I finally made it, Barista Maestro.  I am a coffee master for Costa Coffee.  It only took 3 years and the change from a corporate Costa to a private Costa chain.

My Barista Maestro course was awesome and completely nerve racking.  After a little introduction to the day and a bit of review of the Costa brand and standards we dove into the practical test.  20 min to set up our space, grind and dose. 10 min to make a perfect latte, espresso, cappuccino, and flat white.  20 min to clean our space.  It was horrible.  Every day I make any combination of those drinks in well less than 10 min, but I almost didn’t complete it.  In the end I went for the understanding that “any drink was better than no drink”.  Our course director was watching everything we did and we got points for everything, as long as the drink got to the table, we got some points.

I was sure that I had not passed, but we still had 6 hours of the class and a written assessment to go.  During the rest of the class we learned what our new post would entail and how we will be successful teachers to the new recruits.  We learned a little about espresso tasting and a bit about taking care of our machines.  The written assessment ended up being a breeze.

So now I get to wear a double bean and will have my diploma on the wall at the store.  I will also get a name tag that will read Jessika, Barista Maestro.  Aw, it all sounds so exciting.  My co worker and I are very excited to get started on the training.  But then you get back to work and remember all the other crap.  The owners who only critisize, that 1% of customers who are rude and mean, and the annoyance of not being able to redo a crap coffee that you just made because the line is out the door and everyone in line is impatient because they are jonesing for their caffine, sugar and fat fix.