Description
Three days. No experience needed. At the end of it, you can run a coffee bar on your own.
This barista masterclass is for people starting from zero, or close to it, who want more than a quick tour of the espresso machine. We take you from your first shot to the point where you can open the bar in the morning and work a full day’s service without anyone looking over your shoulder. Whether you want a job in a café or plan to open one, these are the skills you’ll use every single day.
And it goes further than the bar. You’ll cup coffee the way roasters and buyers do, and you’ll leave understanding why a coffee tastes the way it does, which is the part most baristas never get taught.
What you’ll learn
- Coffee theory: origins and processing, and why one bag tastes of chocolate and another of blackcurrant.
- Espresso preparation and troubleshooting: pull a shot, then taste what’s wrong with it and fix it yourself.
- Milk steaming and latte art: silky milk first, then the designs to go on top.
- Espresso-based drinks: cappuccinos, flat whites and the rest of the menu, made properly and at café speed.
- Introduction to coffee cupping: taste coffee the way professionals do and put words on what you find.
- Brewing methods: pour-over and batch brew, so your filter coffee is as good as your espresso.
- Equipment cleaning and maintenance: a dirty machine makes bad coffee no matter who’s behind it.
- Customer service and order taking: keep the orders straight in a queue and send people out the door wanting to come back.
Certificate options
When you finish, you choose between:
- A Coffee Laboratory certificate.
- The SCA Barista Skills Foundation certificate from the Specialty Coffee Association, recognised worldwide as the standard in coffee education. Learn more about the SCA here.
Who should attend?
Anyone who wants to:
- Start a career in coffee with skills an employer can see on day one.
- Open a coffee shop and know the bar inside out before you hire anyone.
- Fill the gaps, if you already work in a café and learned everything on the job.
- Learn coffee properly from the ground up, because you’re curious how it all works.
It’s hands-on from start to finish. Expect to be on your feet making coffee, not sitting taking notes.
