隨著越來越多年輕人涉足咖啡產業，對於咖啡廳從業者勞動狀況的社會學理解仍然有限。部分研究將咖啡廳員工歸類為低技術勞工，忽略了後工業時代咖啡產業的文化轉型。本文採用美學勞動框架，闡明精品咖啡師的勞動過程，強調品味的角色。通過對三家咖啡廳的參與觀察和36名咖啡師的訪談，本研究討論了精品咖啡師與連鎖店員工之間的勞動差異。研究探討了美學勞動的具體技術，包括感知、沖煮和服務。精品咖啡師在咖啡師、精品店和消費者之間的競爭性品味市場中進行「好咖啡」的協商。本文說明了品味在美學勞動中的關鍵作用，對精品咖啡師的面試篩選和勞動經驗產生持久影響。精品咖啡師被訓練成為品味仲介、品味製作者和品味守門人，提高其在服務產業中的地位，但同時也再製了內部劃界中的不平等。

As more young workers enter the coffee industry, a greater effort must be made to understanding the labor conditions of coffee shop workers. Several studies have categorized employees in the coffee shop industry as low-skilled workers, neglecting many of the cultural transformation factors associated with the current coffee shop industry in the post-industrial era. Acknowledging that baristas produce customers’ aesthetic tastes in conjunction with selling coffee and cultural products, this study uses the concept of aesthetic labor to examine the role of taste in specialty coffee barista work. Using participant observations and data from interviews with 36 baristas, this study discusses discernible labor disparities between specialty and chain store workers, and explores aesthetic labor techniques such as perception, brewing, and service among specialty baristas who negotiate “good coffee” in competitive taste markets. Trained as taste brokers, producers, and gatekeepers, specialty baristas often experience elevated statuses while reproducing internal inequalities.