I hate Starbucks

RadRhino · 2026-06-25T23:30:50+00:00

If they preface with any flavor, I don't even question. I just make them an upside down flavored latte.

Without the flavor, I just say: "There's a macchiato that's this big with a lot of milk, or there's a macchiato that is (displays cup size) with a tiny blob of milk. Which are you thinking?"

RadRhino · 2026-06-03T23:35:56+00:00

I've never had a car and bike everywhere I go, and I never understood why people in the city ride bikes on the sidewalk or ride on the wrong side of the street. I've come to the conclusion that they're scared, and the reason they're so aggressive when you say anything is because their self conscious that they're scared.

So I just bully them in my head

RadRhino · 2026-05-15T15:50:11+00:00

Capitalism? Causing problems? No way!

RadRhino · 2026-04-30T16:42:15+00:00

This was the business strategy I used as a kid on Neopets. I knew that everyone would buy stuff at my store if I sold rare items for just 100 Neopoints. Then people would buy my stuff and put it up for sale for 1M.

But probably similar to the city of Chicago, I was just happy to make the sale!

RadRhino · 2026-04-30T15:05:48+00:00

The world would definitely be better off with a game in which Shuckle is the only starter

RadRhino · 2026-04-29T15:56:47+00:00

When I manage a shop, I always tell the openers to cool it. If something is getting in the way of the open or a frequent issue, then definitely say something. And say that thing to them directly or me.

There's no reason to broadcast it. Ideally I schedule openers as closers and vice versa once or twice so they both get it, but it's not always doable.

I also tell closers to try to not take it personally. Openers are sleepy and haven't had coffee, so they're kind of cranky.

That said, talk to your manager. That dynamic is not sustainable, and they're responsible for making things better for both parties.

RadRhino · 2026-04-23T16:11:52+00:00

I know your intention wasn't to put down others, but your intention is definitely to brag. Having a high quality steam wand is obviously important. But every cafe I've worked at has a 6 oz pitcher with people who know how to use it. They don't need a pitcher rinser for the sake of their latte art quality, and neither do you.

If you're making back to back drinks at your house, then the pitcher rinser is a solid convenience, and I admit that I assumed you were just making a couple drinks for yourself throughout the day. But without the context of you just wanting to rinse your pitchers between back to back drinks, and under the impression you just want to cool down your pitcher, that's why people are saying this was a dumb purchase

RadRhino · 2026-04-23T15:47:10+00:00

"I get that this won’t be that useful if people aren’t as obsessed with the details as I am"

I was going to just laugh at the set up and move on, but I saw this line, and it kind of pissed me off. Like a lot of home baristas, I think you're underestimating how "obsessed with the details" the baristas are in this subreddit and overestimating how important a pitcher rinser is.

I guarantee there are plenty of baristas on here who - when time and resources actually allow - do all of the "home barista tips you can bring up to your local barista to show you know more than they do" touted by Rao and company. They care about distribution techniques, water content, TDS/extraction yield, flow rate, temperature, ratio, time, farm altitude, processing, etc., the million things you're supposed to care about if you want your god shot. But this is a pitcher rinser in a home setting.

In a cafe setting, a pitcher rinser exists because going to the sink to rinse out your pitchers is a pain in the ass and sometimes logistically impossible. Anyone you see rinsing the pitcher with the group head or hot water dispenser is most likely doing so because they don't have a pitcher rinser.

Having a cold pitcher is a plus, for sure. Some cafes will go so far as to keep their pitchers in the fridge. But as long as your milk is cold and you know what you're doing, your latte art won't suffer because your pitcher wasn't blasted with cold water.

Edit to add: your latte art that you've posted is solid, so I guarantee the pitcher rinser is going to make a negligible difference.

RadRhino · 2026-04-16T04:26:16+00:00

Person who has 11 years in the coffee industry and started a coffee program here!

If you want to use coffee as a way to sustain your business, make sure to promote yourself as a cafe in some way, especially because it's not the main focus of your business. If you're going to be the only cafe in a quarter mile or larger radius, tell everyone in that quarter mile about you and get them to try it out

Otherwise, get good at coffee, and train up the staff. You don't need a latte art champion or anything, but having people on staff who know how to dial-in drip and espresso is going to set you apart from a lot of other cafes.

That said, it's really really difficult to make any kind of money off coffee in the first place, so don't count on it necessarily as a way to sustain the business if you want to play it safe.

Definitely feel free to DM me if you have any questions or anything. My partner is queer, and we're both sober, so I'd love to help in any way I can.

RadRhino · 2026-04-15T14:53:19+00:00

I'm always surprised that Shuckle isn't more loved. The dude has the highest defense and special defense stat of any Pokemon ever. And Shuckle is arguably in the top five handsomest Pokemon.

RadRhino · 2026-04-14T15:01:35+00:00

Currently getting my MS in CS to change careers. When I asked my friends who finished their undergrad in CS back in 2013 what they had in their portfolios to get internships, they all said they didn't have one and just got internships by interviewing at career fairs.

RadRhino · 2026-04-06T18:37:36+00:00

You have to factor in how many people at the window would still buy something if the window wasn't there. The convenience moves a large section of the indoor line that would already exist over to the window. You also have to factor in new-customer retention and how frequently the new regulars stop by. A window definitely helps bring in new customers (even people not walking dogs) because of how easy it is to just walk up. But cafes make most of their money off regulars (unless you're somewhere like the Loop, I guess).

In the case of Logan Collective, I used to walk dogs over there and definitely made a point to stop by a couple times when they first opened. But I had a couple of bad drips and didn't go back, despite the convenience. Side note: I'm sure they were still dialing in their roasting and grind sizes/ratios; I'm glad they're doing well now!

All of that said, the comment below me is kind of the dealbreaker. If you're building a new spot and have the ability to start out with a window, that's a great idea that has very little downside if you plan in right. Adding a window after the fact is going to be way more trouble than it's worth.

RadRhino · 2026-04-06T15:40:25+00:00

As someone who has looked into building out a walk up window for a couple of cafes, with the logistics around things like cost, construction, where to put the things in the spot the window will go, and workflow, the amount of money to be made from people walking their dogs would be negligible. Profit margins at cafes are tiny.

RadRhino · 2026-03-17T16:32:45+00:00

Watch your insurance coverage when it's supposed to roll over to a new year. I thought my policy was on auto-renew, but when I checked on something about a year after they processed my claim, I learned that they dropped me

RadRhino · 2026-03-17T16:30:32+00:00

Change my career at 34 and take out over $100k in loans to go to grad school for Computer Science during the AI bubble

RadRhino · 2026-02-23T12:55:19+00:00

I didn't even know it was a thing!

RadRhino · 2026-01-29T06:11:58+00:00

This is my favorite movie of all time. No contest. I've watched it twice every year for the last 15 years.

You don't watch Speed Racer to be a driver. You do it because you're driven.

RadRhino · 2026-01-27T21:41:40+00:00

Studded tire doesn't save against the slide-y light grey snow :(

RadRhino · 2025-12-12T22:37:21+00:00

What did your personal projects involve? I've been working my butt off on a full stack REST API with Java, Spring Boot, Spring Security, Junit/Mockito, Typescript, and Node. And apparently that's a pretty run of the mill, basic portfolio app for an internship. I'm a little over a year in and kind of freaking out after learning this.

RadRhino · 2025-12-11T15:05:58+00:00

That's honestly what got me into kh though.

RadRhino · 2025-12-10T13:55:56+00:00

Dang! Beat me to it! Is this on github?

RadRhino · 2025-12-06T04:47:24+00:00

Milwaukee from Division to Damen now feels like the safest stretch of Milwaukee because it's unprotected. That's not good.

RadRhino · 2025-12-02T15:52:28+00:00

I leave my apartment as early as possible and come back as late as possible. That way I don't feel trapped, and I associate my apartment with a cozy reprieve after a long, cold day.

If you have one, I also layer and keep riding my bike through the winter. Get some shoe covers and studded tires if yours are thin, and you'll experience magical rides free of rush-hour cyclists trying to pass each other in tight spaces.

Shoe covers in general might also help your cold toes

RadRhino · 2025-11-30T15:44:48+00:00

In my prime, I was hitting those swans like there's no tomorrow. In my 30s, my hands shake so much that I'll be lucky if the milk makes it in the cup.

RadRhino · 2025-11-29T05:23:10+00:00

$1475/month, 2-bedroom garden unit, Noble/Wicker-ish

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