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Whenever I order a coffee, I like to watch intently as the barista works their magic. It’s always amazed me how my iced vanilla lattes come together with such ease and effortlessness, typically as the barista juggles a number of other orders as well. The task always seemed like something I could never accomplish myself.

That is, until I got to thinking—why not give it a shot? And even better? The lovely Cassie and Heidi over at Twisted Sisters Coffee House in Hillsdale, NY, were kind enough to welcome me one Friday morning so that I could try my hand at being a barista and learn the ins and outs of the role.

Going into the experience, I was admittedly very nervous. And when I crossed the threshold and made my way behind the counter, I looked up at the looming drinks menu with more than a little bit of anxiety. Cassie and Heidi both immediately read this on my face, especially when I asked how they remember all the different drink orders and how to make them.

Their answer? Practice, practice, practice. And sometimes, you don’t remember. Here, Heidi joked about how they sometimes have to ask each other about the proper ratios of espresso, milk, and foam, a humorous note that couldn’t have been more reassuring as I dove into the training process.

All about espresso (not the Sabrina Carpenter song…)

First, I had to learn everything espresso. Cassie started off by explaining that decaffeinated coffee beans have less of the oils that regular beans have, meaning that they come out of the machine quicker than normal coffee does. “All of those delicious, rich oils that make the espresso so yummy—the decaf beans don’t have that,” Cassie quipped. “Although decaf tastes different, it’s still quite delicious!”

However, she explained how the coffee grinders that portion out the coffee beans are much more advanced these days, meaning you don’t have to time the release of the espresso into the portafilter—the part of the espresso machine that detaches and holds the coffee grounds. 

The amount of espresso that goes in the portafilter depends, of course, on the size of the drink: you hit a single, double, triple (or even a quad!) shot depending on how many shots are requested, or if the drink is 12 oz, 16 oz, or 20 oz. In most cases, I found that a double shot was necessary, as most people tend to gravitate toward the 16 oz drink—a manageable medium size.

From here, once the ground beans are in the portafilter, you pack in the shot using an espresso tamper. This was one of my favorite parts of the process simply because it’s ridiculously satisfying packing the little grains of espresso in and watching as they compact evenly across the top of the portafilter basket. 

Thus far, I caught on relatively easily. One quirk that took some extra thought was remembering which way to loosen the portafilter from the grouphead, the part of the machine where the portafilter is inserted and removed (and where the espresso gets made). Once you’ve put the portafilter back into the machine, you line up a little glass cup beneath the spouts and press the appropriate shot number button.

While the espresso is in the process of brewing, you should already be thinking about what other milks, syrups, and add-ins you need. If the drink is iced, you grab the right-sized cup, fill it with ice, then pour in the chosen syrup(s), milk, and other inclusions like chai concentrate. From here, you can simply pour the espresso on top, give it a little stir, and the drink is ready. Iced latte lovers know how delectable the result can be.

Milk steaming is oddly daunting

When the drink is hot, though, there’s another step to think about: steaming. The process of heating up the milk so that it’s all warm, frothy, and foamy—the extent to which depends on what type of drink you’re making—can be a bit intimidating at first, primarily because the steam wand is incredibly hot. Cassie and Heidi both attested to the fact that “you get used to burning yourself,” so even if you’re a pro, it clearly comes with the territory!

If there was one part out of the entire learning process that proved the biggest challenge, it was definitely this. You might steam the milk for a latte, but then again, you might have to make it bubblier and frothier for a cappuccino, which means there are a range of techniques and approaches to consider, all while keeping time in your head and controlling the steam level as you go. 

Cassie, walking me through the process of steaming, explained how when she worked from the age of 13 to 16 in a coffee shop, she hadn’t really been taught right. At 16, she was re-taught everything by a French man, and she remembers him saying, in his French accent, “Do you hear the music?” as he was showing her how to steam the milk. “He was probably talking about the music that was playing in the cafe,” she recalled, “but I took it to mean the sound of the steaming when it’s being done just right.”

The complexity of hot drinks

When you hear that loud, clattering “SSSHHHH” from the espresso machine as its steaming milk, that’s actually not the goal, yet you’ve probably heard it in cafes all the time. Heidi and Cassie both showed me their respective methods, with specific positioning and maneuvering of the steam wand in the tin cup of milk and particular attention to the temperature knob. Heidi was kind enough to walk me through the steaming many times during actual orders to ensure I was getting the proper feel for the task. 

How you pour the steamed milk into the cup with the espresso matters, too. With a cappuccino, you want it to be nice and fluffy, so you pour it straight in, quickly, to accomplish that foamy finish. Lattes are a bit different, with the pour starting close to the edge and slowly gravitating toward the center of the cup with a skilled twist of the wrist: think of the pretty heart shapes or floral designs typically found on lattes. 

At this point, Cassie joked that she still can’t do the best latte art, reflecting on how sometimes, you can be super experienced in a given field and still not be perfect at everything. She even added that ironically, her favorite drink to make is a latte. While Cassie has been in the barista and cafe business since she was young, Heidi actually started out in the medical field. 

Heidi explained to us that when she started feeling really burnt out in that industry, she recognized that she could make a career out of being a barista, and she hasn’t looked back since. Heidi’s favorite drinks to make are cappuccinos, and she’s known to come up with some really delicious flavor combos for Twisted Sisters specials, like a cinnamon vanilla latte. She’s even thinking of experimenting with ice cream and espresso as it gets warmer, perhaps making something akin to an affogato.

It’s all in the details

This all seems pretty straightforward, right? Sort of. Amidst my nerves and eagerness to take in all the information, I understood quite early on into the experience that there are little tips and tricks to just about everything I’ve explained. I got the impression that when it comes to being a barista, each component has its nuances, and the quicker you can start to absorb these and remain focused, the better a barista you can become.

One instance of this is how temperature is of utmost importance. It’s something I’ve taken for granted as a customer, but in retrospect, you can always tell when something’s amiss with your drink, and I now know that a huge reason for this can be because something was left alone for too long or completed in the wrong order.

If the espresso is left in the little glass cup on the hot drip tray for too long, it will burn. That’s where you get that extremely bitter aftertaste. If you pour the espresso over ice before adding your choice of milk (and chai concentrate, etc.) first, then the ice will melt much quicker. That’s how your latte becomes super watery within minutes of you getting it. And if you put (dried) mugs on top of the espresso machine, they will stay nice and warm for when you need to pour a drink. That’s how the handle to your mug is toasty even when your drink was just poured and served.

Navigating customer service

You might make an incredible coffee, but that’s really only half the battle. Fostering a warm, welcoming environment for customers is key. When it comes to being inviting, Cassie recommended “welcoming people as though they’re your best friends,” and to “ask questions, but not too many.” At the end of the day, you have to let customers come to you and give them the space to browse and ponder.

While the Starbucks standard has made it a bit tricky to adjust as a small coffee shop, Cassie says that Twisted Sisters will always give people what they want whenever possible and get creative with what they have to come up with a yummy final product. It’s all about meeting the customer where they’re at in terms of coffee knowledge, figuring out what exactly they’re looking for, making suggestions where appropriate, and coming up with a drink that makes them happy. At this point, identifying the barista skill set’s overlap with my own, particularly because of my work as a tutor and journalist, was definitely heartening.

Even during quieter times, there’s always something to be doing, whether it’s cleaning up, refreshing the pastries, or even helping out in the kitchen when necessary. Demonstrating the customer interaction process for me, Cassie took an order, and as this was happening, Heidi listened to what pastries were needed and started taking care of that, making for a more efficient system. “I always say it’s like a circus,” Cassie remarked, “in the sense that things are always happening, and you have to really put yourself out there and sell it.”

In many ways, being a barista is all about representing not only the cafe at which you work, but your own personal work ethic and level of effort. “You don’t serve something you’re not proud of, and you don’t serve something you wouldn’t want to have yourself,” Cassie asserted. “I always explain to my baristas that you are reflecting yourself in what you do, so do it well.”

This commitment to attentive and effective service, paired with the whimsical and comforting environment that is Twisted Sisters, has proven to be quite successful. “I’m flattered that when people walk in, they say they feel transported, in a way,” Cassie added.

Reflections

When it comes to trying new things, I’ve had to work on my perfectionism over the years. When I’m not good at something the first time, or if I make a mistake, sometimes that voice of self-doubt can creep in and make me question my potential altogether.

However, with Cassie and Heidi’s guidance and reassurance, I was able to make some pretty delicious drinks if I do say so myself, and even interact with some customers, too! Having been in a barista’s shoes—in a more laid-back environment where I had assistance along the way, that is—I recognize just how much you have to consider when juggling the responsibilities of a cafe. But I also know that with some dedication and the right people helping you along, it’s entirely possible to test out, and succeed at, a career that at first seemed intimidating and hard to grasp.

Twisted Sisters Coffee House is located at 329 White Hill Lane, Hillsdale, NY. They are open Monday through Saturday 7am to 3pm and Sunday 8am to 2pm. You can reach out via email at twistedsisterscoffeehouse@gmail.com or call (518) 938-1237. To stay up to date, follow their Facebook @TwistedSistersCoffee and Instagram @twisted_sisters_coffee_house.