Starbucks Shut Down 3.5 Hours for Training

Feb. 26, 2008— -- A nation that has become entitled to lattes-on-demand is in shock tonight.

Starbucks closed down its stores for 3.5 hours today — from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. local time to train its baristas. The goal of the massive barista work stoppage, which was explained in a vaguely Soviet-sounding memo, entitled "Transformation Agenda Communication #8," is to "teach, educate and share our love for coffee."

Ann-Marie Kurtz, Starbucks' manager of global coffee and tea education, said the measure would give "baristas the chance to really slow down and have the chance to really celebrate the art of espresso."

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz recently came out of retirement to revive the company, which he says has lost some of its "romance" and "soul" as it's become a global behemoth.

Sales are slipping as McDonald's and Dunkin' Donuts step up the competition.

In fact, to capitalize on today's Starbucks shutdown, Dunkin' Donuts offered 99-cent lattes and cappuccinos.

Meanwhile, today's news sends a real jolt through the thriving world of espresso purists.

Ken Nye, owner of Ninth Street Espresso in the East Village of New York, suggested that a few hours of training was not enough to cultivate a barista's palate.

"To say that 3.5 hours is a barista training is hard to swallow. Company training is another story," he said. "It probably makes sense when you have hundreds of thousands of employees. Probably makes sense that everybody learns about thirty rules of operation, but it's also probably got nothing to do with the art of making coffee."

At Ninth Street Espresso, new staff — regardless of prior experience — are trained for up to three months with the aid of a dedicated trainer.

Nye explained, "Our baristas have a knowledge of coffee — the entire process from seed to cup. We want our staff to understand coffee and have a refined and developed palate, and teach that to our customers."

Espresso consists of two ingredients: water and coffee. A small amount of temperature is pushed very quickly through a certain amount of ground coffee. There appears to be almost no margin for error, but every barista knows that there are dozens of steps required to make espresso, and executing even one step incorrectly will corrupt the final product.