How To Become a Professional Barista

‘Choose a job you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.’ Wise words indeed, and for plenty of coffee lovers, the idea of leaving the office behind and starting a new career in coffee is an ever-present temptation.

Working as a barista is a lot of fun. It’s creative and fast-paced, and you are in constant contact with a lot of inspiring people — on both sides of the bar. At the same time it is very hard work, sometimes dirty, often poorly paid, and the opportunities to develop a barista job into a viable long-term career are still limited, despite the huge growth in the industry in recent years.

For those of us who choose to dedicate our lives to coffee, however, it is all worth it. What could be better than getting to spend the whole day thinking about coffee, talking about coffee, brewing coffee, and sharing it with other people?

If that sounds to you like a day well spent, then the first step into the industry is working as a barista. If you’re sure that a career in coffee is the right move for you, then read on for our tips on how to develop your career as a professional barista.

What makes a professional barista?

Getting a job as a barista is only the start. Being a professional barista implies a lot more than simply working in a coffee shop, and requires a lot more skills than simply making coffee.

Working in a cafe is, first and foremost, about hospitality. Making people feel welcome, meeting their needs before they even ask, and building relationships with regular customers so that every single customer you have wants to come back again and again — these are perhaps the most important skills you can cultivate. Great coffee will bring customers into the shop, but great service is what brings them back.

As a barista, you are the visible face of the entire coffee industry. The coffee you serve is the culmination of hard work from countless people: from farmers, pickers, and millers, to roasters, and all the stages in between. A knowledgeable and skilled barista is an ambassador for the industry, connecting the customer to the farmer.

You can also apply that knowledge and skill to help your customers identify the different flavors and experiences that coffee has to offer and guide them as they start to explore the complexities of coffee. This will improve your customers’ experiences immeasurably — and at the same time, it will help your business thrive, by encouraging them to spend a little more to find the flavors they crave.

Among all these skills, making excellent coffee is of course vital, but it is not enough by itself. The professional barista doesn’t just serve espresso — they create an experience for their customers.

Get Qualified

Whether you’re trying to land your first barista job, or hoping to develop your career to a professional level, earning some recognized qualifications is a surefire way to improve your knowledge and demonstrate your commitment to the industry. In fact, many specialty cafes take great pride in displaying their baristas’ certifications, to show customers how seriously they take their coffee.

Perhaps the best-known barista qualifications worldwide are the ones from the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA). In the SCA system, there are separate qualifications available for barista skills, filter coffee brewing, roasting, tasting, and more.

Each category of qualification consists of three levels, so the courses can cover the full span of your career, from the basic knowledge required for your first job in a coffee shop, all the way through to professional qualifications aimed at experienced baristas.

The SCA courses include a balance of theory and practice, to ensure that you not only develop the skills to become a professional barista, but you can also develop the knowledge you need to take your career forward. There are several schools in Saudi Arabia offering SCA qualifications, including Ash Café and Marid Coffee.  

Another widely recognized qualification is offered by the Barista Hustle, who have two coaches based in Riyadh, Moamen Abady and Sara Alali, and more around the world. The practical certification from Barista Hustle is focused on developing a fast and efficient workflow behind the bar, intended to help trainees become as useful as possible to future employers. At the same time, theoretical knowledge is covered by a wealth of advanced online courses on topics covering all stages of coffee making, from growing and processing to roasting and brewing.

Getting qualifications is not an absolutely essential part of becoming a professional barista: many excellent baristas simply learn on the job and never get formally certified. But a recognized qualification can be a valuable shortcut to developing your career that shows potential employers that you are dedicated to learning and improving your skills.

How to get the first barista job

Training and qualifications will kick-start your career, but there is no substitute for on-the-job experience. Unfortunately, it can be hard to find a barista position in a good cafe, if you have no previous experience. A qualification will make it much easier to get a good start in your career, but it isn’t a guarantee that you’ll find a position right away.

Luckily, there are other routes into the industry. To find the best opportunities to develop your career, look for cafes that have their own training program, or larger businesses that have multiple cafes or perhaps include a roastery.

Working as a bar back or server in a busy cafe is a great opportunity to develop all of the other skills that a professional barista needs, while you learn about coffee making. Serving customers, creating a welcoming atmosphere, handling the stress of a rush, and dealing with complaints with a smile on your face — if you can do all that, then you’re already an asset to any cafe, and the coffee skills are just a matter of time.

Another route that many people try is to develop their barista skills at home, with a good-quality home espresso machine. This is a great way to get started, but the skills required to be a good home barista are not exactly the same as those needed in a cafe. Developing as a barista involves more than pouring intricate latte art, so even if you are confident in your coffee-making skills, keep a ‘beginners mentality’ when you start your new position.

Keep learning

A true professional never stops learning. Once you’re confident in your skills, it’s time to develop your deeper knowledge of coffee, so that you can become an ambassador for the specialty industry. This is the time to start reading, watching videos, and listening to podcasts, from the leaders in the industry.

There are many excellent resources available freely online, from news sites like Perfect Daily Grind, to videos from the likes of James Hoffmann, to online communities such as Home Barista — and of course, this blog!

All of these are great ways to further your learning, but for a really deep dive into coffee knowledge, try paid-for online courses such as those offered by Barista Hustle, or look for books like Illy’s “Espresso Coffee: The Science of Quality” or the collection of books published by legendary coffee educator Scott Rao. The best thing about working in coffee is that there is always something new to learn.

Taste widely

Once you’re more established in your career, it’s easy to get stuck in a rut, serving and tasting the same coffee all the time. The best way to develop your palate is to always be tasting different coffees — even ones you don’t like. Visit your competitors, try their coffee, and see what their customers enjoy about the coffee and the experience they offer — and what you can learn from that.

Above all, get hold of coffee beans from different roasteries as often as you can, and taste the different roasts side by side. Cup blind, make notes, and compare your notes to what’s written on the bag and what you know about each coffee. A coffee subscription is an easy way to try different coffees every month and will boost your tasting skills. 

Build connections

Coffee is, above all, a social industry. Get to know other baristas, visit other cafes and chat with the baristas and regulars there, and build a network of coffee people in your area. You never know who will land you your next career move, or who can teach you something new.

Coffee events and competitions are a great chance to network and raise your profile as a barista — and a lot of fun. In between events, consider investing time into your social media, or find other ways to create connections and get noticed in the industry,

Get involved in competitions

Perhaps the best way to continue building your network and learning about coffee is to get involved in barista competitions such as the Saudi Barista Championship. Even if you don’t expect to win, entering a competition is an amazing opportunity to push yourself to refine your skills, and to get feedback from coffee professionals outside your immediate circle. It’s also a lot of fun, and if you do well it can be one of the best ways to get your name out there.

Competing is not for everyone, but there are other ways to get involved. If you suffer from stage fright, you could volunteer behind the scenes to help organize the competition or work towards becoming a competition judge.

Go beyond coffee

As we mentioned at the start of this post, if you want to be a professional barista, then making coffee is just the start. It goes without saying that a good barista should also know about tea, chocolate, and any other food and drinks that your cafe offers — and give them just as much focus and attention as the coffee. 

While the coffee is important, it’s only one part of the experience. Try and learn from people in other parts of the hospitality industry, such as the waiters in high-end restaurants or the concierges in luxury hotels. Bringing those skills into a specialty coffee shop can elevate the experience for your guests and ensure that you stand out from the crowd.

Furthermore, as a professional, it’s important to understand how the business operates. Get to know what it takes for the business to turn a profit — it’s not an easy industry to make money in! If you understand the concepts of gross profit, margins, and cost of goods sold, and know how to manage staff and staffing costs, you will be a valuable asset to any business.

If you want to run your own shop someday, then getting trained in business administration while you still work as a barista will pay for itself many times over, as you will have the chance to learn how to put business theory into practice before you commit any of your own money to a new venture.

The coffee industry has changed a lot in the last decade or so. Baristas are expected to have more knowledge and skills than ever before. But at the same time, becoming a professional barista has never been so rewarding. The rise of specialty coffee means that becoming a barista has become a viable career choice for a lot more people — and one that can lead in a lot more directions. Whether you want to become a green coffee trader, a coffee roaster, a small business owner — or even a humble coffee blogger — careers in coffee can be satisfying, rewarding, and a lot of fun. Becoming a professional barista is just the first step.