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The Coffee You Have Been Waiting For…
Is Finally Here.
9am - 4pm Monday - Thursday
9am - 3pm Saturday - Sunday
I will show you the difference between average coffee and excellent coffee!
I’m Talen.
And I have been proudly serving coffee for the last 5 years. I started by working at the local cafe in the small town I grew up in.
I started simple, with the task of running food to and from the kitchen, and every time I walked past that beautiful silver coffee machine, my heart would flutter.
I LOVED the idea of making coffee.
All the buttons, dials, and patterns you could press, turn, or pour.
Naturally, I wasn’t allowed to do so much as run the coffees out to customers for a few months, at least until I learnt the ropes. And when that day finally came I was ecstatic being able to pour myself a coffee was another kind of euphoria like I never felt before
I was HOOKED.
There was so much to learn, so much to do, and I felt so important standing behind the coffee machine, clicking buttons and twisting dials.
I understood I knew very little, but I had the spark, drive, and willingness to learn more.
This first coffee was the KEY to my career, and the story I am about to share with you is the reason I am here today.
Despite my everlasting love for the craft, I knew only ONE thing about making coffee:
You never know everything about making coffee.
Scrolling through the endless videos on the tips and tricks to making good coffee, was all very overwhelming to say the least. Every video I watched made my heart sink just a little bit more.
I had so much to learn.
Being only 16 at the time, I didn’t understand that the enjoyment came from learning, rather than having learnt. Don’t get me wrong I still enjoyed making coffee, and interacting with customers.
But it didn’t sit right with me.
I was working towards an endless spiral of unlearnt information. Even though it felt so wrong to strive towards something that I could NEVER make perfect, I began analyzing what world champions were doing. From 6 months ago, right up to 1 week ago.
And I noticed something.
A little detail that most would miss… Even the best in the industry were still improving. That’s when I realized I NEED to start learning, after all the champions spent years before they even thought about launching their own brand. That same night I sat down and thought about where I wanted to go with my career.
I had figured it out.
As I progressed through school, and kept learning more about coffee. Being as passionate as I am
I set my scope on owning my own cafe.
I had an abundance of ideas for themes, names, food, and drinks. I was so set on this dream, I decided to go study business at UC. It was then I started to really think about the cost of owning a cafe.
Reality hit me hard.
You don’t really think about behind the scenes when you go in to buy a $5 cup of coffee, it would’ve cost me upwards of $75,000 to start. This was disheartening, not only was I not earning anything being full time at University.
I was actively losing money via Student Loan Debt.
I was thinking about how in many decades I could one day achieve this dream. After discovering it will be a seriously long time before I can start a cafe.
All seemed so hopeless. I began to search for other career choices, but nothing stuck. It was like I was driving a car full speed, without having the means to fill my tank.
I didn’t know what to do.
It was the summer of “23/”24,
when I reconnected with an old friend who shared my deep love for coffee. He pointed me toward a summer job at Orana Park as a barista.
The simple act of reconnecting with my craft, and chatting with customers reignited the fire inside of me. Suddenly,
I knew what truly made me come alive.
It wasn’t the endless hours cramming for exams, the exhausting study sessions, or even the wild Friday nights. No, it was the long hours experimenting and researching coffee, the rush of adrenaline during those chaotic three-hour lunch shifts and the team bonding sessions that kept me going.
They were what I truly wanted.
These moments were what got me out of bed every morning. They shifted my entire perspective on life. After a long heart-to-heart with my parents over New Year’s, it all became crystal clear.
I needed to focus on my passion, my career…
I dove straight to work learning about every little detail I could about a Cafe, and how they run.
I needed to know much more than pouring a cup of coffee. Running a cafe to the extent of my knowledge, would be like a toddler putting together 2 pieces of wood and calling it a house.
Responsibility fell onto me with the vision of my future sparkling in my head. Taking on everything I could for no extra pay. Despite my manager's annoyance, I asked many questions to truly understand everything my future cafe demanded.
Flooded with knowledge, only 2 things were stopping me from what my heart was set on…
I had $0 to my name.
I didn’t even have a full time job yet, let alone key resources not typically accessible to a 19 year old part time barista. I was so close to my dream I could smell the freshly ground coffee, and the sweetness to the pastries fresh out the oven.
Even as I started to grasp the finer details of my future, it seemed like nothing more than a fleeting dream.
The real reason I am here today…
I had a good friend of mine send me a job application for a full time second in command job at a cafe. I didn’t think much of it. Everyone said I was too young, but I had to go check it out anyway. I didn’t expect much of anything so I wasn’t going to be disappointed. What was there to lose?
After a long series of question after question. I landed the job. This was a huge jump for my career, it would allow me to finally gain access to the 2 crucial components I was missing. My mind was buzzing with glee.
The craziest part?
I was only there for 2 months before another opportunity arose. It came to my attention when a lovely florist who first hand had seen my passion and burning desire to run my own cafe.
She gave me the true key to my career.
The name and phone number of the mount pleasant community center. They were looking for someone to take over their cafe!
I wasted no time, the same second I got home that day I gave the number a call and practically fell into my laptop. All just to get the ball rolling that would end with me opening a cafe to share my love and passion with the world.
This single opportunity flourished and grew into what you all know as Barista Binks. All from that one whiff of good luck.
With the journey until this point coming to an end, we’ve got something big to talk about.
In hindsight this journey has brought me far out of my shell from the timid server back in 2019 to the energetic happy to chat barista I am today. The skills I have learnt, refined, and improved has been a major part of my life over the last 5 years and it will only continue to grow and expand as time continues.
Confident to manage all forms of a cafe from stock levels, social skills, and recently book keeping. The list can only go on forever, so if you’d like to hear more about it I’ll see you at Barista Binks for a chat.