What is a Coffee Master????

Well, it is official now!!! After two months of training, tasting, and rigorous testing, I became a retail coffee master at my Starbucks store. What does a coffee master do, you may ask? Welllllllll............

First of all, I must be completely informed, inside and out, about all of the coffees that Starbucks offers. This includes the regional selections, .com and grocery store exclusives (though not as much), seasonal and limited availabilities as well as our core coffees (available anywhere Starbucks sells whole bean or grinded coffees). What do I need to know about the coffees? Where they are grown, what they taste like, how that particular bean is processed, and what the origin notes of any particular Starbucks coffee are (what is that particular growing community like).

I need to have detailed knowledge of the different brewing equipment that we sell in the retail stores. What is the difference between that coffee maker and this one, how does this grinder work, should I get this espresso maker or that one. If you are shopping for these kinds of items, I would be the person to go to.

Internally, I am also responsible for ensuring that the other partners (employees) at my particular store have a working knowledge of the coffees that are available at my store. I need to make sure that they know what they taste like, as well as maintain tasting and coffee training records of everyone in the store.... Coffee Master, believe it or not, is also an administrative posistion as well.

All of this working knowledge and responsibility will eventually come with a pay raise as well (Yippie!!!) as I also accepted a promotion approximately fifteen minutes after passing the grueling Coffee Master exam!!!!!