What to do with the barista's tip jar

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BY MICAH MERTES / Lincoln Journal Star

It sits on the counter in front of the barista: that confusing, confounding, anxiety-generating tip jar. Sometimes it has money in it. Sometimes not.

And after you buy your $3.85-plus-tax venti triple chocolate espresso surprise, you’re left to confront the jar. What do you do?

Do I tip a dollar? Geez, that’s like 25 percent. Too much.

[+]Enlarge

Jon Ferguson, owner of Cultiva Coffee Co., receives a tip while working the morning shift at his store, at 15th and South streets. (Michael Paulsen)

Jon Ferguson, owner of Cultiva Coffee Co., receives a tip while working the morning shift at his store, at 15th and South streets. (Michael Paulsen)

More tipping help

In a restaurant, a tip is mandatory, even if the service was poor, says Peter Post, director of the Emily Post Institute. If you're unhappy with the service or food, talk to the manager and voice your concerns, he said.

"Legally, restaurants are allowed to pay servers sub-minimum wage, and the tip in the United States is part of bringing the person's salary up to a livable wage," he said. "It's part of the contract when we go out to eat in the United States."

How much? Tip about 15 percent to 20 percent when eating in a sit-down, full-service restaurant, Post said. The standard is moving toward 20 percent of the check, most likely because it's easier to calculate, he said. Gratuity is typically based on pretax total.

Other people to tip: Tipping might not be as common outside of the dining business, but plenty of other employees also benefit greatly from tips: bartenders; casino employees; hairstylists and barbers; manicurists, massage therapists and estheticians; taxi drivers; food delivery drivers; pet groomers and trainers; and hotel staff members.

How much? For most services, plan to tip about 15 percent if the service is up to par, Post said. One exception: If the barber or stylist owns the business, a tip is not necessary, he said. Tip taxi drivers a little more if they handle any baggage.

At hotels, tip a bellhop $2 for the first bag and $1 for each additional bag he handles, Post said. And a concierge who is able to arrange for tickets to a popular show, for example, might be awarded a $5 tip.

Consider leaving a tip for housekeeping staff in an envelope each night instead of a larger amount before checkout. Several workers may be attending to the room during the week, he said.

For much more info on tipping, visit www.tipping.org.

Take the barista challenge

Don't think being a barista's serious work? Check out these guys.

Each year, masters of the bean compete at the World Barista Championship. The result: a whole lotta great cups of coffee.

The organization that has sponsored the event since 2000 said the goal is to promote the growth and recognition of the barista profession.

Each competitor serves four judges a single cappuccino, a single espresso and a single signature beverage of the competitor's choice. Contestants are graded on several criteria.

If you think you've got what it takes, go to www.worldbaristachampionship.com.

- Staff and wire reports

What about 15 percent? That’s only 50-something cents. No, that would just be condescending. Better nothing than such a low amount.

Wait a second, I just spent $4 on a cup of coffee. That’s ridiculous! I’m leaving. No tip.

Uhhh. Now I feel guilty.

It’s a question we ask ourselves at the coffee shop, or the many other businesses that have jars looming on the counter: To tip or not to tip? And if so, how much?

“Tipping’s a cultural phenomenon,” said Jon Ferguson, owner and manager of Cultiva Coffee Co., 1501 South St. “It differs drastically from one block to another, from one business to the next.”

Ferguson’s worked at a handful of coffee shops before owning Cultiva. At one venue, tips would bring him up to $20 an hour on a good day. But at other shops, he’s made, well, much less than that.

“I don’t want to make anyone feel obligated to tip when they come into the store,” Ferguson said. “Tip if you want to tip. Don’t if you don’t. But tipping’s nice, sure.”

Few of us question tipping a bartender or waiter, but baristas are a trickier breed of server. They typically make more money per hour than bartenders or waiters, who often get paid a “server’s wage” — that is, less than minimum wage.

But baristas still don’t make much. In some cases their pay’s not much better than minimum wage. So every extra nickel helps.

“We’re glad for whatever anybody puts in the jar,” said Jacob Grier, cowriter of coffee blog SmellingtheCoffee.com. Grier’s worked as a barista at several coffee shops, and he usually tips fellow baristas a dollar per drink.

“At a high-volume coffee shop, the tips, even the small ones, add up over the course of a day.”

So it’s not condescending for me to put, say, my leftover change in the jar?

Grier: “No.”

Ultimately, Grier said, tipping creates a good rapport between you and your barista. If you’re a regular, the rapport can ensure solid repeat service and drinks.

“Baristas are like any other kind of bartender,” said Jason Anderson, manager, owner and sole barista of Coffee Emergency, 2723 N. 48th St. “They deserve to be tipped when they make something properly. There’s a skill, an art to being a good barista.”

Now, Anderson said, that doesn’t mean you need to tip someone who just gives you a cup to pour your own coffee.

“You don’t need to tip a barista for everything,” he said, “but the amount of skill it takes to make a really well-executed cappuccino; something like that deserves a tip.”

“It just depends,” said Teresa Blackstone, who was spotted sipping coffee at Crescent Moon Coffee, 816 P St. “It depends on what your order is and how much work they have to do, if they have to bring it out for you."

In response to a question about tipping baristas, CHOW.com food columnist Helena Echlin wrote that it’s important to note not all coffeehouses are equal in attention to latte craft. Some chains have automated the process of making coffee drinks so much that all some baristas have to do is push a few buttons, hand you your cup and take your money, she said.

In those cases, a tip doesn’t really make sense.

But, she said, “When it comes to the person who makes your coffee, I say use the same rule of thumb you should use for any food-service counter worker: If you feel he or she has gone beyond the industry norms, made you laugh, given you something extra she needn’t have, in some way noticeably improved your life, if only for a moment, tip her.”

Eric Norby, 19, has worked at all kinds of coffee shops (five in Lincoln), some of which only required button-pushing and some of which required bona fide barista skills. Now he’s working at Crescent Moon, where the tips are relatively good, he said.

He’s found a few strategies in how to get better tips throughout the day.

“When I’m wearing this shirt (it displays a cutesy train that says I Choo Choo Choose You), I get better tips than when I’m not. It doesn’t really make sense, but I get better tips when I wear certain shirts, usually ones that tend to be warmer colors.”

And for all the burgeoning baristas out there, here are a few other tips on getting tips:

- “Count back change,” Norby said. “Customers like that.”

- Put your own money in the tip jar at the beginning of your shift. “If I have $5 in there and the customer sees that, they’re going to be thinking, ‘This guy must be good,’” Norby said. But this can be risky because some people will be more likely to tip you if your tip jar is empty, out of sympathy. It’s a tossup, Norby said.

- Know as much about coffee as you can. “If you have a knowledge of coffee,” Norby said, “it shows through to the customer.”

And they’ll hopefully tip you accordingly.

Reach Micah Mertes at 473-7395 or mmertes@journalstar.com.