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Experienced Barista Wanted: Co-Create a Slow Coffee Project

4.5
(56 reviews)56

The experience

We’re a small slow-living home in the mountains of Chiang Dao, quietly building something special around coffee.

Over the past months, we’ve been running a private café and experimenting with slow coffee, manual brewing. Now, we’re ready to take the next step — developing our coffee systems, roasting process, and future roastery, without rushing into a high-volume café model.


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What you offer

25 hours of help per week

Cooking: Choose the menu, pick ingredients and cook delicious dishes.

Kitchen Hand: Help prepare, finish and serve meals.

Bartending: Make and serve drinks and help maintain the beverages inventory.

Additional fee required

Amount: US$ 8 Per day

Fee pays for: Benefits for travelers and Materials for volunteer activities

Description: We are a small, privately run home without an active customer base. The daily contribution helps cover shared living costs such as accommodation, utilities, maintenance, cleaning supplies, and general household expenses. This includes access to Airbnb-level facilities, a well-equipped café space, gym, mountain bikes, shared food, and coffee. The fee supports the sustainability of the home and coffee project.

What you get

1 day off per week

Private Room: You will have a bed in a private room. In other words, a room just for you.

Shared Dorm: You will have a bed in a shared room, which means you will share the same room with other travelers.

Team Dorm: You will have a bed in a shared room, which means you will share the same room with other people.

Breakfast: You are entitled to a free breakfast, every day of your stay.

Lunch: You are entitled to a free lunch, every day of your stay.

Dinner: You are entitled to a free dinner, every day of your stay.

Discounts on Tours: Get discounts for tours and excursions around town.

Discounts on Accommodation: Get discounts for your stay in other hostels.

Free Laundry: You can use our laundry room freely.

Free Tours: We’ll take you on tours and rides around town. For free!

Free Hiking Tours: We’ll take you on excursions and hikes around town. For free!

Free Events: Get free entrance for the best events in town.

Bikes at your disposal: You can use our bikes any time you want.

Pick Up: We will pick you up when you arrive, and take you to our property.

Yoga classes: Take free yoga classes at our place.

Use our equipped kitchen: Feel free to use our kitchen and make your own delicious food.

Fast Internet Access: High-speed internet for you to work remotely

Dedicated Workspace: Specific space for you to work remotely

Requirements

Intermediate English

Welcomes solo volunteers, couples, and partners of volunteers

What's not included

Flights, Travel Insurance, Internal Transportation and Visa

Program Details

Dao Home is a privately run slow-living space, not a commercial café. We’re intentionally building our coffee project step by step — focusing on quality, systems, and learning, rather than volume or speed.

As a barista here, you’ll help us:

Refine our coffee workflow and daily routines
Develop roasting and bean-handling practices
Explore fermentation and storage methods
Improve consistency, cleanliness, and setup
Serve coffee occasionally to household members and a small number of Airbnb guests

Some days are quiet and experimental. Other days involve serving a few guests. There is no fixed menu pressure, no rush hours, and no expectation of constant service.

This role is part-time by nature and designed to leave space for rest, exploration, and life in Chiang Dao.

Activities & Shift

☕ Coffee & Barista Work

Prepare coffee for the household and occasional guests
Manual brewing, espresso-based drinks, and latte art practice
Maintain consistency and quality in every cup

🔥 Roasting & Bean Work

Assist with or lead small-batch roasting experiments
Explore green bean storage and fermentation methods
Help document and improve roasting processes

🧼 Equipment & System Care

Clean and maintain coffee equipment properly
Care for grinders, machines, tools, and workspace
Respect existing systems and suggest improvements before changing them

🌿 Shared Home Support

Light help with shared spaces when needed
Occasional gardening or household tasks

🕰 Shift Style

Flexible, slow-living rhythm
Typically 2–5 hours per day, depending on guest flow
Some days have no service at all

Rules

☕ BARISTA & COFFEE PROJECT GUIDELINES
1. Collaboration Over Ownership
This coffee project is a shared creation.
We’re looking for a barista who enjoys building systems together, not managing them alone.

You are here to contribute your experience and help us understand how things work, so the knowledge stays within the home even when you’re not present.

2. Knowledge Sharing Is Essential

We value transparency and learning.
Please be open to:
Explaining your pocesses
Sharing recipes, workflows, and reasoning
Teaching us how to maintain consistency without you

We don’t believe in gatekeeping systems or knowledge. Our goal is to eventually build and train a local team — your role helps lay that foundation.

3. Respect for Equipment & Tools
We provide quality coffee equipment and tools.
Use all equipment with care
Do not modify, repair, or change setups without discussing first
Report issues immediately if something feels off or breaks
Respect for tools reflects respect for the craft.

4. No Ego, No Hierarchy

We deeply value skill — but we value humility and communication even more.
Be open to discussion and feedback
Avoid “my way only” mentalities
We experiment together and refne as a team
This is a learning environment, not a stage.

5. Systems Before Speed
Consistency, cleanliness, and clarity matter more than volume.
Document processes when possible
Keep systems simple and understandable
Help us build workflows that others can follow
This ensures the project can grow sustainably.

6. Ask Before Changing Things
Initiative is welcome — uncommunicated changes are not.
Before changing:
Recipes
Roasting profiles
Equipment setup
Storage or fermentation methods

Please ask and discuss first. We value ideas, but alignment matters.