè)不好的地方是，對(duì)于你品嘗的任何一種咖啡或意式濃縮咖啡，你永遠(yuǎn)都會(huì)對(duì)其最吹毛求疵！不過(guò)，你很可能喝不了多少其他咖啡館做的咖啡，因?yàn)槟悴粫?huì)有時(shí)間去喝！這就是咖啡館當(dāng)代服務(wù)員“超級(jí)英雄”不得不付出的代價(jià)……不過(guò)這真的很值！

1. barista [b??ri?st?] n. 咖啡館服務(wù)員；咖啡師

2. frantically [?fr?nt?kli] adv. 緊張忙亂地；手忙腳亂地

3. drive-through [?dra?v θru?] n. 不必下車即可得到服務(wù)的餐館（或銀行等）

4. brew [bru?] vt. 煮咖啡

5. frost [fr?st] vt. 在（糕餅上）撒糖霜

6. roll in：大量涌來(lái)；紛至沓來(lái)

7. grab [ɡrab] vt. （尤指匆忙地）取，拿

8. grinder [?ɡra?nd?（r）] n. （咖啡研磨機(jī)等）研磨器械

9. basket：這里指filter basket，即濾網(wǎng)。

10. scone [sk?n] n. （圓形）烤餅，司康（用大麥或燕麥面粉加蘇打、糖、鹽等烤制而成的西式茶點(diǎn)，源自英國(guó)）

11. cash register：現(xiàn)金出納機(jī)，收銀機(jī)

12. twist [tw?st] n. （形勢(shì)、故事等的）意想不到的轉(zhuǎn)折