Name: Mike Palliser

Company: Stokes tea & Coffee

How long have you been with the company: since December 2016

Job Role: Barista training manager/ Head coffee roaster

Where did you find the job advertisement to apply for the role?

My Dad found an article in the paper about Stokes moving to The Lawn. He told me about it and so I got in touch.

Why did you want to work for the company?

I had been working as a Manager for Odeon’s Costa franchise and wanted to progress further in training and expand my knowledge and love for coffee. Stokes offered a much broader spectrum for me to learn/ Develop and to teach. I also knew that there was an opportunity for me to be able to roast coffee, (something I had been doing very amateurishly at home and really enjoyed). 

What interested you about the industry?

My interest in coffee developed through my love of training. I loved teaching people and being able to support and guide them. The world of coffee is so expansive, the skills are unique and fascinating. As I taught, I would learn and as I learned I would improve, teaching helps me to understand and remember things better. Also, coffee tastes great, it is so unique and manipulative that it is exciting to develop the process of brewing, or roasting, and see what flavors you have managed to tease out of the coffee.

Can you describe a typical day for you?

My week varies quite a bit depending on what priorities I have:

Monday and Tuesday,I roast the coffee which involves weighing out the green (raw) coffee that we need roasting for that week. This could be anything from 20- 50 batches of coffee roughly around 30kilos a roast. I then get the roaster going and monitor the roasting throughout the day. In between roasting I may have some packing to do or some jobs for my training side of my job. 

WednesdaysI try to dedicate to the café’s ran by Stokes. I may do a standard check or assist any new employees in learning their skills. I may also have customer training that I do at our training center.

ThursdaysI may have Customer training or staff training to do or I will be developing my knowledge. In the afternoon I will be able to Cup the coffee that I roasted Monday/ Tuesday as it has had time to rest. This is when we taste the coffee to check consistency or development from that roast. If we have made any changes this is recorded, and the results will decide which direction I may need to roast the next batch.

FridayI may have training or development to work on. I also break down the roaster and clean it. In the afternoon we do a stock count and work out what coffees we need to roast the following week to keep stock full.

What qualities do you bring to the role?

Passion, Knowledge, experience (which is forever developing) and consistency

What is difficult about your role?

I always find the difficult part of any job are the bits that you can’t control. I n my job sometimes getting bad communication from other areas can result in a lot of wasted time and effort and that can get frustrating. 

Aside from that I feel very comfortable in my roles and I enjoy it a lot.

What is the best thing about working at the company?

I am given a lot of freedom in my job roles and feel like I am an important part in a lot of the decisions to do with products that we sell, Taste profiles, and how we develop them so there is great job satisfaction there.

Also, I love the product I work with and continually I am learning new things about it.

Why would you recommend working in the industry?

It is an ever-expanding industry. I always say if you can learn the skills of a barista and you can do it well, you will never be out of a job. Café’s, tea and coffee are such an important part of so many people’s lives that there will always be a demand.

You will never stop learning in this industry and I find that so exciting!