Great coffee doesn’t need to be intimidating.
We all have had a bad coffee experience in our lifetime. We may encounter lack of flavor in the coffee or no creamer/sugar options. Sometimes it is the customer service that gives a bad experience. Maybe a coffee shop comes off as intimidating or the environment seems cold. At Banyan Coffee we make every effort to try and avoid these problems by bringing a positive outlook on your coffee experience. Coffee is a remarkably diverse drink. People create their special drink from pumpkin spice lattes to bourbon barrel aged coffee. Some people will like dark roasts, others like light roasts. Some enjoy extra cream and others straight black. The great thing is people have options and should not be limited to a few drinks. Today coffee shops offer a different coffee menu to their clientele. By the time you read this the current drink trend may be out of date. Younger clientele coffee shops tend to use trendy coffee options such as lighter roasts, flat whites, nitro cold brew, or Dalgona coffee. Sometime their is disagreement on drip coffee vs pour over. Traditional coffee shops may prefer cappuccinos, lattes, drip coffee, and dark roast coffee. Either way, it’s all about a good experience even if you debate french press vs pour over coffee. Not everyone is going to love your coffee, but you can win them over with service. When we set up shop at the farmers market we try to listen to the customer closely. Even if we don’t have the equipment to create that drink, we will try. The problem is sometimes other coffee shops will not even try to accommodate a customer. Rather their response is “we don’t have it.” Effort goes a long way to giving the customer a good experience. In the worst instances, some coffee shops can have an unwelcoming atmosphere. I personally have experienced this by just walking in the door with no greeting and little social interaction. It was almost like I was annoying the company for walking in the door. Then the type of drink seemed not fit their coffee culture. You can really feel intimidated at places like this, but knowing what you want will help you feel less belittled and more confident. In the coffee industry there are pretentious coffee people out there and “their way” is the only way to do it right. Fortunately, there are a few great experts like Scott Rao or Tom Owen within the coffee industry. Unfortunately, too many others think they know what is the “correct” method of coffee. With all the innovations over the years, at the end of the day it’s what the customer likes, not the barista.
Many times, our bad coffee experiences can be a total misunderstanding. It could be that the barista was new or didn’t understand your coffee order. Sometimes if that employee may no longer work there due to dissatisfaction of the employer. It’s best to try that coffee shop again. Especially when it comes to local shops. We always want to give people the benefit of the doubt, but customer service needs to be at the top of the priority list. At Banyan Coffee, we always ask if you like the cup of coffee before you leave. Our goal is to ensure you are satisfied
The relationship with your barista or coffee roaster.
If you are seeking great coffee and want a place you can call your Bradenton coffee shop or coffee roaster, it’s beneficial to build a relationship with them. As a coffee roaster, we don’t just consult with our wholesale coffee accounts, but we take the time to talk to our individual coffee drinkers. Building trust and understanding our customers can educate not only the customer but the coffee roaster as well. If we know that a Banyan Coffee drinker loves a dark roast coffee we may introduce her to a new dark roast that they might like even better. But we would only know that by communicating with our customers. With our monthly coffee subscriptions you get the option to mix your coffee monthly. You can discover new coffees that you have never tried or even knew existed. We often get questions about what is the better brew method for certain roasts or specific types of single origin coffee. By educating, we can reach everyone’s needs. If your Sarasota coffee shop or coffee roaster isn’t much help, maybe you should consider somewhere else. The reason Banyan does these blogs is to help cultivate and enlighten our clientele, and we feel that it is part of the big picture of our customer service.
