From snobby baristas to coffee shop interiors that feel “like a lobby of a dentist’s office,” coffee shop customers shared what keeps them in the grips of corporate coffee chains rather than spending at local, independently owned coffee shops.

I know small business owners get a lot of unwanted advice. In fact, my boss, Cody often says his middle name has become “You Should” since opening Little Joy. With that said, take all of this feedback with a grain of salt. Your cafe doesn’t have to fit into a perfect cookie-cutter mold in order to be successful.

But my hope is that this list will help give some perspective from the customers’ point of view, and serve as a valuable asset to baristas, coffee shop owners, or anyone thinking of starting a coffee shop some day.

You can view the complete list [HERE]

Store-bought Syrups

With 154 mentions, the most common criticism of independent shops was that they don’t make their own syrups. Between the two big syrup brands, Torani seemed to be the most hated-on, with comments like, “Why would I pay $10 for a latte with Torani syrup,” and “I’d rather have two options of good-quality syrups over 40 different flavors of Torani.”

I’ve worked at coffee shops that make their own syrups, and I’ve worked at shops that only offer store-bought syrups. I will say that the shops with store-bought syrups usually have more flavor options. And this variety might be seen as a good thing to a lot of people.

At Little Joy, however, we try to focus on a smaller menu with fewer syrup offerings. It’s actually become our entire personality online if you haven’t noticed. This approach has been working pretty well for our social media and the business as well. And that might be due to another theme that I saw popping up in the responses.

Menus are too big and there’s too many options. One respondent said they dislike “too many options,” because when a shop “tries to please every single person it tends to wash out the overall feeling and sometimes the product too.”

But are customer’s okay spending $8-$10 on a latte if we’re all paying more for ingredients and labor? That might be a question for another article, but one thing is clear: smaller menus and more intentional, house-made ingredients are what the customers not only want, but expect from independent shops:

“The ‘why’ for going to a coffee shop is the craft behind it, not them putting together Great Value milk, someone else’s beans, and mass-produced syrups.”

The Rude and Pretentious Barista

62 responses mentioned poor customer service, with customers feeling judged for their orders, not being acknowledged, and denied reasonable requests and substitutions.

One respondent said that “the average barista or server at a cafe is distracted, impolite, and often straight up rude.”

As someone who has been working as a barista for six years and in the service industry since fourteen, I know first hand the exhaustion that comes with talking to 400 customers per day, especially when your day often starts before the sun comes up. However, (and I say this at the risk of making many baristas roll their eyes) I’ve found that going into a shift with a more positive demeanor attracts more positive energy from customers.

There’s simply no pleasing some people, but the vast majority of customers are extremely nice when spoken to with a friendly approach.

One way I keep myself in check, especially working at more of a high volume cafe, is to treat every customer as though they drove ten hours to come try one of our drinks. This actually happens occasionally. I usually won’t know about it until I see a photo or video we’re tagged in by a follower who traveled out of their way to take a chance on us.

Perhaps a better way to look at this is to imagine a customer drove ten minutes. Rather than choosing the convenience of a corporate coffee chain located on every corner, they chose your shop.

“Every coffee shop calls things differently and every coffee shop thinks they’re right. As an ex barista I understand the annoyance but as a customer it’s not fun to be talked down to.”

As for the pretentious part, it’s easy to forget that not everybody is as knowledgeable on coffee as you are. If I were to walk into a mechanic and ask what was wrong with my car to be greeted with a grunt and an eye roll, they’d more than likely lose my business. That’s because it’s their job to know these things and explain to me what I need, considering I know absolutely nothing about the mechanics of a car.

Sure, we all get sick of hearing the same five questions over and over, but maybe it’s the customer’s first time at your shop. Maybe they’re used to chain coffee shops and their visit to your shop is their first experience with specialty coffee.

Inconvenient Hours

With just 24 mentions, I almost didn’t include this one on this list, but I think it carries more weight than the numbers suggest. The responses were particularly interesting because respondents expressed a preference for local shops, but due to availability, they often end up settling for chain coffee:

“I work full time and then have evening classes, so half the time when I try to grab coffee or find a third space to study, the independent coffee shops that I want to support so much are closed mid afternoon.”

Personally, I think it’s understandable that independently-owned businesses don’t have the same hours as chains. They don’t always have the staff to accommodate longer hours, or it just doesn’t make sense financially to open earlier or stay open later.

That said, I have noticed an interesting phenomenon that happens when you change your shop hours. It seems that no matter what your hours are, your first and last hours are slow. For example, we used to be open until 7pm, but dropped it down to 6pm because the 6 o’clock hour was a complete waste of time. Then guess what happened? Our 5 o’clock hour slowed down and became a waste of time as well.

I theorize this is because the customer doesn’t want to come in too close to close. Either because they want more time to hang out, or because they think it’s rude to come in an hour to closing time.

So what’s the moral of the story? Shops might not think to extend hours, because if their last hour is already slow, why add another? But It might just be that the last hour will always be slow and you just have to make that sacrifice for your overall sales.

Millennial Minimalism

I did not expect this one to be so high on the list, but apparently indie shops’ interiors are a bit too “industrial” and “clinical.” 97 responses called out shop interiors directly. They said the seating is uncomfortable, there’s not enough of it, and there is a severe lack of outlets. Basically, customers feel that the bulk of independent shops have been designed to encourage grab-and-go culture and discourage lingering.

Millennial minimalism used to be a signal for quality coffee. But now, customers perceive the white walls, white counters, and light wood accents as “hostile” and “clinical.” Customers now long for the cozy cafes of the 90s and early 2000s:

“Where did the cozy cafe go?” one respondent asked.

Another summed it up with this remark:

“Hard to put into words, but I’m seeing more and more shops that seem unrelatable. The aesthetic, online and IRL, may be beautiful but it’s bare and cold, the baristas are specially hired because they’re the ‘cool aesthetic people’ in town and are too cool and untouchable to have conversations with, and the music is TOO LOUD. I sometimes miss the cozy, comfy community of old coffee shops where there’s soft armchairs and you know everyone’s names.”

The minimalistic aesthetic that took everyone by storm nearly a decade ago is something that Little Joy has been working towards undoing in our own shop over the course of the past few years. This has involved staining our wooden benches a warmer tone, adding cushioning to every seat, installing more moody lighting throughout, and adding color back to the space in general. As a result, the feedback has been extremely positive. This goes to show that the “millenial grey” aesthetic is out, and adding more character back to your space is in.

Before we stained our booths:

After:

I’m not saying that everybody has to agree on what is pleasing to the eye or what specific aesthetic makes a cafe worthwhile. I’m just recognizing a pattern in the feedback and acting as the messenger. A slightly opinionated messenger who just categorized an entire generation into boring grey-lovers who despise maximalism. Millennials, I promise I’m just projecting due to my jealousy of your smartphone-free childhoods.

Honorable Mentions

Some other responses included a distaste for flimsy to-go cups, cleaning product smells, bad espresso to milk ratios, too much ice, not enough ice, and a lack of healthy food options.

But maybe the most important take away from this exercise was what WASN’T mentioned. Besides the controversy over charging for alternative milks, I saw very few complaints about pricing. Guys, does that mean we need to raise our prices?

—Written by Serena Walker

If someone were to ask me what makes a great signature drink, this is what I’d tell them:

If you already have everything you need behind the bar when you set out to create your signature drink, it’s probably not a signature drink.

A signature drink should feel like something new, something you had to go out of your way to make, and something people don’t expect. If you’re spending a decent amount of time in the self-serve herbs section of a dimly-lit health food store, searching through mason jars with labels like St. John’s Wort and Slippery Elm bark, there’s a decent chance that what you’ll end up with is a signature drink.

But to say a signature drink should be something entirely new and unexpected would be incorrect. Some of the most popular drinks we’ve created at Little Joy have started with something familiar, made new.

Recently, we’ve had a lot of success turning familiar desserts into signature lattes. Most notable are the carrot cake and cardamom bun lattes (see the carrot cake recipe here). So naturally, we wanted to follow that success with another desert-inspired drink for spring.

Since launching two weeks ago, the Raspberry Danish Latte has been the most popular drink on our spring menu. What’s kind of crazy, though, is that we shared our bulk recipe on social media, inviting other independent shops to put the drink on their menu, and we’ve had thousands of downloads on that recipe. And hundreds of shops from 22 different countries have signed up to put it on their own menus.

You can see if there’s a shop serving the raspberry danish latte near you at this link

Or if you’d like to make it yourself, we’ve posted the home version of the recipe down below.

Raspberry Syrup

Ingredients

• 200g fresh raspberries

• 160g sugar

• 30g water

• 5g vanilla extract

Method

In a small pot, combine the raspberries and sugar. Whisk until the raspberries begin to break down and form a loose slurry with the sugar.

Add the water and bring to a gentle simmer. Let it cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the raspberries are fully broken down.

Strain through a fine mesh strainer, pressing and whisking the mixture through so some of the pulp makes it into the finished syrup. You want the final texture to land somewhere between a simple syrup and a purée. Store in the fridge for up to 1 week

Vanilla Cream Cheese Foam

Ingredients

• 50g heavy cream

• 30g cream cheese

• 20g whole milk

• 12g cane sugar

• 1g vanilla extract

• Pinch of salt

Method

Let the cream cheese soften at room temperature for 15–20 minutes. In a small bowl or cup, mix the softened cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add the heavy cream, milk, vanilla, and salt. Stir to combine, then froth with a hand frother until silky and pourable.

Drink Build

• 40–50g raspberry syrup

• 200g milk

• Double shot of espresso

• Vanilla cream cheese foam

• Fresh raspberry on a skewer, for garnish

Fill a 16 oz glass with ice. Pour 40–50g raspberry syrup over the ice, then add 200g milk. Pour in a double shot of espresso. Top with vanilla cream cheese foam and garnish with a fresh raspberry.

Carrot Cake Syrup Recipe:

200g dark brown sugar
200g carrot juice
1Tbsp Molasses
1 or 2 cinnamon sticks
1 inch piece of fresh ginger (chopped)

Add all ingredients to a pot and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Simmer gently until syrup coats the back of the spoon or reaches your desired consistency (about 5–10 minutes)

Vanilla cream cheese foam recipe:

45g cream cheese (room temp)
45g heavy cream
20g skim milk
15g brown sugar
6g vanilla extract

Stir sugar into room-temperature cream cheese. In a separate bowl, whip heavy cream, milk, and vanilla. Stop short of whipping into whipped cream consistency. You’ll want it to be slightly runny because it will stiffen when stored in the fridge. A hand-held milk frother works great for this step.

Slowly add and stir vanilla cream into cream cheese. Makes about two servings. Store in fridge for 2–3 days

Drink Build:

In a 16oz glass, add ice, 200g of milk, 1 double shot of espresso, and 30g of carrot cake syrup. Stir and top with vanilla cheese foam. Garnish with fresh grated nutmeg.

If you’ve been following along on Instagram, you’ll know that we’re a small coffee shop in Northfield, MN, sharing our fall menu development process in a series of Reels. Some drinks have been complete failures. Some have been definite maybes. This one, however, was a yes on the spot. Here’s how to make it:

Ingredients

• 1 cup honey

• 1/3 cup water

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 4–6 sprigs fresh rosemary

Instructions

1. Combine ingredients
   In a small pot, add honey, water, salt, and rosemary.

2. Simmer gently
   Warm over low heat for 5–10 minutes. Stir occasionally—don’t let it boil hard.

3. Watch the rosemary
   Once the sprigs begin to fade in color, turning a pale green/ brown, remove from heat.

4. Steep as it cools
   Let the rosemary rest in the syrup while it cools, deepening the flavor.

5. Strain & store
   Remove the sprigs and transfer the syrup to a jar or bottle. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

How to Use It in a 12oz. Latte

• Pull a double shot of espresso.

• Add ~20g (1–2 tablespoons) of rosemary honey syrup. Adjust to taste, of course.

• Steam and pour your milk.

• Finish with a pinch of salt and a rosemary garnish.

  ---

Purchase our espresso if you want

Shout out to Megan Sheley who came up with this recipe for us! We featured this drink on day 3 of our fall menu series: “Trying New Drinks Until We Find One Good Enough…,” and it was an immediate and unanimous yes from all the baristas.

Salted Maple Latte Ingredients:

• 15g Maple Syrup

• 1/8tsp Salt (or more - you know what you like)

• 200g Milk

• Double shot of espresso (or 4oz strong cold coffee if you don’t have an espresso machine)

Instructions:

Add ice to a 16oz glass. Fill it up! The more ice the better. Then add your milk, maple, and salt. Stir these up really well. Now slowly pour in the espresso—we want this to sit on top of the milk because layered drinks are pretty. But we don’t want that first sip to be straight espresso so you’re going to give it a tiny stir, like one spin of the spoon. This will mix the espresso with the milk and maple just enough while keeping the layer. Now we’re ready to add the cream top!

Bourbon Cream Top Recipe:

makes about 2 servings

• 80g heavy cream (needs to be v cold)

• 20g skim

• 20g maple syrup

• 7g bourbon (you can simmer this to cook out the alcohol, but it’s not necessary if you don’t mind having a little thimble of alcohol)

• Smoked black salt for garnish (any salt will do, but the contrast of the black salt on the cream is chef’s kiss)

Instructions

Add cream, skim, and maple syrup to something tall and see through—like a glass. Then froth with an electric frother until the cream just about doubles but is still pourable. Now add in your bourbon. Whisk a little more just until you have soft peaks. If you over do it and end up with a super stiff whipped cream situation, no worries. Just stir in a splash of skim. No more whisking though, just stir it in.

Pour the cream-top over your salted maple latte, garnish with a bit of salt, and enjoy!