Always a smile with your cappuccino: Pilvi stays cool under pressure
No matter how long the queue at Brasserie Science gets: Pilvi Kipper can handle it. Everyone is greeted with the same friendly smile, and chances are the barista already knows your order. Her secret? ‘I make every cup of coffee with love.’
Pilvi, who is from Estonia, has been working as a company caterer and barista in the brasserie of the Gorlaeus Building for a year now. After many years of working irregular hours in the hospitality industry in her hometown of The Hague, she applied for a job at our faculty last year. It turned out to be a perfect match for both sides. ‘I'm really enjoying it here. I feel like I'm part of a family. Thanks to my colleagues, the students, and the staff.’
Pilvi has been living in the Netherlands for fourteen years now, together with her Dutch partner, whom she met while working in the hospitality industry in England. ‘I was 21 when I moved from Estonia to the United Kingdom to work there. That's where I met my boyfriend, and we've been together for sixteen years now. We wanted to live in the Netherlands. Of course, I had to get used to it at first, but now I feel completely at home.’
Working full speed all day
Her day at the brasserie starts at 8:00 in the morning. That's when the lights go on, the music starts and the pace picks up. ‘It's a very busy location. That's what I like about this place. In the morning, you check the orders for catering assignments and prepare them. That could be coffee or tea for meetings or lunches. Then the croissants go in the oven, and after that, it's mostly just a lot of coffee making,’ laughs Pilvi.
Cappuccino is by far the most popular drink in the brasserie. ‘We serve hundreds of coffees a day here. Sometimes we even reach 350 cups a day.’ Then it's important to stay calm when you see the queue getting longer and longer. ‘It doesn't make me nervous anymore. It did at first, but now I see it as a challenge to work as quickly and efficiently as possible.’
‘Sometimes I can tell just by looking at the mug. Then I think, ‘That's a flat white with oat milk.’ I just remember it, I don't really know how I do it.’
Just checking in to see how things are going
What's striking is that the barista knows the coffee orders of many students and staff by heart. ‘Sometimes I can tell just by looking at the mug. Then I think, ‘That's a flat white with oat milk.’ I just remember it, I don't really know how I do it. Of course, I see some people every day, so you learn quickly. But I also know a lot of names and try to chat with everyone, just to check in and see how they're doing. Now, with so many new students, I have to learn a lot of new names and orders again. But my colleague always says about me that I make every cup of coffee with love, and that's absolutely true.’
Becoming a barista wasn’t always part of the plan. ‘I took some coffee training courses in England. I thought it was a nightmare. You need so much information, so much knowledge. But now that I'm more experienced, I actually really enjoy it. I want to learn a lot more about it and hope I'll also get the chance to learn more about coffee beans. When I train new colleagues now, I say: ‘It's not the art in the latte that's most important, but the texture of the milk and the right amount of espresso. The basics have to be right, then the rest will follow.’
Did you know?
You can get ‘Early Coffee’ in the morning? Every day between 8:30 and 9:30 a.m., there is a coffee promotion where you can get your cappuccino, coffee, or flat white at a reduced price. It is now also possible to order an evening meal. If you order before 12:00 noon, you can pick up your dinner until 6:15 p.m. Orders and payments are made online.