0:04 This is a multi billion dollar industry. 0:08 It's the second most traded commodity on Earth. 0:11 There are more than 25 million of these specialized farmers across the globe. 0:16 It's harvested, roasted, packaged and shipped to the hands of early risers around the world. 0:22 It's an industry with an impact. For some, they are masters of the trade. 0:28 And it all starts with one cup of coffee. 0:38 Good morning. 0:39 It's Thursday, April 5, and I'm Marianne Ianachi. 0:43 I'm Sindi Dulluku. Welcome to our pilot episode of But First Coffee. It's one I've been wanting to put together for a while now. 0:52 I hate you a latte for saying that. 0:55 You know what Maryann that was weak. I say it was like a blonde roast. 0:59 Oh, are you making fun of my hair right now? 1:02 Come on. It's like you don't even know me. I'd be more inclined to judge your choice of coffee, or lack thereof than your hair. 1:08 Okay, come on. I'm a loyal customer during frappe hour. 1:12 You know what, you're right. I told myself, I'd stop belittling those who don't share the same relationship with coffee as me. Because after all, there are people who love coffee even more than I do. 1:23 You know, I didn't think that anyone would exceed your passion for coffee, but then we met these two. 1:28 It's true. I do love coffee, but these guys, they take it to a whole new level. They're literally coffee masters. It's time to hear the experts espresso themselves and tell us all about what it's like to be a certified Starbucks coffee master. 1:45 We meet JC who's been with the company for almost 13 years. He's a store manager in Scarborough, a certified coffee master of almost six years, and a self proclaimed coffee aficionado. 2:07 A lot of different things in life, products tend to get everybody together, but in this case, coffee was was it for me. As a coffee master we are expected to share our expertise, our passion with our fellow partners, or coworkers. Or we would do coffee tastings with our partners, whenever there's a slow time on the floor. I would hold coffee seminars for our customers and really just educate them on anything they want to know about coffee. It has been you know, a life changing story for me. My sister got pregnant, and her boyfriend at the time left and it really tore apart my family because she was also very young at the time. The only safe haven I had, you know was was Starbucks and coffee. You don't realize the people that you have in your life until you go through a tragic moment. To have my family torn apart because of a silly mistake that was totally out of even our control, to fall back on to Starbucks and the partners and the people, even customers, right and just sharing that time that I was going through a lot of them were very, very supportive. That truly embodied the mission statement, right to inspire and nurture. They truly nurtured me at the time even at my lowest. 3:32 Not only did coffee and his company helped JC through some of life's most difficult moments. They also lead him to one of the most pivotal/ 3:41 I met my wife threw through coffee. She was actually a fellow barista. She was asked to go and pick up trays from our store and from there, you know, we just we just clicked over trays. She had reached back again, just thanking me for lending her those trays and love the courage on this girl. She she had asked me for a cup of coffee. Being who I am, of course, I said yes. We just hit it off, you know, over over a cup of coffee. We shared very much the same values and I realized in my head that I in my heart as well that I could see myself you know, with her for the rest of my life drinking coffee. I proposed to her at a Starbucks like the very place that she worked at. When she finished her shift I coordinated with the store manager there and went on one knee and pop the question. Looking at life half full or half empty. Right? Why can't it be full with coffee. 4:39 Now we meet someone who shares the same passion, but is at the beginning of their journey. Randy Mass is a 20 year old Starbucks barista who has recently become a coffee master. One month into the role, let's hear them take us through how they became a coffee master. 5:03 I love coffee, so I want to know everything about it, where it comes from, and I get to wear really cool black apron. 5:10 Kelly, I've got a grande caramel macchiato for Kelly. 5:13 As I started working at Starbucks, I realized my passion for coffee wasn't just a passion for coffee. It was sort of what I wanted to do with my life. I thought that a really good way to do that was to become a coffee master. 5:31 It's an eight to 12 week long program. They take you through all the basics of coffee, from coffee, agriculture, where they grow it, to how we source our coffee, how we roast it. How we ensure that our coffee is ethical, always just the last 10 feet, which means getting our coffee from our stores, to our customers. I really like seeing how a cup of coffee can impact someone's day and that is just really special to me, I get a little like flutter in my heart, whenever I see someone who's just gotten their coffee, and all of a sudden their face changes. And you can really see the difference, like it's not just like a subtle thing that only I'm noticing. I want to open my own cafe, one day, and I want it to be a place where people can connect, where they can foster growth and community. Where people can just connect over a simple cup of coffee or their favorite latte or cappuccino. This is my career. This is what I'm doing for the rest of my life, so it's really important to me that I invest in it. And it's really important that I sense that passion and I follow that passion. I'm impacting people's lives. So that's more than just a job that's a relationship with everyone who comes through my store with my other partners, with my manager. It's a relationship more than it is a job. I would not be able to get up in the morning and I would not be able to go through my daily life without coffee. 6:56 Before we go, we wanted to take to the streets of Ryerson to see who students would want to share one cup of coffee with. 7:02 I don't know maybe Jim Morrison, like I'm just kind of like obsessed with him. He's the lead singer of the doors and it's like my favorite band. 7:10 William Daniels from Boy Meets World. He was Mr. Feeny. 7:14 Ellen DeGeneres. And she's like, she's 100% one of my idols. 7:18 Oh, Ellen DeGeneres has a good one. Who would you go with? 7:21 Hands down Jimmy Fallon. 7:24 Oh, I have to pick Chandler Bing from Friends. 7:27 I would argue you on that one, but let's save that for another episode. 7:30 Thank you for listening. Tune in next week to hear more. Now I'm ready to get an early start to my weekend. 7:37 Me to Marianne, but first coffee.