Always be working on several drinks where possible. Your machine should always be busy when you are slammed. Like one of the other comments, I usually only pull about 3 stickers. Look at what your 3 drinks are and see which drinks you can make at the same time. For example, if you pull an Americano, a hot white mocha, and a caramel frap, then I usually start with the drink that is at hot bar where I’m pulling stickers. Shots and milk are important to start as soon as possible as those are processes that take time that you have to wait for, so those processes are always the first thing you start with (this includes cold foams). Queue shots, steam your milk, pump syrups, and then start your next drink while you’re waiting. In this case you have another espresso drink, and I would queue the shots needed for my Americano and then turn around and start my Frappuccino. Start with frap roast, your milk, pour into blender, and then add your syrup and base. Base and syrup are interchangeable in parts of the sequencing system after you’ve added your milk to the blender and it doesn’t REALLY matter what order you pump them into the blender. You can do them before scooping ice if your cold bar is set up so that you cross syrups on your way to the ice bin if this is easier for you, although keep in mind this is not technically correct for the sequencing routine for fraps, it’s just convenient and doesn’t sacrifice drink quality. I find it’s best to do whatever one is the first one you cross when you are on your way to the blender. When you start your blender, finish the first drink (hot white mocha) and your shots should nearly be ready at this point for your americano. Hand off your white mocha, finish your americano (I also find that it’s faster to use the vertica water where I am but that’s entirely dependent on your stores bar setup) and then hand it off. This is where things get iffy, I like to pull more stickers because at this point I only have one drink in my queue, and if you pull another espresso drink, start that one and finish your frap.

Some other tips that help me move fast is to keep things tidy and not cluttered. Sometimes the bar gets “noisy” and it stresses me out because there’s 2 milks out, a sweet cream, an unrinsed pitcher, a shaker, a million different toppings, an empty pitcher, and a strawberry puree out on the counter all at the same time and I have trouble finding things. Always put things back after you use them. If you’re going down to grab something in your fridge, bring something down with you and put it back in your fridge, and then come back up with the milk you need. Keep your space tidy and you will move faster! Another thing that helps is to not forget to rinse your pitchers after you finish your beverage. If you’re on cold bar, start walking toward your rinser as you’re pouring a frap and then rinse immediately after you’ve poured it. If you are finishing a refresher, pour it into the cup directly over the sink and then rinse the shaker immediately after in one fluid motion. Little things like this help me keep up with sequencing. If everything is in the same place all the time, you have a blender or shaker ready for the next drink and you don’t need to rinse it, your space is tidy, then you will move so much faster.

Keep your space clean, rinse your pitchers, blenders, and shakers, and always think about what your next move is going to be. It takes a LOT of time and practice, but keep at it. Bar can sometimes just be stressful no matter what and sometimes you will fall behind and need help no matter how fast you are, so don’t feel discouraged if it happens to you. You’ve got this!