A521.7.4.RB_MedinaM

Five years ago, I was hired by Sodexo to work for the new store opening up on the ERAU Daytona Beach campus, Starbucks. During the two week training, we were trained everything from opening to closing procedures, to creating a great customer experience up to how to make the specialty Starbucks drinks, in other words, everything. One part I struggled the most when learning how to make the specialty drinks was to make a Cappuccino. A cappuccino and a latte are very different in the aspect of the weight and heaviness of the drink. A latte is mainly heavy made with just espresso and steamed milk holding back the foam. A cappuccino though, the way the milk is steamed must be in a way that creates a lot of foam. When it’s poured into the cup the foam is not to be held back, allowing the foamed milk to roam freely makes the weight of the drink lighter than that of a latte. Basically, a cappuccino is mainly espresso and steamed foamed milk. During years I struggled on how to make a cappuccino correctly but got lucky a few times here and there.

            Last year, I continued to serve the same customer for about 3 weeks straight. Unfortunately, every time I made his drink it was considered too heavy and had to remake it about 3 different times each time he visited the store. Seeing how much milk I continued to waste, I set myself the goal of learning how to properly make a cappuccino without making any mistakes. I tried different options such as changing the sequencing of the drink to just spooning the foam off every drink in order to collect enough foam to make the one cappuccino. Seeing as it wasn’t enough, I began practicing with the timing of the steaming of the milk, how much aerating to do, for how long to aerate it, and when to serve it. Playing around with the timings, I finally had the correct sequencing and timing on how to get the correct amount of steamed foam for a cappuccino. The way the cappuccino milk must be steamed would be during the process of grinding the espresso beans for the espresso part of the cappuccino. When aerating the milk, the pitcher must be held down away from the steaming wand as much as possible before the milk begins splashing all over. You’ll begin to hear this paper ripping sound as the milk continues to be steamed and aerate it for about 9 to 15 seconds. By this time the espresso would be done and with just a few more seconds the milk as well. When pouring the milk into the cup, it should flow freely into the cup mixing with the espresso and it should be ready to drink.

After learning this, I began spreading the word to my coworkers that I had discovered an easier way to understand and to make a cappuccino. I trained them completely and since then we haven’t had much problems with making the cappuccinos too heavy or too light for the customer’s liking.