Walking up to the coffee stand inside Bluesfest, I tried to channel my past self.
Back in high school, I worked at a small bagel store in my hometown. There, I also served lattes and cappuccinos, but I remember it taking a while before I really got the hang of steaming the milk without it exploding everywhere.
Now, at a dripping-wet Bluesfest on July 18, I thought of my 16-year-old self, who felt so grown-up pouring coffee and pretending the bagels fell on the ground so I could eat them.
Though Little Victories was ready to go at 5 p.m., the rain delayed the festival from opening its doors until about half an hour later, so I had time to brush up on my barista skills before it got too busy.
The quiet was a stark contrast to country star Ella Langley’s headliner the night before, said Kyle Charron, one of the cafe’s employees, who has been working at its various locations around Ottawa for the last five years.
“It was our busiest night. But it’s very dependent on the weather and who’s playing,” Charron said.
Though festivalgoers soon began lining up at the merch tent across from the coffee stand, only a few would cross over to order.
At the beginning of each night, it was mostly volunteers and festival workers who were seeking caffeine hits to get their night started, said Charron.
While I was on shift, a volunteer ordered hot chocolate, saying it was surprisingly chilly out.
“Do you want to make a latte?” Charron said almost immediately after I had asked if I could hang around.
He clarified that he’d foam the milk for me and all I had to do was pour it, which I did, and tried my best to do a little swirl, which — unsurprisingly — didn’t turn out.
Though I wasn’t quite at latte-level yet, Charron and the others gladly let me jump on the nitro-cold brew orders, which I learned is sort of like if coffee was beer on tap.
Little Victories, which is at Bluesfest for the first time this year, offers pretty much its entire coffee menu from its cafes, along with an espresso martini topped with vanilla cold foam.
Charron said when he first found out they’d be at the festival, he was looking forward to the change in scenery.
“It’s generally a super excited crowd. Not your typical morning coffee crowd,” he said.
One of these excited patrons was Eden Laprise, who, espresso martini in hand, told me she bought a full festival pass by herself so she could be free to do whatever she wanted.
She had never been to Ottawa’s Bluesfest before but loved the idea of discovering artists she’d never heard of.
Laprise usually works evenings at La Cage, an upscale sports bar in Gatineau. But, she told me, with rainbow stars painted across her face, she took the festival’s duration off from work so she could have a “festival summer,” and lots of time to prepare her looks for the occasion.
Though she’s also been to Montreal’s Osheaga festival, Laprise prefers Bluesfest for the smaller, local food options it offers.
“It’s so nice that you have a good coffee option here. At Osheaga, they only had brewed coffee,” she said, taking a hefty sip of her drink, which she preferred to other espresso martinis because of the sweet cold foam on top.
After my conversation with Laprise, I almost forgot that I wasn’t a real employee at Bluesfest’s Little Victories.
Customers approached me, asking me questions about the menu, and though I didn’t know the answers, I happily got to pouring their cold brews.
Maybe I was still mentally at the bagel store — I even found myself grabbing a cup and prepping orders a few times without asking the baristas.
Because the weather made for a slow start to the evening, I had time to get to know some of the people behind the counter.
Toby Root has only been working at Little Victories for a few months, and this was her first shift at Bluesfest.
Between taking orders, Root told me she’s working on opening a wine bar with her friends on Somerset Street West.
I had caught her at this time in her life, right before this major change, and she had all the excitement and uncertainty you’d expect her to have about it.
Tough Luck Wine Bar, which will open in the next few months, is an embodiment of youth and casual hanging that Root has put all her savings into.
She then turned to serve a customer, but as they ended up chatting about what concert merch they’d bought, it felt more like watching friends who were just catching up.
Her conversation lit up the little coffee stand on an otherwise gloomy evening.
Soon after, Billie du Page’s atmospheric voice echoed from Bluesfest’s Main Stage nearby.
Watching everyone behind the counter move to the rhythm, I hoped I might be able to stick around a little longer and re-learn how to make a latte.
