What Should You Pay Attention to When Visiting a Coffee Shop? How Should Baristas Handle Intentionally Disruptive Customers?

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The Drama of Coffee Shop Challenges

Back in 2017, when I saw this scene in a TV drama as a content creator, I felt it was quite ridiculous! Unexpectedly, I recently saw an identical story shared in one of our chat groups... It seems that art truly imitates life.

But what was even more outrageous than the TV drama was that the barista sharing this story mentioned that the customer even asked us to step out from behind the bar so he could brew the coffee himself. We refused, because he had never made any purchase in our shop from beginning to end. Then the customer left with the parting shot: "With such premium beans but no good baristas to brew them, what kind of coffee shop are you running?" and left reluctantly. Perhaps this counts as extreme behavior, as it was no longer really a challenge in the traditional sense.

This kind of sharing made some coffee shop owners in the group tearfully express that since more and more people have become interested in specialty coffee, they've been mentally tense every day, needing to maintain a smiling service while observing people's expressions and behaviors, trying to figure out what purpose those who carefully observe and record everything in the shop might have.

It's not because they lack confidence in their professionalism or because they've done anything wrong, but they're afraid of those who remain quiet throughout their visit, then turn around and post "professional" critiques and negative reviews on social media and review apps, using the one-sided knowledge they learned from books or training courses. Compared to challenges from industry peers in the past, challenges from today's enthusiasts are truly headache-inducing.

One coffee shop owner who has been in business for a long time stated that in the past, challenges were mostly conducted under the banner of "promoting industry exchange." However, many challenge behaviors today don't seem to promote industry exchange at all. Instead, due to poor grasp of boundaries, they end up conveying provocative signals.

Many who come to challenge nowadays are mostly immature people who think that attending training courses or studying techniques for several years has given them mastery of the standard. They start by criticizing that the water used to wet the filter paper isn't enough, asking why this Geisha coffee bean is medium roasted, stating that the grind size is obviously too coarse or too fine, or saying "that's not how you should pour water"... and so on with a bunch of complaints. In the end, even if the coffee is perfectly fine, they can always make the service and product seem completely worthless, which is truly disheartening.

The Right Way to Handle Bad Coffee

Recently, J. Hoffmann also shared his thoughts on this issue of challenges: what should you do when you truly encounter bad coffee? (The premise being that you've already drunk it). He mentioned that while most people choose to remain silent when they encounter unsatisfactory coffee, there will always be a small minority who offer what they consider "frank advice," but because they fail to grasp proper boundaries, their words sound very harsh, ultimately making both parties very embarrassed. For such people, J. Hoffmann said in his video: "Just be a good person!" This is extremely important.

As the saying goes, "it's hard to please all tastes," so everyone needs to clarify their own definition of "doesn't taste good," because only then can they assess their own situation. Usually, people define bad-tasting coffee in three situations: 1. (Regular customers) Today's coffee output from the shop is different from usual; 2. (Occasional customers) The barista has changed your preferred extraction style; 3. (First-time visitors) You've arrived at a coffee shop you consider unprofessional.

In situations 1 and 2, as long as you provide direct feedback sincerely, baristas usually immediately wonder if they did something wrong just now, and will immediately make another attempt to confirm everything is correct before re-serving the coffee.

But if you directly say: "This espresso is over-extracted, it's so sour!" it will immediately cause offense. Because everyone's definition of sourness is different, and perhaps it really isn't an extraction problem at all—it's just that this particular cup doesn't match your expected taste. If you directly attribute 100% of the problem to the product, it won't make you appear more professional at all; instead, it will anger people.

In situation 3, just don't go back next time. If you run over and say "Let me teach you," you're really taking yourself too seriously. This isn't solving the coffee quality problem—it's provoking public resentment. Whether coffee is good or bad cannot be decided by one person alone. If you don't like it, don't come back next time. If you do return, you can choose products other than coffee.

Understanding Different Coffee Styles

Every coffee shop has its own independent style, and baristas have their own experiences and understanding. Not everything that differs from your own knowledge is necessarily wrong.

Shaxian Delicacies doesn't serve lobster; street food stalls don't provide Michelin-star service; Brazilian coffee beans don't have the taste of Panamanian Esmeralda Geisha. There's really no need to nitpick.

With the rise of the specialty coffee trend, the quality of coffee shops varies—this is reality. But technical disputes and debates over personal taste cannot bring better progress to the industry.

Technique is one form of measurement, but people are the measure of all things. Create fewer conflicts and learn to think from others' perspectives—everyone will make progress that way.

Image sources: Internet, J. Hoffmann YouTube channel

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