Ready for the new year!

This week was probably the most exciting that I have had during my employment! The holiday spirit was in the air with all of the partners and we worked hard to make sure that all of the customers knew that we appreciated them during this time of year. It was EXTREMELY busy...busier than usual...and with several partners on vacation, we had to pull a little harder to make sure that everything was seamless and no one would be able to tell that we were short staffed.

IT WORKED! Everything felt like it came to one big fun holiday ending today as our store EXPLODED with business and everyone working had an absolute BLAST today! Most of our regulars were in today, but we felt blessed that they brought their families in to meet us..."Their Baristas". Sure it added 3-7 more drinks per order, but we can deal with that like nothing!

Anyway, my best wishes to you and your family. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

With much love and a French Press of Christmas Blend,

Barista Loco

Buckling down for the next week...

Its about that time again! This is THE busy week and its going to be CRAZY come Friday! Yes, Christmas day just happens to fall on our busiest day of the week and half of our regular partners took time off, so its going to be a fun challenge to keep the store flowing like it usually does. I often get asked if I get upset at being scheduled on the holidays, but thats a no-brainer for me - people want holidays off and that means the hours are available for me :) I love working on Christmas more than any other holiday too because my regulars are like my family. We see each other at the store so much that it would seem odd NOT to have a holiday with them!

SOOOOOOOOO...Its going to be fun and I can't wait for the rush to start. Its a little bit different than the early morning rush right before school and work starts because on a day like Christmas, people stop by and get a drink for EVERYONE at their party. Last year we had five orders of over 15 drinks each all within an hour time span...ON TOP of the flood of people in the store. SUPER FUN and a challenge that I will meet any day. No one can play stump the barista on Christmas, because my team will be at 110% just like we usually are!

With much love!

Got an upsetting email :( - BUT I LOVE YOU!!!

I like to think of myself as a pretty down to earth guy - hard working, honest, sharing and smiling. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE my job as a barista and constantly strive to not only WORK by the standards set forth by my employer, but actually LIVE by them. I'm the kind of barista that remembers people's names, drinks, etc. and when I see one of my customers out in public anywhere, I make it a point to go up to them, shake their hand or give them a hug, greet them by name with a smile and connect with them a little.

My job is something that I am honored to have and I know that I look at it QUITE A BIT differently than many of my other partners who just show up, get free drinks and do a half-assed job. I may be wiped out or having a bad day, but no one would ever know it because I know how important it is to BE Starbucks for people. Customers come back not just for their favorite drinks, but to interact with the baristas! How some partners miss that is beyond me...well, I guess you can't expect much from high schoolers.

ANYWAY, I got an email that almost broke my heart. Someone decided that it would be fun to poke fun at my job and how serious I take it. That's not a big deal because its MY JOB! The part that struck me was that it was someone that referred to themselves as a "partner" (a fellow barista) and they think I should check out the gossip sites about how evil the company is and blah blah...just diarrhea of the mouth (or fingers I guess). Simple response - go find a different job buddy. I'm sure that people like that complain about everything.

SO, in case you didn't know...I LOVE MY JOB & THE COMPANY I WORK FOR!!! I LOVE MAKING YOUR DRINKS EVERY DAY!!! I LOVE CONNECTING WITH MY PARTNERS AND CUSTOMERS!!! I LOVE COFFEE!!!

...ANOTHER WINNER!!!

Ok, I know its Monday - had quite the little bit of unexpected company out over the weekend and had to devote some time to them.

On Friday, I compiled the names of everyone who entered the contest I had posted and the winner is (drum roll please)....

...
...
...
Lunachique

This was a DUAL entrant, twitter AND blog comment. See, wasn't that pretty easy? I'll be contacting you so I can get your prize out ASAP!

Thanks for playing, and watch for the next contest! It's pretty easy to win these!

With much love and a French Press of PIKE PLACE (yeah, you should try it!!!),

Barista Loco

Winner Phot Submitted - Thanks!

This is just a quick blog entry to thank @Sexylexicpl (from Twitter) for submitting a photo of the prizes that she won for suggesting the contest for this week!

Her prize was a pound of Espresso Roast Starbucks coffee and a 16oz. (grande) recycled travel tumbler!

Starbucks Coffee Mugs & Tumblers

Thanks to a suggestion from @Sexylexicpl on Twitter, I will do a giveaway for a Starbucks travel tumbler of my choice. Sorry, no requests, not everything from your Starbucks may be around at mine :)

I will do the giveaway next week - Friday December 11, 2009 - how do you enter??? Thought you'd never ask! Tell me what you put IN your personal cup and either comment here on the blog or on Twitter @StarbucksMonkey (<=====you can click there to get there if you aren't sure how yet)...OR BOTH for double entries! Everyone who enters will have their name put into the randomizer and a winner will be picked. Depending on how many entries I receive, I may give away more than ONE! So start posting and make sure to mention @StarbucksMonkey in your tweets so I can put your name in!

Special thanks to @Sexylexicpl for the suggestion! I'm going to send you a prize for the idea!

With much love and a French Press of [Komodo Dragon...that's whats in it today],

Barista Loco

Christmas season at Starbucks!

Ah yes, everyone's favorite time of the year at Starbucks is here - Christmas Blend is the bold pick for brewed coffee, the Cranberry Bliss bars are sampled out like crazy and sell even faster than we can give the samples away and the holiday beverages are back on the menu with new names and more flair!

I intentionally left out the RETAIL portion of Starbucks in my description above because I really want to focus on it and make sure you realize how I separate it from the food/beverage categories. Usually when we get our big truckload of stuff at the beginning of the week, its filled with a bunch of big boxes full of 5lb, bags of whole bean coffee, retail 1lb. coffee, cups and lids, condiment packs, stuff to make all of the product (frappuccino, mocha, caramel etc.) and maybe a box of some random mugs and tumblers to replace the ones that have sold...kind of a way to easily replenish while not OVERstocking with crap. Well, this is the time of year that we are DEFINITELY overstocked with retail stuff for you to buy and several times we are on the exact same page as you when you ask yourself "where the heck are they going to put all that stuff, because there is already too much out there!".

My fellow partners and I are already trying to figure out which stuff will still be there after the holidays so we can use our discount when they all go on clearance. Needless to say, there are some really nice mugs out there that I get each year and my collection is AWESOME! I also give out a ton of these to my family and friends as gifts because they practically last forever...or at least until next year. If you have a chance, go pick yourself and your friends up a travel tumbler or a mug to enjoy your coffee in. Whats that? Don't want to spend $20 on a cup? GET OUTTA HERE! LOL! Your best bet...CHECK HERE on eBay for the cup you like CHEAP...OR...put one on your Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa/Festivus list and BEG YOUR FRIENDS!

With much love and a French Press of Coffee,

Barista Loco