We have all stumbled across a favorite technical device or mod-con that, once discovered, changed our lives evermore when we travel great distances in search of adventure or for work. As a coffee connoisseur and Barista aficionado, that device was the invention of the double-walled and insulated thermos travel mug specifically for coffee. Hallelujah!
After a decade of traveling the globe multiple times, my coffee always came in either a Styrofoam cup that was non-recyclable, glassware that burnt your fingers and lips, and ceramic mugs in cafés and restaurants that left me wondering if today was the day I contracted some tropical parasite or unwanted bacterial infection from questionable hygiene standards behind the doors closed to customers.
When I stumbled across my first travel mug in Japan, it became the Holy Grail I had been searching for without knowing I had been searching for the miracle of portable coffee in my personal mug to go. I had that travel mug for three years before tragedy befell me, and the mug required replacing after slipping through my fingers from the third floor of a hotel balcony. Luckily, it was the crack of dawn, so no one was around to be injured. Alas, the insides of my beloved travel mug suffered the same fate as I would have had I taken the same path to the ground.
In the years since that fateful day, I have amassed a collection of coffee travel mugs and styles of coffee I enjoy drinking and have discovered several important things about travel mugs.
- Travel mugs need a handle. Sleeky is sexy but impractical when on the move.
- Travel mugs need a tight sealing lid that prevents liquid from escaping.
- They should hold heat for six or more hours.
- They should be ambidextrous. Surprisingly, most are constructed for right-handed people.
- The larger they are, the more caffeine you need to fill them, which can dilute your coffee style of choice, making for an average coffee. Choose a mug size that pairs with your coffee style choice.
- A short black or Americano does not need a Latte Grande mug.
- You save the planet one cup at a time by reducing waste coffee cup packaging and plastic lids.
- You typically pay a little less for providing your own mug, saving the business money on its overhead.
Barista Coffee Skills Travel With You
If you love coffee and travel, you know how hard it can be to land in a foreign country and find a barista with the skills to make your chosen beverage. Skills Training College provides a short Barista Course under six hours that can teach anyone the basic skills needed to become a certified and accredited barista. You can add to that a Latte Art course that enables you to create amazing foam art on top of the perfect cup of milk-based coffee.
Why Should You Become a Qualified Barista
First and foremost, you know that you can make the perfect cup of coffee every time! You know what beans to use, how to blend them, how long they need to steep to release their flavor, and you know every one of the over thirty coffee styles you could be asked to make by a customer.
Secondly, once you have the skills and certification, you can get a job in any café in the world. The coffee market is the fourth largest market on the planet and growing every day. Baristas are in high demand, and the job boards have an endless list of positions vacant for baristas. A truly exceptional barista is a coup and will bring loyal return customers to any business.
Thirdly, even if you don’t want to become a full-time professional barista, having barista skills allows you the opportunity to start a side hustle for some extra cash. There is no age limit; even if you have retired from the mainstream workforce, you can still earn a little cash on the side with your barista skills. You could wow your church or club patrons with your skills and make some money in the process. For under five hundred dollars, you could become your own small business and work your way up the ladder to owning your own coffee house chain if that is your dream.
Fourthly, there is no better way to treat your loved ones, family, and friends than to showcase your amazing barista skills. What hostess or host doesn’t want to show off just a little by presenting the perfect cup of coffee with bespoke latte art to their guests after the show-stopping dessert course!?
Lastly, imagine how popular you will be when your child’s school holds its yearly fundraising campaign or Fate. You could make a hefty chunk of change for the cause with your barista skills and the espresso machine you have in your kitchen. You don’t need an industrial machine to produce the best coffee. You need the knowledge, skills, and plenty of practice. Before you know it, you are in high demand and opening your own little corner café with a growing customer base.
Backpacking Around the World With the Barter System
If you are young and ready to set off into the big wide world and explore all of the cultures and countries that make up our planet, then you are likely going to be on a gap year as a student or a young adult with some form of work visa for the countries you intend to visit.
Never has the role of a barista been more in demand. From the ski fields of the Swiss or Italian Alps to the little towns on the tourist roads with the only café for a hundred miles, you can use your barista skills to trade for services, accommodation, wages, or just to make your own perfect cup of coffee, even if means teaching the person who would normally make your coffee a trick or two with your latte art skills.
The barter system is making a huge resurgence with the cost of living and the increasing poverty levels globally. Having an easy-to-acquire skill that doesn’t put you into debt to acquire and can, in some places, earn you more than a degree-holding office job per hour, and you would be crazy not to jump online and check out the nearest courses to you.
If you happen to live in the United States or the United Kingdom, you may even find a local group or organization that will teach you the skills for free. For the rest of us, less than six hours and $150.00 will get you same-day accreditation as a nationally qualified Barista. That means you can start applying for jobs the next day, armed with the skills you need to hit the ground running. Why train someone from scratch in a business when they can hire someone who is already trained and has the practical, demonstrated experience they seek?
So, choose your travel mug wisely to suit the purpose and your coffee style. Pack it in your onboard luggage (empty), and then you are ready to hit the terminal in your landing destination and head to the nearest café for your overdue hit of caffeine in your personal travel mug. What more can you ask for to kick off your adventure … aside from your luggage greeting you intact on the carousel?
By Amey MyersAmey, an intrepid traveler and avid blogger, roams the world, absorbing diverse cultures, flavors, and experiences. Her writing captures the essence of her adventures, inspiring others to explore. Amey's infectious passion for travel and storytelling epitomizes a life filled with exploration and adventure.
