It probably goes without saying, but investing time into your staff's coffee skills is one of the most beneficial ways to improve speed and efficiency on bar. The more confident your staff are at preparing coffee, the faster they’ll get at it.

Speed on the coffee bar isn’t something we push when training staff, as rushing leads to mistakes and dips in quality. Instead, we work with staff on the most efficient ways to make coffee. Simple overlapping of tasks and focusing on multitasking is key here, but this only comes with well trained staff, who have developed a motor memory for making coffee. ie you can’t expect someone who still has to think about every step of the process for pulling a shot to be able to simultaneously take an order.

Once we’re happy that a staff member has full confidence in what they’re doing, we start to get them thinking about the most efficient way to do their job. Simple rules like ‘never watch your coffee grind’ or ‘never leave portafilter sitting on a scales’ ‘never have an empty hand’ are a good start.

Using a coffee grinder that has hooks and a cradle allows your barista to get on to other important jobs while their shot is grinding will make a big difference here. When training baristas, I challenge them to have both groupheads rinsed, their portafilter knocked out and basket wiped clean all in the time it takes to grind 1 shot in the mythos (usually between 5 - 7 seconds).

Similarly when steaming milk, once your barista is confident in what they’re doing, steaming milk becomes intuitive, and not something they need to give their undivided attention to. Challenging your barista to rinse and re-filled a second milk jug and set up the cup and saucer for their current drink with one hand in the time they steam one pitcher of milk with their other will also do wonders for speed. If you can even save 5 seconds for every coffee you make, this will have a big knock on effect on overall service.

If you are looking for speciality coffee and the best equipment available for your start up or existing business you can contact us directly to discuss the options available. Check out our 3fe Wholesale Page or message us at [email protected]