An Interview with Madeleine Longoria-Garcia by Hylan Joseph

Madeleine Longoria Garcia
Educator & Espresso Technician, Pacific Coffee Research
Community Coordinator, Specialty Coffee Association US Chapter
Licensed Q Arabica Grader, The CQI

Hylan Joseph: Why did you choose coffee as a career?

Madeleine Longoria Garcia: I worked in a cafe as a college student and, when graduating, knew I didn't want to enter the 9-to-5 cubicle office job life. Continuing to work in coffee just made sense - I enjoyed the work and I was good at it AND it helped me avoid cubicles! 

HJ: Why did you choose to start as a barista?

MLG: Like I said, I started working as a barista while in college. As part of my financial aid package, I had a work-study award and was originally assigned to a job that I didn't enjoy at all; I applied for a job at the university's cafe and was hired a month later! It was definitely a means to an end; I needed a job to survive in college, to pay for books and help with tuition payments. I also needed it for my own well-being, I had been working since I legally could at the age of 16 and not having a job felt strange to me. 

HJ: What lessons did you learn as a barista that helped you become a service tech.

MLG: Ha! Well, I learned that things can go wrong at any time. And I felt that I wanted to better understand these machines I was making coffee with everyday. I hadn't ever installed or repaired equipment, but I had calibrated and programmed quite a variety of machines/brewers in the past. Additionally, I saw a need in my community: I only knew of 2 trained service techs on this island at the time; one of them was particularly difficult to pin down for maintenance calls and the other was kept busy enough with other cafes & restaurants. Once I did some training, there were 3 of us on-island for about a year, but now that number is back down to 2 and I still hear that no one can ever pin down the other one. Coffee work isn't their primary job, so it seems to be put on the back burner quite a bit.

HJ: What was your path from barista to service tech?

MLG: It was a practical decision: the company I worked for was continuously struggling to get regular maintenance performed on their machines due to limited availability of techs on-island. I volunteered to be sent off to a training so I could help fill this gap. I had worked as a barista on-and-off for about 6 years at that point, I had managed cafes, set up & calibrated equipment simply by reading manuals, had dealt with random issues, and generally tried to learn as much as I could. I wanted to be able to offer a service that was lacking in my area. Now, I own my own business and coffee tech services is one of the many coffee services we offer to clients.

HJ: What hurdles did you encounter moving into a career as a tech?

MLG: I really wish I could apprentice with a mentor. I've had so many random things thrown at me from day one: corroded boilers to clogged solenoids to really bad water and random leaking. I find my process takes a lot longer because I sit and think and research and second guess myself over and over until I finally create a plan of attack. Unfortunately, there's no one who I can apprentice within my area, so it's just me, myself, and I figuring it out. I certainly have a couple of great people to call on for help and guidance, but it's different from actually carrying out jobs and calls with a highly experienced and trained professional for a while before setting off on my own. Sometimes it feels like I just jumped straight off a cliff without knowing what I was getting into.

Additionally, I'm a petite human, so the toll some of these jobs take on my body is a bit much and has made me realize it's not a sustainable job for me. I can do the work, I enjoy the critical thinking required to do the job correctly, but the aches and pains I get are a sign that I eventually need to see someone else do this work; one day we'll hire a service tech who can do this better & more efficiently than I can!

HJ: What could you have used help with when you first started?

MLG: As mentioned before - a mentor! Also, the CTG Slack channel would have been super helpful from the get-go. I still had my SCA membership designation as "barista" and finally switched it over in September and, wow, what an awesome network of folks to have at our fingertips.

HJ: What do you wish someone would've told you when you were first starting out?

MLG: It's okay to not know the answer. Here are people to call for help:                       

(Mostly Mike Sabol who is one of the kindest & most knowledgeable people I've met)

Maybe start lifting some weights.

HJ: Name three tools you couldn't do without.

MLG: Can my entire socket wrench set count as one tool?

Haha okay if only three, I guess I'll go with:

Crescent Wrench

Stubby Phillips Screwdriver

Hex Wrench Set - yes, I need all of them! 

HJ: What advice would you give a person just starting out in this industry.

MLG: With less than 3 years of part-time coffee tech work "under my belt," I feel like I'm still just starting out, so I really don't know what I'd say. I'd definitely tell them to train with La Marzocco - I've taken two tech courses and that one was, by far, superior.

HJ: What’s the weirdest service call you’ve ever had.

MLG: I don't get too many bazaar calls, mostly issues related to water. One goofy call that happens more often than I'd hope is "the groups are acting weird and pulling espresso so slowly! Maybe there's a clog somewhere?" They usually just need to adjust their grinder. I'm glad it's always an easy fix and it reminds me that our coffee community is still young and growing; we have a lot of potential for growth and improvement and I'm happy to be a part of it in my own way.