Barista Training Manual (Free Template)
This manual is for café owners training a new barista who may never have used a commercial espresso machine. It follows the order things are learned behind a real bar: the grinder and the shot first, then milk, then speed and cleanliness during a rush. Adapt the numbers to your own recipe, machine and beans, and have the new barista practice each step with an experienced one before working the bar alone.
Free, no sign-up. Edit it, print it, share it with your team.
What you'll need
- Your house espresso recipe (dose, yield, time)
- Scale accurate to 0.1 g
- Milk pitchers in two sizes
- Separate cloths for the steam wand and the bar
The steps
Learn the house espresso recipe: dose, yield and time.
For example 18 g of coffee in, 36 g of espresso out, in 25 to 32 seconds. Write your own recipe on a card by the grinder.
Flush the group head for 2 seconds before each shot.
It clears old coffee and brings the water to temperature.
Wipe the basket dry before you dose.
A wet basket makes water run through the coffee unevenly.
Grind into the portafilter and weigh the dose.
Weigh every dose until you can hit it by feel, then keep checking a few times a shift.
Tamp the coffee level, with firm and even pressure.
Settle the grounds flat first. Level matters more than force. Wipe loose grounds off the rim before locking in.
Lock in the portafilter and start the shot right away.
Leaving it in the hot group head without brewing burns the coffee.
Weigh and time every shot.
Too fast: grind finer. Too slow: grind coarser. Change one thing at a time.
Watch out: Change the grind in small steps and pull a test shot after each change.
Taste a shot every morning before service.
Sour means under-extracted. Bitter and harsh means over-extracted.
Purge the steam wand for 1 second before steaming.
It clears water out of the wand so it doesn't end up in the milk.
Fill the pitcher with cold milk to just below the spout.
Always start with cold milk. Use the smaller pitcher for single drinks so you don't waste milk.
Add air for a few seconds, then lower the tip to spin the milk.
A short tearing sound means air is going in. Then lower the pitcher so the milk spins quietly. Less air for a flat white, more for a cappuccino.
Stop when the pitcher is too hot to hold for more than a second.
Overheated milk tastes flat and won't pour well. Use a thermometer until you know the feel.
Watch out: Keep your hand clear of the wand tip. Steam burns fast.
Wipe and purge the steam wand right after every pitcher.
Milk dried on the wand is hard to remove and grows bacteria.
Pour the milk within 30 seconds of steaming.
Tap the pitcher to pop big bubbles and swirl it until the milk looks glossy. Milk separates if it sits.
Knock out the puck and rinse the basket after every shot.
Never leave a used puck sitting in the portafilter.
Keep the bar clean as you go.
Wipe spills right away, keep wand and counter cloths separate, and refill beans before the hopper runs low.
Learn the cup sizes and how much milk each drink needs.
Post the cup sizes and milk amounts next to the machine for the first few weeks.
How to adapt it
- Replace the example recipe with your own. Every bean and machine is different.
- Have new baristas pull 20 shots during a quiet hour before their first rush.
- Practice steaming with water and a drop of dish soap to save milk.
- Add each drink recipe as its own procedure.
Turn this template into training your team will actually open
In ShowHow, your staff read each step on their phone, with photos, in their own language, and you see who has confirmed it. Start from this template or film yourself doing the job.
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