A Barista Pedals Into a Golf Club… And Stumbles into Monday

Friday August 1st:

4:40am: Wakeup

6:20am: Pedal off to catch bus, 20 min ride

 

6:50am: Departure to Madison

 

8:30am: Arrive at the Chazen Museum, FIND FOOD

Google’s photo was not taken at the time I arrived (that would have been too epic)

8:50am: Pedal off to the Roast Coffee Company Barista Kiosk (Shack) at the Nakoma Golf Club for the All City Swim Meet

9:40am: Arrive at Shack for orientation, learn from Ryan

Thanks to Ryan’s ability to teach and thoroughness, he set me up for success as a catering-barista

[Commence solo barista operations]-10am brewing Anodyne Coffee

4:00pm: Juggle: Make last-minute drinks, cleanup and closing up shop

T-Minus 14.5 hours until re-launch of barista-ing

5:00pm: Pedal off to the house of a friend, of a friend – Andrew (host)

5:30pm: Arrive, kick back, sip beers, relax, chat and cook

Some random time: Fix bicycle, un-trued rear rim (totally sketchy, shuddery ride due to un-true-ed-ness)

          Update:Turns out the hub bearings (stabilizes the rim) were loose..

Another random time: Raise socially-acceptableness (shower)

10:00pm: Say thanks to Andrew for hosting me, let him know he is awesome for doing me such a favor

10:15pm: Finish a “thank-you” message left on Andrew’s chalkboard (yes a chalkboard – it was pretty awesome) PASSOUT

Saturday, August 2nd

4:40am: Wake, stumble, FEED

5:50am: Pedal back to the shack

6:10am: Fight back the tired parents, warn them that I need 20 minutes to brew and prep before the shack would be kicking

[Re-Continue Barista operations] 6:40am

Some hours later: Help (Danielle-not a barista) shows up to take coffee orders, pour&brew black coffee, and deal with my high-strung barista attention to detail

Once help arrived: 

Objectives

1. Stick face into this machine

• Don’t leave it until delivering epic espresso drinks
• Repeat
•  Occasionally run to stock ice
• Repeat
• Thank Danielle for awesome help and tell her things that she can do to save me from falling behind

Bonus Objectives

• Attain milk, without a store nearby, from the Golf Club

(Success, thanks to teamwork with event staff)

• Draw boats and flags and on the “Pirate Ship” Latte drink
• Bite tongue when people order “Iced Cappuccinos” ….
  • PLEASE STOP IT

Noon: Wave bye to Danielle, thank her again for helping survive the onslaught

(Needlessly) worry about running out of stock (stuff)

Running out of ice cups in 85+ degree weather was a nightmare than never came true

4:00pm: Commence clean up, attempt to leave the space spotless for Ryan, and brew drinks (reluctantly while cleaning)

4:45pm: Thank Ryan for AWESOME opportunity, sprint off to Andrew’s

[CEASE BARISTA OPERATIONS]

5:00pm: Arrive, catch Andrew on his way out to a gig (guitarist) and thank him

Sprint back to the Chazen Museum (10 minute ride in 5)

5:05pm: Get on bus, call family, ride

5:30pm: Depart MADTOWN 2 hour ride

7:30pm: Arrive in Milwaukee, struggle pedal home on dead legs and a turns out cracked rim (20 minute ride in 30)

8:00pm: Roll into the garage, intend to quick eat and go to sleep

Spend multiple hours chatting/cleaning/eating

11:00pm: Step out of a tub full of hot water and lavender essential oils and epsom salts, dress for bed

PASSOUT

Sunday, August 3

5:50am: Peel eyes open

6:00am: Brew coffee, cook, sip and eat

7:15am: Try to hide in the barista corner all day at the cafe

Some time later: Get asked to work a double,

Say “yes”

11:30am: Get bad feelings about the decision, take 1.5 hour break, pedal to Roast

11:45am: Silently sip iced aeropress by Intelligentsia whilst blogging

1:05pm: Pedal back to work to finish shift, want to sleep

7:00pm: Finish shift, pedal back home,

Hang with the host fam:

FEAST ON TACOS

 Jam on guitar and do card tricks with the kiddo’s

9:45pm: Lay down to sleep, pass out in moments

Monday, August 4th

4:40am: Wake to Zox on Pandora

4:45am: Brew coffee, cook, eat sip and do laundry

6:00am: Fret about rear rim condition as it shudders on the pedal to work

6:15am: Arrive at work, commence series of mistakes related directly to my overworked state of being

2:15pm: Remember to keep chin up after rookie-mistake-riddled shift, THANK MY AWESOME CO-WORKERS FOR STEPPING UP

2:30pm: Lay down for 20 minute nap

3:45pm: Wake up from a “20 minute nap” Pedal to Truly Spoken

4:00pm: Step into shop dripping wet after a soaking ride, ask for immediate help and education as to what is wrong with my MAIN SOURCE OF TRANSPORTATION (aka, necessary lifestyle-tool)

4:45pm: Thank Anton for the good prices, education, and service

4:50pm: Arrive at Fuel Cafe, order tea

[Commence the finishing of this post]

 

Hey, thanks for reading this different style of post, whoever you are.  I had a great weekend in Madison.  The adventure alone was worth it, although less so after a shift like today’s, but still nonetheless.

What I learned:

Chase your passions. I would emphasize the plural “s” in passions more, but WordPress doesn’t make it to easy to do so.

Why the emphasis? Well, because I learned this weekend that I have a passion for coffee and barista-ing, particularly enjoying the appreciation people express while/after watching me brew/construct their drink. And guess what, I still have a passion to get into sustainable food systems and helping shape our future.

But you know what else? I don’t see the logic in dropping this passion for coffee, because I can pursue my career changing our food systems while enjoying my passion for coffee, and other things I am passionate about.

I re-learned this importance of pacing one’s self.  This became more evident after today’s shift filled with simple mistakes – overmaking drink (someone orders “[black coffee] To GO // caramel”and I mis-read in a rush, making a caramel latte).

But, I know that the main contributing factor for things such as this is in my control.  So, I don’t have to worry, and I won’t. I don’t have any crazy-packed plans like these past few days in the horizon, but of course Friday and Saturday in Madtown (start reading at top if you missed out) only occured because TJ from the Milwaukee Coffee Guild mentioned it to me one week prior.  Certainly, there is no guarentee that I can even offer myself that this sort of extended full-tilt pace won’t happen again.  Anyway, Ryan gave me a chance as a barista he has never seen work. Which leads me into my next lesson, trust.

Ryan, owner-operator of Roast Coffee Company trusted me to be a representative of his business, brewing drinks in the name of Roast. Ryan has a lot invested in his business, beyond capital costs for the construction of the coffee-kiosk I worked in and the equipment in it.  Ryan has his heart and soul in Roast, and he is moving up with the business’ capacities.  So, he was trusting me with a lot, but he is so laid back (or at least outwardly) that I don’t think he let himself worry about it.  But, he is successful enough to tell me that odds are great that all of this crossed his mind.

That  is all for now. The summer is coming to an end, as well.  I have less than two weeks left with Victory Garden Initiative in my internship and then I am back to Geebs. Then up north with the girlfriend and her fam, then to Bozeman, MT. But, that will be another story for another time.

6:59pm: Finish post, order “The Buttacfucco” at Fuel.

Cheers,

-Alex