When I look back on the five years of owning the café, there are a number of things that I had to learn through painful experiences. Handling the memorial day rush is one of those things. The first year we had a bit of an excuse because we had no idea what to expect, but I think it took three years before we finally started doing things right. With the parade going all the way through Depot Town, it makes sense that we would have a lot of customers coming in first thing to get a cup of coffee, latte, cappuccino, or other beverage and maybe something quick to eat. In the first three years it seemed like no matter what we did, we always ran out of coffee, and once we ran out, there was just no way the coffee maker could ever catch up. There is nothing worse than looking at a line full of people needing coffee and having to wait 5 minutes for the pot to brew which still wouldn’t be enough.
The past few years we have had a system that has worked pretty well. I have a bigger coffee maker now and much larger containers to brew coffee into. I have also made sure that I am the one working the espresso machine, and Forrest is right next to me prepping the cups for the next drinks in line, so all I need to do is pour shots of espresso and steam the milk. This year I got in before anyone else and started brewing coffee. By the time we opened at 8:00 am, I had over 10 gallons brewed and was ready to start on espresso drinks. When we started getting busy, things almost fell apart when we got a couple of lattes crossed up and had to remake a couple of drinks, but Forrest and I recovered and made it through the rest of the rush without incident. I wouldn’t say customers got their orders in record speed, but I would say everyone got their order in a reasonable amount of time. It really is nice when things come together the way you want them to.
