Did you notice the third step of coffee making missing in the previous post? Well, it will be addressed in today’s post! Previously, I shared that coffee making can be explained in three steps.
Step 1 – Grinding coffee beans into powder
Step 2 – Extracting the espresso shot
Steps 1 and 2 of coffee making
And now, let’s take a look at the last step.
Step 3 – Clearing the portafilter
After extracting the espresso shot, the portafilter is emptied and cleaned for the next round of coffee powder to be loaded. What goes into the bin? The used coffee grounds! On top of that, receipts are thrown into the same bin after every completed coffee order.
Coffee grounds produce a weak and awfully bitter espresso on their second extraction. As such, we don’t practice the habit of reusing coffee grounds.
When I first started work at the café, I was taught these three basic steps to prepare a cup of coffee. As time passes, these steps became a habit for me. When the café gets busy, I get into the mode of ‘coffee making’ without much hesitation.
Grinding coffee bins into powder –> extracting the espresso shot –> clearing the portafilter. The cycle repeats.
I never put much thought into my actions until one day, a customer approached me.
‘Hi, may I ask if you guys separate your coffee grounds, or do you have a common bin for the coffee grounds and receipt?’
His question caught me by surprise.
Why did he ask me that? Does he want the coffee grounds? What can he use the coffee grounds for?
It was then when I realised. Why didn’t we separate our coffee grounds from the receipts? Coffee grounds can be used as compost, used to replace protein in fish feed and even introduce beneficial nutrients to soils and aquatic environments. But, we choose to throw them away…
It’s all due to convenience and habit. I feel that we are too caught up with work and are always busy serving the customers. Our priority is to get the coffee orders out and everything else takes a backseat. It is almost second nature to turn left to empty the portafilter and throw the receipts in after we are done with the orders. Furthermore, there is only one coffee bin beside the coffee machine. What better ways are there to get our coffee orders out and clear the area for the next cup of coffee, other than throwing our waste into the same bin?
Can you spot the coffee bin?
Taking a step back to reflect, moments where we gave in to convenience and habit generates much more waste. Coffee grounds can be treated as waste, but they don’t have to. All it takes is a simple step to separate them and reuse the coffee grounds!
Of course, it’s easier said than done, especially when coffee orders are flooding in. But as a BES student, I challenge myself to change my habits. It sure takes time and effort to adapt to new changes. Nonetheless, I will try separating receipts from coffee grounds on my next shift and reuse the coffee grounds for something more meaningful than being in the bin!
On top of the three steps in coffee making, I’ve added one more to challenge myself 🙂
bangwenhan September 18, 2020
Hi Jo, Wen Han here! This post is super relatable as I have been a cafe barista for around 8 months (of course not as long as you did haha) Perhaps we can exchange our knowledge in latte art (wing rosetta or swan) over a coffee chat?
But yes, the processes really do ring a bell in me- from grinding, to tamping and to the extraction. In hindsight, there were so many stages where I could have reduced wastage and put the coffee grounds to better usage such as compost that you’ve mentioned (though we do separate the receipts)
Another wastage issue which I am not sure if you have encountered was the amount of coffee powder that spills over the rim of the portafilter each time when you are collecting ground coffee. That happens to me all the time considering that we were using a manual dispenser rather than an automated one. Our immediate course of action would be to discard them. Do you think we should have reused the spilled coffee powder and poured it back into the coffee grinder?
jolee2001 September 19, 2020 — Post Author
Hey Wen Han 🙂
I’m glad to find a fellow barista here who faces similar issues as me! And yes, I’m up for the latte art skills exchange anytime 🙂
To me, the fact that your cafe separates receipts from coffee grounds is already a big step in managing waste! Till now, I haven’t been able to change my habits of throwing everything into the same bin. Don’t worry if you’ve not been able to reduce your waste in the past. What’s more important is that you realise how you can change your actions. You could probably start collecting the coffee grounds from your cafe and use them as compost if you do gardening at home! If not, it would be wonderful if you could find someone who needs coffee grounds regularly for their plants:) Furthermore, if you’re looking into working again at your cafe during the holidays, I’m sure you’ll do things differently! (Do update me if you have any tips or new discovery in waste management ><)
As for the coffee powder that spills over the rim of the portafilter, yes! I've experienced that too, all the time when I make a cup of coffee. Although my cafe is using the automated dispenser, we still face the same issue. When I first joined the company, I used to throw away the excess coffee powder as I thought it was dirty to reuse it. Till now, I still feel the same way as we don't know how clean the surfaces that the excess coffee powder dropped on are. As such, I wouldn't recommend to pour it back into the coffee grinder. But check out my previous post (Behind the Coffee Machine – Part 1). My cafe has a unique way of handling the excess coffee powder! Hope it’s helpful and let me know what you think about it:)
– Jo
Sarah-Ann Tham September 18, 2020
Hi Jo! I like how you have detailed the coffee making process. It’s also rather interesting to know that some consumers are conscious of what goes behind their drink. What else do you think consumers can do to encourage coffee companies to be more sustainable?
jolee2001 September 19, 2020 — Post Author
Hello Sarah-ann!
Thank you for the question. I feel that consumers should be willing and daring to share their feedback with coffee companies. I’ve come across many customers who are not afraid to share their ideas and comments. For instance, the customer I mentioned in this blog! Also, there was a lady who said to me ‘Wow! You are still using plastic cups and straws? You’re not worried about the whales?’. Through their comments and feedback, it makes us service crew think deeper on the impacts of our actions and reflect on how we could minimise these impacts. Personally for me, after hearing these comments from the customers, it makes me feel guilty of what I do. In the past, whenever there was a lack of dining-in cups for drinks, I would use takeaway cups for all orders. However, after hearing the lady’s comment, I do my best to clear the cups from customers who have finished their drinks. When there are really no cups left and drink orders are piling up, I will then resort to using takeaway cups. By sharing their thoughts freely with us, customers can create a bottom-up effect where the staff at work are influenced to be more sustainable. The staff and managers can then suggest changes in the company’s operation, encouraging the company to adopt a more sustainable approach in business:)
– Jo
bangwenhan September 19, 2020
Well sadly, I am no longer working in the cafe due to our hectic schedule. Anyways, I never knew mixing coffee powder and olive oil could produce facial scrub; perhaps I will recommend my less acne-prone barista mates to try it out first haha! Of course, if I have any new interesting feeds from my friends on coffee making, I’d be sure to update you too:)
On a side note (just for fun), what blend of beans does your cafe use?
jolee2001 September 19, 2020 — Post Author
Hi Wen Han,
It’s a pity you’re not working anymore 🙁 But I’m looking forward to some cool tips from you and your friends! If I’m not wrong, my cafe used to get coffee beans from a supplier with 60% El Salvador Bourbon and 40% Colombian Supremo in the espresso blend. However, near the start of this year, our cafe has started roasting our own coffee beans from two different countries (but I’m not sure which ><). I can't remember how the old coffee tastes like, but the new one is quite fragrant too!
– Jo
itfigures52 September 19, 2020
Hey Jo!
oh boy i definitely understand the stress you feel when orders start piling up. When I worked as a part-timer at a cafe, I remember i could only think about serving and cleaning tables during peak hour. It was just so busy that there was no time to think! I do think the idea of separating waste is a simple yet effective way for a company to reduce waste.
I’m curious though, does the cafe that you work at have a lot of unsold pastries or cakes? If so, what do they do with them? In the cafe that I worked at, the policy was that workers were allowed to take back any pastries that couldn’t be sold, so as to minimise the cafe’s food waste. It’s a good policy, but i can’t help but feel like it was not very effective. There were times when I would bring home a pastry , take a bite, realise how stale it was, and throw it away.
jolee2001 September 19, 2020 — Post Author
Hello Joseph 🙂
I feel the same way too. It was so busy at work today that I didn’t manage to separate the receipts from coffee grounds! Out of habit, I threw everything into the same bin 🙁 I will try separating them again, probably on a weekday when the crowd is smaller and things aren’t so hectic at the cafe.
And yes! On days when business is not as good, we have a whole lot of unsold pastries and bread. This is especially so when the Circuit Breaker was first introduced in April. Whenever there are leftovers, we will take some home and give some to the uncle who helps us clear our rubbish every day. I agree that this is a good policy as it can help to minimise food waste. However, it may not be as effective over the long run. We may feel that these leftovers don’t taste as good, or we may even be sick of eating the same food all the time. In the end, the leftover bread and pastries still go into the bin as waste.
I feel that the actions taken to tackle leftover food and people’s perception of leftover food are pretty interesting topics to think about. In fact, that has given me some inspirations for my next post! Thank you for bringing up the point on leftover food and stay tuned to the next post where I share more about my thoughts on leftover bread and pastries 🙂
– Jo
Rachel Lim September 21, 2020
Hi Jo! Seeing this post reminded me of this DBS Sparks episode (S2: E3) that I happened to see on the MRT. (I just went to rewatch it for a refresher hahah)
The story basically follows these entrepreneurs whose new venture is uprecycling used coffee grounds into everyday consumer products (like bars of soup) to sell. Businesses get to rid their waste, and the entrepreneurs get their idea off the ground, sounds like a win-win right? Well… the episode highlights one key problem: the coffee collection service must be paid for, and the businesses are sure to not want to pay to get rid of their waste.
The episode sidetracks around this problem and the story concludes with the business giving in to a ‘heartwarming’ emotional plea to think about our environment, but I’m sure we all know not everything can be as ideal as that.
I was wondering if you are able to maybe provide more of an insider view into this problem, especially since you mentioned that you’ll try to recycle the coffee grounds during your next shift 🙂
jolee2001 September 24, 2020 — Post Author
Hello Rachel!
I am so sorry for the late reply to your comment 🙁 But thank you for sharing this video with me. I feel that it is a really interesting video that talks about the difficulties faced in getting businesses to upcycle their coffee grounds. I do agree with you that in reality, things may not always go so smoothly. For my cafe, I feel that we are not facing the issue of payment for coffee ground collection just yet. Rather, we are facing the problem of not having the intentions of recycling or upcycling coffee grounds as a company. Currently, the cafe is not recycling the coffee grounds, and it all goes to waste.
Apart from my challenges faced in separating coffee waste for recycling, I find it hard to communicate the idea of separating and recycling coffee grounds to my co-workers. I am afraid that by getting them to do so, it may lead to a negative result. They may feel that I am an eco-warrior there to dictate what they should or should not do. I didn’t want to come off that way but I haven’t been able to find a way to slowly influence them to separate the coffee waste. I feel that this issue will take time to be settled, before all my co-workers are able to fully understand the benefits and need behind recycling coffee grounds. Hopefully, I find a co-worker who feels the need to recycle coffee grounds soon!
– Jo