How much does a barista earn per month and how much does he get paid per day?

You need to know how to brew coffee - any fan of this drink will tell you that. Simply pouring coffee powder into the coffee machine will not do the trick. You need to select the right grains, grind them properly, prepare the water...

You can learn this entire process yourself. And even buy an expensive coffee machine. But if you just want an invigorating cup from time to time, it’s easier and cheaper to turn to a specialist in preparing coffee - a barista.

Who is a barista and what does he do?

So, a barista is a coffee maker, that is, a specialist who knows how to prepare various coffee-based drinks

. For some reason, the Russian-language name for this profession did not catch on in everyday life (most likely due to its consonance with a coffee maker).

One way or another, this word comes from the Italian “barista”, meaning a worker serving customers at the bar. Because of this, a barista is often confused with a bartender, although the only thing they have in common is that they both prepare drinks. The first brews exclusively coffee, and the second works with alcohol.

The confusion arose largely due to the fact that for a long time there simply was no such profession in Russia. When the need arose, the duties of a barista in catering establishments were performed by a barmaid.

Photo source: Quang Nguyen Vinh/pexels

What are the responsibilities of an employee?

Many people confuse the profession of barista and bartender. The barista deals only with coffee, sometimes tea and snacks. He must have special training. But sometimes they hire people without seniority or experience and train them on the spot. It is important to know everything about drinks, the rules for operating coffee machines, and preparing recipes.

The barista must carry out instructions from management, clean the workplace, serve orders beautifully, communicate with customers, and advise them about the assortment presented in the cafe. How much a barista earns per month depends on the duties performed.

What does a barista do?

Initially, this specialist’s work involved exclusively brewing espresso

- in Italy it is still an extremely popular drink. Gradually, with the development of the specialty, the range expanded. By the way, Starbucks founder Howard Schultz contributed a lot to this. It is largely thanks to him that barista is now a separate profession.

Schultz understood coffee like no one else and understood that mastering all the nuances of preparing this drink was possible only after special training and long practice.

Minimum wage for baristas in France

Dajo Aertssen started working as a barista three years ago at Coffee Makers, a coffee shop and micro-roastery in Lille, France. “All the baristas I know work at the minimum wage in the country, which is generally not bad in France, but at the same time this rate is not high and currently amounts to 9.88 euros (750 rubles),” he says.

“If you really want to make a career in the coffee industry,” continues Dajo, “you either need to move to a big city where there is already a specialty community and get a job with them (coffee shop, roastery, trader, etc.) Or start your own coffee business. Where I live, for example, there are no advanced specialty coffee shops, so I plan to start my own coffee business.”

Dijo makes coffee in Pourover at Coffee Makers ©Alex Leduque

Barista Responsibilities

So, since a barista is a specialist in preparing coffee, his main responsibility is to prepare coffee-based drinks. And we’re not just talking about espresso, but also dozens of other types of coffee brewed in different ways. Experienced specialists often come up with their own original recipes.

Thus, the job responsibilities of a barista in the workplace include

:

1. fulfilling customer orders;
2. consultations on selection, communication with visitors;
3. counting and depositing revenue at the cash register after the shift;
4. keeping records of products and consumables;
5. drawing up requests for the purchase of products;
6. selection of coffee type for brewing.

In a word, in practice this specialist works both as a cashier and as a supply specialist. The work is not easy and requires barista skills and efficiency.

The hardest work begins with the influx of visitors. As a rule, this is the morning rush hour and lunch time. The employee needs to manage everything: making coffee, taking orders, and counting out change. The worst option is when he works alone, without a partner.

Requirements for applicants

Restaurant owners, when hiring, have a number of requirements for candidates for the position of barista:

• high school diploma or equivalent;
• ability to communicate with people, speak and listen beautifully;
• Experience in food preparation, beverage preparation or customer service preferred;
• ability to understand coffee varieties, know the technology of preparing various drinks, understand recipes and technological maps;
• willingness to continue learning about food and coffee preparation;
• ability to walk a lot and stand for a long time;
• Ability to work during peak hours, including nights, early mornings, weekends and holidays;
• politeness, charm;
• ability to determine client needs in the selection of drinks;
• For some institutions, appearance, knowledge of foreign languages ​​and education of the applicant are important.

To get a job as a barista, you need to first study the requirements of the establishment where you want to work. Starting salary depends on eligibility.

What a barista should be able to do

Any profession (especially in the service sector) requires a long mastery. The more experience, the better. However, you always have to start somewhere. As a rule, for a barista this begins with mastering the coffee maker and related accessories. Well, then - improving your skills.

A good barista should know recipes for popular coffee drinks and at least 40 different coffee preparation options

, and:

• own a coffee machine and related equipment (grinders, pitchers, holders, etc.);
• know the types of coffee;
• have skills in working with collections, be able to calculate profits, work with expense accounting programs.

Of course, first of all, the barista must know the types of coffee and be familiar with coffee aromas. He will also benefit from the skills of drawing on the surface of a latte (the so-called latte art), the ability to balance the strength, temperature and grind of coffee. In addition, the employee must maintain the required settings in the coffee machine throughout the entire shift. All this comes with experience, but even a novice specialist must understand well what he is doing and why.

Of course, the most important skill of a barista is customer focus. The ability to maintain a conversation with a client, provide advice and promptly suggest what is needed, the ability to smile and always be polite are always important qualities in the service sector.

Much depends on the appearance of the specialist. The employee must be neat and presentable, and must be attractive. For this reason, employers prefer to hire young girls for this job, although this work is quite accessible for men.

Photo source: Quang Nguyen Vinh/pexels

Coffee and health

While attending barista school, I could drink 35 cups of coffee a day. Of course, there was no need to drink them all to the bottom, you just had to try the drink. I didn't have any major health problems because I drank a lot of coffee while I was still working as a cook. But for the guys who were not yet accustomed to such volumes, everything was not very good. They came to class and said: “I haven’t slept for two days! I don’t know how to live further!” To avoid getting sick from coffee, you need to drink a lot of water, eat a lot of fatty foods, bananas help a lot. During our studies we had an hour break when we were literally forced to go eat.

If you drink a lot of coffee, over time you develop tolerance and it no longer invigorates you, you have to “increase your dose.” That’s why most people who drink latte sooner or later switch to cappuccino and so eventually reach black coffee. Everyone knows that coffee activates the brain and gives a surge of energy, but when the effect of caffeine wears off, apathy appears. Among our regular customers there are coffee lovers who take Hario in the morning, and then they will definitely come back for another portion in the evening.

We sometimes warn guests that they should not drink coffee, for example, we tell pregnant women about the risks. A woman often comes to us with a girl of about 11 years old and takes raf for her. In general, it is better not to drink coffee until the age of 16, so we add the minimum possible amount of espresso to her drink.

Where do you learn to be a barista?

One of the advantages of being a barista is the ability to get a job without experience. You can master basic skills in practice in just a week. However, in order to learn all the intricacies of coffee brewing, it is advisable to take a training course.

The main difficulty here is that in Russia there are no secondary vocational education institutions that would train such specialists. Only private schools and organizations do this

, of which there are quite a few in all major cities.

The most prestigious of them, of course, are located in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and they are often organized by various international organizations. However, experienced professionals say that the certificate or school diploma itself is not so important. Employers are more interested in which mentor the employee studied with and what skills.

Complex minimum wage system for baristas in Brazil

While the United States is the world's largest coffee importer, Brazil is by far the largest coffee exporter today, and third-wave specialty coffee shops are also gaining popularity here. I reached out to Isabela Raposeiras, founder and owner of Coffee Lab, a barista school, micro-roastery and coffee shop in Sao Paulo, to find out about barista salaries in Brazil.

The first thing you need to know is that there is no minimum barista wage in Brazil. “This profession is not regulated by law, and the minimum wage rate depends on the associations associated with catering. This category is divided into several associations: fast food, restaurants and the one we belong to,” explains Isabella.

Since taxes throughout Brazil are generally very high, unfortunately, coffee shop owners are not able to pay high wages to their baristas, she says.

Isabella believes that for baristas, the key to earning a higher salary is increasing their level of knowledge and growing their career in the coffee segment from barista to head barista or barista trainer. “I think this is the basis,” she emphasizes. It also pays higher salaries to baristas who seek to improve their skills and complete its training programs.

Henry prepares coffee at Carolina Cafe, Sao Paulo, Brazil ©João Marcelo Stark

How much does a barista earn?

In Russia there is now a real boom in small coffee shops, so experienced coffee brewers are needed everywhere. Barista skills are in demand in small private coffee shops, restaurants, hotels and chain catering establishments.

The largest number of vacancies, of course, are concentrated in Moscow. However, good coffee makers are also needed in other cities. Often they are ready to hire them even without experience. The barista will be taught all the necessary skills on the spot. The main condition is the presence of a valid medical book.

Salary is not the most attractive aspect of being a barista. On average in the provinces, an employee receives from 25 to 30 thousand rubles. In Moscow, a barista earns about 40 thousand

. However, this only includes the bare salary, excluding tips left by the client. In addition, earnings often depend on the number of shifts worked.

Income

Now working in a coffee shop offers good prospects - you can later open something of your own or start roasting. But the barista’s salary is growing every year. On average we receive 240 rubles per hour, from this amount a tax of 13% is deducted. But at the end of each month we have bonuses that compensate for this and even give a good increase. With a five-day working week, I earn about 55 thousand rubles a month. But there are practically no tips with the self-service system. We get a maximum of 2 thousand per month. People are simply accustomed to the idea that tips should only be given to waiters.

This year I was supposed to participate in barista competitions, but somehow it didn’t work out. In principle, I don’t really like such championships. You need to show that you are the best, but it is much more pleasant when guests come to you who already consider you the best. But winning a competition gives a good material bonus. All coffee shops want winners and champions to work for them, so they offer them some incredible salaries.

Sometimes there is still an opportunity to earn extra money. My former classmate recommended me to her friend, who was going to open a healthy vegan food cafe, with a coffee shop and smoothie bar. She needed someone to help create a menu and find suppliers. I agreed on the condition that I would also work on drinks, and even at one time worked in this cafe as a chef and tried my hand at veganism.

Pros and cons of being a barista

Barista is a creative profession that involves skill and challenging skills. It has enough advantages, but there are also significant disadvantages:

Author of the article

Yurkin Alexey

Cost of barista training in Argentina

María Esther Lopez Cásares is the owner of Registrado: a barista school, roastery and coffee shop located in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Answers my question about salary: “The minimum salary rate for baristas is the same as in other professions in the country.”

Compared to its neighbors, Argentina has a high minimum wage, amounting to Argentine $8,860/month (16,000 rubles), and showing growth dynamics. But at the same time, not all employees receive it.

What she means is that there are big differences in barista pay. Some get the minimum rate (or even less). However, in other coffee shops this rate may be much higher than the minimum. Maria tells me: “Our baristas have a monthly salary, plus they receive tips, and benefits (insurance and other social benefits) ... That's approximately AR$22,500/month (40,500 rubles)”

As the owner of a barista school, she also provides her baristas with SCA and other coffee courses to improve their knowledge of the coffee craft. “They only need to pay for the certificate, not for the training course itself... But, they must work in compliance with SCA standards and regulations,” she explains.

Barista pours frothed milk ©Café Registrado