Top 10 Drinks I Loved to Make When I Was a Barista
I used to be a barista at a certain popular coffee chain, and it wasn’t my cup of tea (pun intended). I didn’t like the aggressive customer service tactics this particular company required, mainly because I’m introverted and had no desire (or ability, if we’re being honest) to make a connection with every single person who walked in the store. What I did enjoy, however, was making the drinks.
Crafting coffee beverages is so fun. Like seriously so much fun. You get to memorize so many cool recipes, learn about different types of coffee, figure out how to multitask and make multiple drinks at once, and get in a zone where nothing else matters except getting the drinks made quickly while still preserving the quality.
It’s like playing Diner Dash in real life.
Sure, it can be stressful, but if I could be a barista again and get paid a livable wage to do it, I would make the career jump in a heartbeat just to experience the invigoration again.
I liked making all of the drinks — yes, even the blended trademarked drinks that shall not be named — but I definitely had my favorites, so let’s get into the 10 drinks I loved making the most as a barista:
1. Iced Caramel Macchiato
Iced caramel macchiatos will always have a special place in my heart. For one, they hit the spot on a hot summer day. But beyond that, they’re so damn pretty.
Hot caramel macchiatos are ok, but you can’t see the beautiful cascading contrast of brown espresso over the white milk through the opaque cup. And that’s why the iced version is superior.
Also, the recipe for the iced caramel macchiato is beyond fun to make. I always loved putting the syrup, milk, and ice in before the espresso. It was a nice change from the normal procedure (espresso + milk + ice). And don’t get me started on adding the coveted caramel drizzle at the end. The particular chain I worked for required us to make a super-specific crosshatch pattern, and it was SO FUN.
If this is your drink of choice, kudos to you! You would have been one of my favorite customers, especially since the people who ordered this were always nice. I know, I know; correlation doesn’t imply causation, but the correlation was DEFINITELY there.
2. Iced Chai Tea Latte
If you’ve ever been a barista wearing a green apron, you know why this is on the list.
If you haven’t been a barista before, let me paint you a picture:
Imagine being 6 hours into your 10-hour shift on a busy Saturday. The headset you’re wearing makes an incessant ding, which signifies that cars are going through the drive-through one right after another. And the ding has been nonstop since you clocked in.
Your caffeine is wearing off, and your patience is wearing thin. Suddenly, you hear the familiar ding in your ear. Your fight or flight is triggered, and you just want a break…until you hear a glorious phrase:
“Can I just get a large iced chai?”
Immediately, your nervous system slows down. You feel like you can breathe for the first time all day.
You grab a cold cup, pump chai concentrate into it, and top it off with milk and ice. And that’s it. You now have a few seconds to relax until the next order comes in.
And that’s the beauty of the iced chai. The drink is complete and delicious in less than 30 seconds.
3. Drip coffee
Like the iced chai, drip coffee is a frazzled barista’s best friend. It’s a break in the multitasking that most drinks require. It’s simple. It’s fast. It’s perfect.
Now, let me give a quick disclaimer: a drip coffee is only magical when the customer doesn’t ask for a million modifiers. Making a drip coffee with cream and sugar is one thing; making a drip coffee with cream, 7 Splenda, 2 Equals, and a steamed milk topper is another story.
I didn’t hate adding all of the modifiers necessarily. What bothered me was how different people had stark differences in how they wanted their coffee. Some people wanted a ton of milk. Others just wanted one drop. Some people literally asked for 2 ice cubes and sent the drink back if they thought the drink tasted like it only had one. One regular even made us remake the coffee every time he came in, even if we had just brewed a fresh pot. None of this was the worst, but it definitely wasn’t ideal.
Luckily, most people who ordered drip coffee asked for it black, which is why it made this list. Black drip coffee = a barista’s dream. Period.
4. Shaken espresso drinks
The coffee chain I worked for had a particular menu item that was soooo fun to make: shaken espresso.
Shaken espresso beverages were time-consuming to make but so, so satisfying.
We would fill a shaker with ice and pour espresso shots on top. Then, we would shake the espresso and ice until bubbles formed. After pouring the ice and espresso mixture into the cup, we would top it with milk, which created a beautiful white-brown contrast, like a reverse macchiato. The final product was gorgeous, and I’m not going to lie, shaking the drink was a lot of fun.
Most of the coworkers I had over the years hated making these drinks, and I’m sure many baristas reading this do as well, but I’m keeping this on the list anyway. Just reminiscing on shake, shake, shaking those drinks makes me smile.
5. Iced Coffee
Remember when I said I hated modifiers in drip coffee? Well, iced coffee modifiers are a different story.
I loved making customized iced coffees, mostly because customizing iced coffee has a much more intuitive standard than customizing drip coffee, which makes the process much easier.
Note: Customizing iced coffee is easier because the cold cups have measurements for the milk on the side, and the iced coffees typically come with syrup, so the sweetness-bitter ratio is harder to mess up. Drip coffee, on the other hand, required much more free-handed pouring, which resulted in many coffees being sent back for being too sweet, too milky, too bitter, etc.
I had so much joy pumping syrup, pouring coffee, and adding milk and ice to the iced coffees to make the perfect drink for the person ordering it. You want 10 pumps of vanilla syrup? Got it! You want extra almond milk? Coming right up!
At one location I worked at, we had multiple regulars who came right when we opened and ordered fun iced coffee drinks. I always loved starting my day by adding their syrup, milk, espresso shots, and other modifiers to the cup. And they always looked happy as can be when I handed them their drinks to start their mornings.
Almost every single iced coffee was unique to the person ordering it. People knew what they liked, and I loved getting to make it for them.
Honorable Mention: Customized cold brews are fun too, BUT I didn’t love the cold brew tap we used. Free pouring the iced coffee was just easier.
6. Iced Americano
Iced Americanos are fantastic to make. All you have to do is pull espresso shots and add cold water and ice. Sometimes people would order customizations, which was simple and no big deal, but often they would just order it black, which made my job extremely easy.
Hot Americanos were NOT fun though. We had to pour scalding hot water from the coffee brewer on top of the espresso, and I almost always burnt my fingers in the process. 0/10, would not recommend.
7. Hot Chocolate
Personally, I love ordering hot chocolates from coffee shops, especially in the winter, which is probably why I loved crafting hot chocolates so much.
During the winter holiday season, making hot chocolate always put me in the Christmas spirit too, which was a nice bonus.
Mostly, making a hot chocolate was fun because I got to steam milk without worrying about pouring espresso shots. As a barista, steaming milk was one of my favorite things to do, but it could get overwhelming to time the milk steaming and the shot pulling just right, especially in my early days behind the bar. Having a drink that required steamed milk but was still easy to make was a major plus.
Also, kids were the main demographic who ordered hot chocolate, so it was fun to see their faces light up when they got their “coffee” just like their parents.
8. Espresso Macchiato
Espresso macchiatos were one of my favorites to make because of how satisfying they are. Barely anyone ever ordered them at the stores I worked at, but when they did, I always ran to the bar to be the one to make it.
At the chain I worked for, to make an espresso macchiato, we put some espresso into a very small cup. We then steamed milk until it was only microfoam, and when it was ready, we would drop a small spoonful of milk on top of the espresso. It was simple and elegant, and making microfoam is always a treat, which actually brings me to number 9…
9. Dry Cappuccino
Cappuccinos in general are fun to make, but a dry cappuccino will ALWAYS be superior. Let me explain why.
Regular cappuccinos are made from espresso, steamed milk, and microfoam. Dry cappuccinos are made from espresso and microfoam ONLY. That means that when you make a dry cappuccino, you get to steam the shit out of the milk. The steam wand literally shrieks, and the milk becomes mostly air bubbles. The serotonin this generates, I swear.
When you pick up a completed dry cappuccino, it weighs basically nothing. It feels like you’re holding an empty cup. I can’t quite explain how exhilarating this is, but just take my word for it. Some customers would pick up their dry cappuccino and test the weight. If it didn’t feel like they were holding a cup of cotton balls, they would ask us to remake it, which was fine with me because that meant I got to steam the milk even more aggressively.
And when customers would ask us to add cinnamon on top?? And the cinnamon would delicately sit on top of the foam?? *Chefs kiss*
10. Flat White
If you’re into latte art, the flat white is probably a favorite of yours too.
A flat white is basically a latte, except it’s made from whole milk, extra ristretto espresso, and extra microfoam. (The recipe may be different depending on the coffee shop!)
The best part about making a flat white is that you’re typically expected to make some sort of latte art on top (usually just a white dot, but people often get more creative with it).
I’m ending this list with a flat white because it’s always been a good reminder of what being a barista is all about.
Baristas have a passion for good-quality coffee, which can get lost in the chaos of a corporate chain shop. But a flat white grounds you. It reminds you to slow down a little bit and enjoy the process of making a great cup of coffee. If I miss anything from my barista career, it’s making the little dot on top of a flat white.
