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Top barista earns prestigious brown apron
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Many people are familiar with Starbucks Coffee Masters. Wearing black aprons, they represent the most excellent and passionate groups working in Starbucks stores. But have you seen those who wear brown aprons?
President Starbucks Coffee Shanghai Co.,Ltd recently hosted its 2015 Starbucks Coffee Ambassador Cup. Zhang Chonggang from Shanghai was crowned the winner. After winning the competition, Zhang put on a new brown apron, symbolizing the highest honor a Starbucks barista can achieve.
Elected from Coffee Masters, a Coffee Ambassador is a team-oriented barista who can inspire members to acquire coffee knowledge, hone barista skills and provide superior service to customers.
More than 500 Starbucks Coffee Masters from Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang Province participated in the competition, which lasted two months. Nine of them stood out and reached the final.
The final consisted of three rounds: coffee knowledge; blind tasting and latte art skills; as well as presentation.
The blind tasting, perhaps the most difficult part of the whole competition, requires competitors to identify three pots of coffee made by French press without any hints.
Blind tasting is a method coffee tasters use to evaluate a coffee's characteristics. The key point is to memorize and distinguish different flavours of coffees. A standard blind tasting procedure involves deeply sniffing the coffee, then loudly slurping the coffee so it spreads to the back of the tongue. The coffee taster attempts to measure aspects of the coffee's taste, specifically the body (the way the coffee feels in your mouth, its viscosity or heaviness), sweetness, acidity (the pleasing brightness or sharpness in the coffee), flavour (the characters in the cup), and aftertaste.
“I practice a lot during my leisure time. Sometimes I taste more than 12 pots of coffee a day,” said Zhang.
During the next part, competitors were required to make three cups of latte art: a leaf, a heart and a dot. Every Starbucks barista starts practicing latte art skills with a cup of “dot,” a small circle in the center of the cup. Making a perfect circle is not as easy as it looks. It is a skill requiring steady hands.
“To make beautiful latte art, you need good quality ingredients and lots of practice,” Zhang said.
With its “Back to Origin” theme, this competition helps competitors recall their original love and passion for coffee. It also represents Starbucks commitment to building one of the world’s most trusted and admired brands.
“Our partners (employees) can spread their passion for coffee to our customers,” said Xie Guanhong, general manager of President Starbucks Coffee Shanghai.
Zhang, a young barista from Starbucks’ Renminfang store, joined Starbucks in 2012 as a part-timer. He was a college student majoring in mechatronics at the time.
“My partner Amy once inspired me. She said, ‘keep your passion for what you love and make it your dream.’” Zhang said. “I started my career as a barista because I love coffee even though it has nothing to do with what I studied in college.”
He says the strong bond between him and his team members is another reason he stays. To him, this bond is priceless.
“They give me great support this time and I really appreciate it. Before the competition they shared some of my work and told me to concentrate on blind tasting,” he said.
Zhang often impresses his customers with his easy smile and considerate service. He loves to connect with the people he serves. “In Starbucks, you feel really close to your customers,” Zhang said. “I would like to bring a unique Starbucks experience to every customer.”
The Renminfang store where Zhang works has a regular customer named Mojo, who is his friend. One day she walked into the store and was crying. Seeing her, Zhang offered her a cup of tasty coffee. Deeply moved by this warm cup of coffee and Zhang's words of comfort, she started to learn Starbucks' coffee culture. She gave Zhang a package of coffee beans as a gift. It was Pike Palace Roast coffee beans, which were inspired by the first Starbucks store in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. By sending this special gift, Mojo wanted Zhang to recall his original love and passion for coffee.
When talking about Zhang's favorite coffee, he said, “I prefer different coffees at different times. For example, when I am happy or excited, I like the taste of Breakfast Blend because the sourness makes me feel relaxed. When I am thinking about something, I love Sumatra for its fragrance of the earth. The same coffee gives me different feelings every time.”
In his speech during the competition, Zhang said: “Every partner is the spokesman of Starbucks. Every Starbucks partner has their own understanding of Starbucks culture and they present what they value to customers and partners.”
As for Starbucks Coffee Ambassador Zhang, he continues to offer his customers great cups of coffee, but more importantly, precious Starbucks memories.
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