what do you like most about being a barista? :)
The free coffee is definitely one of the major benefits. After that, access to a decent espresso machine is probably the biggest draw for me. I could live with regular brewed coffee, but I'm also addicted to delicious milk foam that I haven't been able to recreate without a well-pressurized steam wand.
I'd be lying if I said I pursued the job because I'm a people person, but it's definitely interesting to meet all the different types of people who become more like your friends than just customers. Also, it's fun to see all the crazies who order ridiculous OCD drinks, like people who want you to add 3 and a half sweet and lows to their lattes...
Another thing - there's a lot more to being a good barista than throwing together the ingredients to a frappuccio and pressing a button on the blender. At my first coffee job, my boss made me spend a month practicing shot tamping (using a metal tamper with exactly the right pressure and motion to compact espresso grounds of a very specific coarseness) before I could make espresso drinks. We had to time our shots at the beginning of every shift to make sure they weren't pulling too long or too short (a few seconds drastically affects the taste of the espresso). The job I'm at now uses completely automatic espresso machines, but the grind still has to be manually adjusted from time to time. I think one thing I really like about working with coffee is making really high-quality drinks for people who really appreciate them. For a simple drink like a latte or cappuccino, there's a pretty big margin for error. The shots could be timed wrong, the shots could have "died" (if they sit for more than 10 seconds without adding milk to them), the milk could be scalded (at 180 degrees), the foam could have bubbles that are too big, there foam : milk ratio could be off...
But even with all my coffee snobbery, I get a kick out of memorizing drinks of regulars and making them exactly how they like them, even if I wouldn't drink it if you paid me. It doesn't take much to make frappuccino-lovers happy - if there's just enough extra whip cream to pop out the top of the lid, they'll just about pee their pants with excitement.
Also, during morning rushes, there's definitely a huge sense of accomplishment after a few hours of working with a steady line of drinks waiting for you. It takes a lot of multitasking, planning ahead, and efficiency to stay on top of things. It's not for the faint of heart.
Oh, and least favorite thing about being a barista? VIA. Employees being forced to accost every customer with a sales pitch just so corporate can try to earn back a little of the money they gambled away on what they hoped would be the next frappuccio in an attempt to drag their stock prices out of the shit hole they're in now. /soapbox.
