How Does Espresso Machine Work and Why Manner Baristas Fail the Exam

Manner stores use semi-automatic espresso machines, and the company's pay raise exam tests baristas on latte art, milk steaming and grind adjustment on that equipment. Most candidates are eliminated at the espresso operation stage, before reaching the pour-over section that the specialty coffee brand also requires.

Candidates must sign up in advance and travel to a designated store for the test, so unfamiliar machines and grinders add difficulty. Examiners apply strict measures, reportedly checking milk foam thickness with a ruler, and the combination of an unfamiliar setting and tight standards keeps the pass rate low.

For many Manner baristas, the pay-raise exam is the only path to a higher income, but the difficulty of this assessment far exceeds imagination. Manner stores are uniformly equipped with semi-automatic espresso machines, and examiners have standardized requirements for latte art, milk steaming, grinder adjustment, and other operations. As a brand focused on specialty coffee, it also adds a pour-over segment to the test. Yet the actual pass rate is extremely low, with most candidates eliminated during the espresso operation stage. Unfamiliar equipment in an unfamiliar store, unfamiliarity with the grinder, and nitpicking judgments such as measuring milk foam thickness with a ruler make this exam as hard as reaching the sky. This article will restore the true face of Manner's pay-raise exam and analyze the crux of why baristas repeatedly fail.

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For most office workers, promotion and a salary increase are important motivators in their striving, and Manner's baristas are no exception. To fight for a more ideal income, many proactively sign up for the pay-raise exam after working for a period of time.

Unlike the practices of some chain brands on the market, all Manner stores are currently equipped with semi-automatic espresso machines. This type of equipment has a higher operational threshold, which naturally places stricter demands on baristas' professional abilities. Therefore, examiners focus on assessing whether employees can meet standardized standards in latte art, milk frothing, grind adjustment, and other steps. In addition, Manner, which takes the specialty coffee route, also includes pour-over coffee in the assessment scope.

However, according to candidates who have participated, the actual pass rate of Manner's pay-raise exam is quite low, and many are eliminated as early as the espresso machine operation stage, with no chance at all to enter the later pour-over assessment.

It is understood that Manner employees must sign up in advance and then, according to notification, go to a designated store as the exam venue to take the pay-raise exam together. Although this arrangement makes it convenient for examiners to assess multiple employees at once, for candidates the psychological pressure instead multiplies.

Candidates mentioned that although the machines configured in stores nationwide are basically the same brand and model, due to different usage frequency at each store, differences in equipment condition are unavoidable. At the exam site, candidates cannot get to know the espresso machine's "temperament" in advance. Many, because they are unfamiliar with the equipment, find it difficult to consistently produce drinks that meet standards as they usually do, and ultimately fail in the two stages of milk steaming and latte art.

Not only that, the machine's condition also affects another item in the assessment—grind adjustment. An employee who failed the pay-raise exam revealed that it was precisely because he was unfamiliar with the grinder at the exam site that he made a mistake during grind adjustment, causing the assessment to end early and preventing him from entering subsequent stages. There are no few candidates who likewise stumbled on grind adjustment: "All four people in the morning died on grind adjustment," "I've taken it 4-5 times and every time I failed on grind adjustment."

For a long time, Manner, positioned as specialty coffee, has had extremely high requirements for employees. In the initial stage of employment, they must go to the Shanghai headquarters for several months of professional training, and only after passing the exam can they be assigned to stores to work. But before passing the pay-raise exam, most people's actual take-home pay is not as high as stated in recruitment ads. Therefore, the pay-raise exam has become the only channel for employees to strive for a salary increase.

However, when in an unfamiliar store environment and operating unfamiliar equipment, candidates are highly prone to slight errors. Coupled with examiners' almost harsh judging standards, such as measuring milk foam thickness with a ruler and checking whether drinks are filled to the brim, this pay-raise exam tied to salary seems as hard as reaching the sky in employees' eyes.

Many people lament that to pass the strict pay-raise exam, besides having solid skills, one also has to rely on luck to encounter a "soft-hearted deity"; otherwise, they will fall into an infinite loop of "sign up—assess," unwillingly reviewing their experience again and again after repeated failures.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.