Mr. Bean Officially Roasts Coffee Shops! So Relatable Hahaha

Question: How Long Has It Been Since You Last Watched Mr. Bean?

Recently, the plot of the first episode of Mr. Bean's newest season (Season 3) had netizens exclaiming: this is so real! It is as if someone installed a camera inside my head.

The story starts with Mr. Bean ducking into a coffee shop to escape the rain. Faced with a dazzling menu, he asks the barista to recommend something. Without asking a single question about his taste preferences, the barista suggests an espresso. Mr. Bean, who knows little about coffee, goes along with the recommendation, and the barista launches into a performance-like extraction.

The process looks impressively professional and complex, but the espresso that finally lands in front of Mr. Bean is far smaller than he expected. So the barista offers: hey, let me add a little milk foam and turn it into a macchiato. The portion is still tiny and nothing like the coffee he had pictured, but since it was his own choice, he pays. And then comes the shock: that very small coffee costs 5 euros. Mr. Bean feels even more short-changed. At the same time, he notices that the drinks in other customers' hands are also topped with milk foam (cappuccino) and look properly layered, while his own is both small and hard to swallow.

Then Mr. Bean looks at the customers queuing outside and hits on an idea: he will open his own coffee shop. He goes home, grabs instant coffee powder, milk and some other gear, and heads back to the entrance of the coffee shop. While the construction worker is away, he "borrows" a temporary building-materials warehouse, sets up inside, and starts luring away the customers queuing at the coffee shop door. Thanks to that shop's popularity, a queue is already forming at the entrance, and one customer picks Mr. Bean's little stall and orders a cappuccino. Despite some doubts about how the drink is made, the customer is delighted with it and starts promoting the stall to everyone in line, bringing a steady stream of business.

Later, the construction worker returns and Mr. Bean makes a hasty getaway. The coffee shop owner, seeing how well the coffee business is going, offers him a job in the shop, and Mr. Bean agrees. But when the construction worker walks in and asks Mr. Bean to make him a coffee, Mr. Bean, unable to work the complicated machine, and with the barista gone, ends up blowing the machine up.

What the Industry Can Take Away

The plot mirrors the current state of the specialty coffee industry and the public's demand for coffee with uncanny accuracy. There are more and more specialty coffee shops today, many of them equipped with professional gear, and baristas are extremely particular about technique and ceremony, yet they often neglect customer service. The "specialty" in specialty coffee is itself an important part of a chain of quality services, because it guarantees that drinkers receive quality coffee and that its quality is systematically evaluated. Whether a coffee tastes good, whether it scores well, and whether it can capture consumers' attention all require professionalism and service to interpret.

Many baristas, however professional, easily forget that not every customer knows about coffee. Most people who spend money in a coffee shop have never studied coffee. A customer's reason for drinking coffee may be the functional kick of caffeine, or it may be purely social. So during service, a barista first needs a rough understanding of the customer's taste preferences and needs, and then recommends according to the situation, rather than blindly pushing the products he or she personally does well or likes.

The Value of Service in Coffee

Everyone has a specialty, and different professions are like different mountains; not everyone who drinks coffee has a deep grasp of coffee culture or knowledge. For the average consumer, whether the making process is professional may not even be the point. Think of Mr. Bean's little stall: he used instant coffee and whipped his milk foam with a bicycle pump, yet he delivered enthusiastic service. The prices were reasonable and the taste was crowd-pleasing and consistent, so the customers who tried it felt satisfied and promoted the stall on their own.

The point is that customers can feel enthusiastic service throughout the experience. That is not to say that being unprofessional makes a good barista. Professional coffee knowledge and a solid grasp of extraction principles are essential qualifications for any barista, while enthusiastic service is how a coffee shop thrives. Images, source: YouTube Mr Bean.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

A cappuccino starts with espresso, then steamed milk whipped into a dense foam that stands in for cream and is spooned on top to shape a pointed hat or hamburger silhouette. Because milk takes up a smaller share, the cup tastes rich and sweet with a light, airy texture. If you want to make one at home, begin with the espresso: FrontStreet Coffee's own parameters are 20 g of grounds, a 1:2 coffee-to-liquid ratio, and a 30-second extraction, which yields a concentrate that is strong yet properly extracted.

Unlike a flat white or a latte, where the fun is in a clean latte-art pattern, the cappuccino's charm lies in its thick, pillowy foam and its deep, full-bodied coffee taste, so an espresso-specific blend is the natural choice. Beginners can start with the "Flavor Bomb" FrontStreet Classic Blend or the value-minded FrontStreet Black Cocoa Base Blend. If you want a fruity, floral cappuccino, the FrontStreet Strawberry Candy Espresso Blend brings out berry, rose, raisin and fruit-candy aromas, while the FrontStreet Grana Geisha SOE, naturally processed and medium roasted, carries berry, orange and persimmon notes that turn to milk candy once combined with milk.