All across the world coffee shops, supervisors and baristas manage the morning rush. Some statistics indicate that upwards of 6.2 billion cups of coffee are consumed every day. I imagine that well more than half is consumed between 6 am and 9:30 am.
Although every morning rush is comprised of the same, sleepy clientele, each cafe is unique in its response to the rush, its enjoyment (or stress) around the rush and its dependance upon the rush for survival. A poorly managed cafe will quickly descend into messy counter tops, toppled milk pitchers, empty urns of coffee and forgotten drinks.
This is not the case at Drip.
Steve Thatcher has been managing the morning rush in cafes for over 25 years. But, even still, today, you'd think he just found the thrill of it. There's nothing he likes more than "serving the customers".
"The Customers", he says.
"Uh, Hello?" He gestures toward the door, "We've got customers." His Amarillo draw squeezes the word together. It sounds more like "Kustmers."
For a speciality shop, Steve knows the importance of efficiency and customer service. Despite having one register and no drive thru window, Drip easily dispenses 500 cups of coffee between the hours of 6:30 am and 10:30 am.
"Dang, it was busy today." I might say.
Steve will appear as if he didn't notice. "Oh really?"