How Much Should You Tip a Barista?
Bringing Light to a Little Discussed Quandry
If you've ever been a barista, you know how intense of a job it can be when the grinds are spilling, the foam is flying, and coffee orders are being shouted out from all directions like in a television version of a New York deli.
The work can be demanding and taxing. It's not hard work, per se, not as intellectually challenging as bio-engineering; not as physically demanding as roofing, not as specialized as heart surgery. But it's not something everyone can do well. The barista position requires training. The reason to tip a barista, however, relates to the service being rendered - immediate custom fresh food preparation.
Several schools of thought exist as to how much to tip a barista. Certain people feel that tipping in a coffee bar should be the same as tipping at a tavern or "bar" bar: one dollar per drink.
This is on the generous side.
Other people like to stick to a percentage system, using twenty percent as a standard. A four dollar drink can therefore merit nearly a one dollar tip - a two dollar drink fifty cents.
This is in the middle range of coffee bar tipping.
And still others feel that any tip is acceptable. If the change handed over with the drink is seventy-five cents, then that is the tip. If the change is ten cents, then that is the tip.
Naturally, there are people who do not tip at all and feel that tipping policies have gone out of control.
There is no single answer to how much you should tip for a coffee drink, but your answer to this question should take into account certain factors. The amount of money in your wallet should not, however, be one of those factors.
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What to consider: Has this person, this barista, made you a drink before?
Do you appreciate the fact that this person is working to make something special personally for you, not for anyone else, but just little old you? It's a custom drink, made fresh, right on the spot, do you appreciate that?
Consider also the life on the job of the barista. On a busy day, the person making coffee drinks might make over a hundred coffee drinks, yet they keep going. They keep going to make your drink.
This is tip worthy.
How much are these considerations worth? Well, that is up to you and how much money you make on your own job. If tipping doesn't affect your pocketbook in a major way, then tipping should be a no brainer.
To provide a more concrete answer to the question of how much to tip a barista, we can say that fifty cents is fine. Any tip is always (gratefully) noticed by the person grinding out the drinks.
Published by Eric Martin
Eric Martin is an artist and writer. Look for more of his work in The Stone Hobo, the Antelope Valley Anthology, The Open Doors Poetry Zine, Failure of Theory, Euclid's Negatives and on stage. He is an owner... View profile
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6 Comments
Post a Comment@ Jim & Adam: Thanks for the positive comments. When we simplify the tipping situation all the way down to defining a "basic tip" I think the 25 cent tip is decent/good. More than that is bonus for the barista, in my opinion, a bonus that is highly appreciated.
@ Anthony: I can see where you are coming from, but I don't know that things are as cut-and-dry as you make them out to be when it comes to who to tip and who not. You tip waiters and waitresses despite the fact that they now make minimum wage in many places. You tip a pizza delivery person though that job is also a minimum wage position. There is also a custom to give a gratuity to postal workers at the end of the year, though they make over minimum wage - with benefits. So, qualifying tips by wage may not be quite as exact a proposition as you make it out to be.
Great Article!
Thank You.
I've been a Barista for 12 years.
I appreciate every tip.
I have customers that have become more like friends that do not tip at all because they just simply don't understand and come from a completely different time and I really don't care!
But those that understand and tip us well because they really appreciate me and the work I do make my life better!
I work there for the health insurance!
But every little bit of money helps with things.
I have customers that will walk out if I am not behind the bar.
They have particular taste and if it is not made right it is not worth the effort.
They aren't bothered or angry, they just know what they want and take care of us for doing it right.
Thanks again for the great article!
i believe that a person should only be tipped if they are a worker who only makes less than minimum wage. If they are already making min wage or more, why tip? They are already getting paid, Its their job at what they do. Technically speaking some jobs are even not allowed to accept tips even though customers still try to give.
Interesting. As a customer who always orders a small coffee, I am in a tipping crisis. I can no longer afford a dollar per coffee, but fifty cents seems lame. Anyway, great article!
It was very hard work it was my job to serve my customers and I took the job, knowing I would be paid slightly higher than minimum wage. It was my responsibility to try my hardest, serve a tasty cup of what ever, and tell everyone on the other side of the counter that we thank them for their business.
I never expected to be tipped why? Because I worked at Dairy Queen, and I did my job.
Baristas get over yourselves and put away the tip jar. You don't do anything special that the next art school dropout or 16 year old can't master in a month or two.
Back in the day I used to work really hard behind the counter making all sorts of concoctions for people. Sometimes it was really simple and fast, and other times it took more than 5 minutes, sometimes more if your "dairy" needed replenishing. The line would be out the door some days and it didnt matter if it was mid summer or the dead of winter, there was always a wait. And yeah, I remember having to go thru weeks of training, just to learn how to use the machines and complicated equipment, and it still took me several more months to get things right. We would even have to learn how to take apart, clean every single tiny piece of equipment, and have it reassembled perfectly before the customers could be served. Some of these machine cost over $10K, and if you didnt set them up right, then they could easily breakdown. The company took the craftsmanship very seriously and we made it an art form, and there was even an annual Olympics to see who was the best of the best.
It was ver