Is Being a Barista Tough? How to Handle Difficult Customers as a Barista?

In the past year or so, in barista groups, many people can be seen complaining: "I encountered such and such a customer today, I'm truly speechless!" Among these, one sentence remains particularly memorable to the writer: "Please stop making things difficult for me! I'm just a worker earning 3500 a month..."

With the popularization of specialty coffee culture, more and more people have developed an interest in specialty coffee. However, many still have significant knowledge gaps about specialty coffee. For them, specialty coffee might simply equal freshly ground coffee (including espresso and pour-over coffee), or they might have only heard that Geisha and Blue Mountain are good coffees without actually understanding what makes them good.

Therefore, when ordering, customers might say things that "shock the barista"... At such times, what the barista needs to do is not "escalate matters" but rather guide customers to a correct understanding in a simpler and clearer way, or simply chat with customers about related coffee knowledge in ways that ordinary people can understand.

For example, when we hear "I want a cup of Geisha coffee with two packets of sugar," what the barista should do first is to talk with the customer about the characteristics of pour-over Geisha coffee—how it tastes with fruity acidity, floral aromas, and tea-like sweetness, encouraging the customer to try the original flavor of pour-over Geisha coffee first. If the customer is interested, the barista can also briefly discuss knowledge about pour-over coffee.

But remember, don't force customers to taste certain flavors. It's okay if they can't detect them! At least the customer has learned something new. If the customer still insists on adding sugar, then add it. After all, the customer has paid for it, and how they drink their coffee should be based on their preference.

Understanding Customer Perspectives

As a barista, you must maintain a calm mindset and avoid being arrogant. It's important to recognize that although more people are drinking coffee, very few truly understand it... Many baristas might wonder whether customers know what they're drinking... Yes, they do—it's coffee. They simply view coffee as a beverage, plain and simple.

Don't assume that everyone who enters a coffee shop knows how to appreciate coffee. Many people don't understand coffee varieties, extraction methods, or tasting approaches... Baristas shouldn't force customers to know how to appreciate coffee or necessarily admire the coffee you've made. As the saying goes, "different professions are like different mountains"—it's normal for non-experts not to understand, and there's no need for anyone to get frustrated.

Effective Communication in Coffee Service

Most consumers in China are still in the early stages of understanding coffee. Many still perceive coffee as merely bitter. Despite continuous innovations in coffee varieties and processing methods, and increasingly complex and diverse coffee flavors, ordinary consumers don't need to understand everything clearly before drinking coffee—it's just like eating, you don't need to know how to cook just because you know how to eat. Even if you forcefully impart complex/professional knowledge, they won't understand it. Therefore, you must communicate effectively based on the customer's situation.

The Professional Barista Mindset

Remember that baristas are service industry professionals, and they shouldn't feel smug just because they understand coffee. In addition to professional knowledge and skills, good communication is also an essential requirement for baristas. Eileen Chang once said, "Because I understand, I am compassionate." From another perspective, it could be said that "because of misunderstanding, there is harshness." As a professional barista, your job is not to discuss highly technical terms with those who don't understand, but to use your expertise to transform complex concepts into simple expressions that make those who don't understand appreciate you. Isn't that an achievement in itself?

If a customer really needs to save face, then let them! Taking a step back opens up a world of possibilities, while pushing forward might only frustrate yourself. There's no need to "stubbornly argue" to the end... As the saying goes, "as long as you're not embarrassed, it's others who will be." As long as you remain calm, composed, and professional, you definitely won't be the one feeling awkward in the end.

Image source: Internet

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