Barista

    

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    A barista - from the Italian "bartender" - is a person who works in a coffee shop or coffeehouse. He/she prepares and serves coffee-based drinks. Many coffeehouses use this title for their coffee makers.

    Baristas operate three different types of commercial espresso machine, manual, semi automatic, or automatic. A manual machine involves pulling a lever to push the water through the ground coffee. A semi-automatic uses an electric pump to push the water through the coffee grounds, but the barista has to stop the flow of espresso using an on\off switch or button. An automatic machine will turn on and off after a preset amount of water has been pushed through the grounds, although this does not guarantee a good shot of espresso, since the barista requires less training to operate the machine and usually has less knowledge to prepare the coffee based on the guidelines of the roaster.

    In order to acquire the title of barista, any person should present enough knowledge related to coffee preparing and serving. In-depth knowledge related to the whole process of coffee to effectively prepare a desired cup of coffee. This knowledge includes the correct operation, maintenance and programming of the machine, grinding and tamping methods, extraction times, water temperature and quality, micro milk frothing, free pouring, latte art, roasting, coffee plant cultivation, drying methods, correct storage, renewable methods of disposal and recycling of the coffee and packaging used. These skills may be learned by attending special courses and of course through time and a lot of practice.