Barista Training Courses

[DecafMatty]

Hi all,

I have noticed that one of the CS site sponsors is coffeeschool.com.au. Has anyone had experience with them? Has anyone had experience with any other school, such as baristabasics?

Thanks,
Matt.

Post edited by mods in line with site posting policy...the latter company is not a sponsor, so please dont plug their web site here...

[O_P]

Re: Barista Training Courses

I went there while they were at Arundel St in Glebe and it was not great. Too many people packed into the room and the trainer really couldnt handle the number of people there. Probably didnt help that half of them couldnt understand english well enough to follow the instructions and kept making the same mistakes, but she could have handled it better.
I got the certificate for Latte Art and I still can master the free pour. We just werent given enough time. I wouldnt employ anyone on the basis of this cert alone.

[paulee]

Re: Barista Training Courses

i agree. ive been to the coffee school in sydney cbd for the pure reason that it was the cheapest i could find.

i wouldnt recommend it if you are looking for a more detailed and extensive class. I believe this course will suit people who are doing it for fun only

[muppet_man67]

Re: Barista Training Courses

I did the Melbounre coffee academy (william angliss) 1 day course years ago. It was a good day. Did a bit of roasting in poppers and got plenty of practice with grind/dose/tamp and freepouring. All that stuff was new to me at the time and everyone else who had been sent from work. Previous to that my coffee knowlege was just how to operate the machine.

Im not sure if its still the case but at the time they had supply deals with coffee and milk suplliers which limited their ability to discuss these things openly.

[andreasb]

Re: Barista Training Courses

I have been to Espresso School, the beginners course. I thought is was really helpful. Definitely a recommendation from me.

[barrel]

Re: Barista Training Courses

I have been to David Makins course and found that it was well worth the time and dollars spent. Small class sizes (Only 2 when I did mine and a max of 6) mean that you get a fair bit of one on one training.

[DecafMatty]

Re: Barista Training Courses

Thanks for the replies guys.

Really appreciated!

Cheers, Matt.

[eggs]

Re: Barista Training Courses

I did the Tobys Estate one
Home Barista course was great, my coffee has improved 10 fold since.

Post edited by mods in line with site posting policy...the company is not a sponsor, so they dont get freebie web site plugs...

[tony8028]

Re: Barista Training Courses

I did the Sunbeam course today which is free with their machines. Only a few people there so my guess is very few people take up the option. It was pretty good, i learned one or 2 things that have really helped. The instructors and a bit on the smug side, but they know what they are talking about.

[Thundergod]

Re: Barista Training Courses

they know what they are talking about.

What makes you say this?

[wambesi]

Re: Barista Training Courses

they know what they are talking about.  

What makes you say this?

Ill chime in here as I was also at the course and Ill add that although I did get a little out of it I thought they could fix a few little things.

My main gripe (well really the only one) is the two instructors differed with their dosing amounts. Both used the 6910 tamper as a guide however the main instructor advised that the metal on the tamper should line up evenly with the basket whereas the other advised me when he was walking around that it should be a little higher than the basket (about 3-4mm).

Overall it wasnt a waste of time, although I thought it could do better with another say 30mins of coffee making time.

The one thing that was really great was the milk texturing, I can now say my milk is much better, more velvety that I was doing as they showed us how to do it better on that particular machine, and even went as far to say as they do it differently on commercial machines as there are differences.

Some of the other things I seemed to be doing pretty well (well, maybe ok) with as I had read about the machine on here and taken advise from the many contributors.

[Thundergod]

Re: Barista Training Courses

Ill chime in here

Your post didnt answer my question.

Your comment regarding the two different dosing levels brings into question whether or not "they know what they are talking about."
:question :question :question

[wambesi]

Re: Barista Training Courses

I guess I should not have really quoted you as I didnt really intend to answer the question directly. I dont believe you could answer that question after an hour and fifteen minute class - and especially as my knowledge level is quite small compared to many others on this topic.

Do they know the sunbeam machines? They seemed to, did they know what they are talking about? Id like to think so however with contradicting advice it keeps me wondering.

At the end of the day (well 1h 15m) I walked away with a little more know how and better milk techniques.

[Thundergod]

Re: Barista Training Courses

They undoubtedly know the Sunbeam machines.
Ive even heard that they give instructions that contradict the user guide.
But heck, I know what Im talking about when it comes to the Sunbeam because theres one Ive used at work up to 3 times a day for almost the last 3 years.
Ive even delivered two training sessions on how to use it.

What I dont like though is generalisations.
Thats why I asked the question.
Maybe there is a valid answer...and maybe not.

[Coffee2Di4]

Re: Barista Training Courses

I agree with Wambesi - when I did the course in October last year, I took a bit of knowledge out of it.

I didnt notice any difference in my two instructors advice re technique and they seemed to both work as a team. Both of the ones I had were (albeit self-professed) practising baristas and stressed the importance of fresh beans very heavily and that you shouldnt buy beans or preground from a Supermarket. They also walked around fixing everyones techniques individually - in particular, I remember being told my pour was too quick and how to remedy that by updosing a bit more (nothing mentioned about grinder adjustment, but the were all pre-dialled in) and I also remember one of them correcting my milk texturing when I was stretching far too much and showing me the correct angle and depth.

Although only very green at the time, they increased my knowledge of coffee making two fold because, although you can read about it on CS, theres nothing like getting some immediate feedback from someone that appears to know what they are talking about.

Having said that, now that Im more experienced, Id still love to do a proper course that isnt Sunbeam oriented - particularly now that I have my HX - and fill in a few more gaps. Being a Training Manager, I believe in the power of training and that you always learn something at any course, however small it may be.

Cheers
Di