Coffee Business and Barista Training Bundle (4days) - Vancouver

Prerequisite: No prior experience required
Location: Select from the dropdown 'In-Person (4days)' OR 'Online (3days) In-person (1day)'. The course content is the same regardless if you take it in-person or online.

If the dates available on our calendar do not work for you then please reach out so we can arrange dates that do work for you.

Class Times:
Day 1 class times 10:30 am to 3:30 pm
Day 2 class times 10:30 am to 3:30 pm
Day 3 class times 10:30 am to 6:30 pm
Day 4 class times 10:30 am to 6:30 pm

Curriculum:  This 4-day bundle of classes brings together our most important classes with a discounted price tag to give you a clear pathway on how to open and run your own cafe:

• Opening a Coffee Shop
• Barista Level 1
• Barista Level 2
• Barista Level 3
• Barista Level 4

Opening a Coffee Shop (2days):

This course is designed to help you plan, design and critically think through the process of opening your own cafe.

• Canadian coffee market: It’s past, present and future
• Customer expectations and who they are
• Specialty Coffee
• Quality Control
• Service Models
• Vision
• What to look for, what to avoid and how to gather Intelligence the correct way
• All about the competition
• Drink and food menu and equipment related decisions
• Choosing your equipment suppliers, espresso machine and coffee roaster
• Finding a location, choosing a general contractor, tradespeople and case studies
• Marketing, Promotions, Holiday planning and Branding
• People Management, Staff Training & Fostering a Barista Culture
• Managing Your Numbers
• Quantifying Results
• Freshness

Barista Level 1:

Most people know very little about coffee despite its being the most consumed drink in the world. Our collective coffee wisdom mostly comes from branded advertising, factoids and corporate propaganda. Have you ever wondered why people drink the coffee that they do drink? Is it based on taste preference? Are there more flavours to taste in coffee then coffee itself. In these classes we pull back the curtain and reveal the truth about coffee.

• Foundational barista knowledge
• Debunking coffee myths
• The role and influence of the barista
• Defining the types of cafe to clarify the job market
• Specialty and commodity coffee types
• Changing the coffee marketing narrative
• How to talk about and taste the essential Coffee Wheel of flavours
• The tongue map, umami and basic elements of tastes perception
• Varietals and Species of Coffee
• Decaffeination
• Basic coffee agronomy and processing
• Regional Coffee Profiles

Barista Level 2:

Prerequisite: Barista level 1

In this coffee class you will learn the barista mission and fundamental skills. Understanding ‘why’ you do something makes you more consistent with each and every customer. This will insure the cafe you work at delivers consistent quality tasting drinks. Our way of teaching will inspire and empower you to be the best professional barista.

• Essential barista knowledge
• What is espresso, its history, fundamental theories and preparation
• Defining what is drip, pour over, press pot, french press, moka pot, stove top espresso
• Essentials of espresso, tools and equipment
• All about grinders for bulk, drip, decaf and espresso
• Adapting to and adjusting for retention, dosing, tamping and flow
• Fundamentals, processes and stereotypes of coffee roasting
• Peak of coffee freshness and understanding expectations
• Typical 3rd wave roasting scenarios and outcomes
• Roast types correlated by cafe quality
• Importance of Espresso Machines and their history
• Espresso Machine Types
• Differentiating and defining what is a beginner, advanced and expert level barista and how to approach for mastery
• Equipment cleanliness and maintenance
• What is the real true value of the barista

Barista Level 3

Prerequisite class: Barista Level 1 and 2

Even if you have read barista how-to books, watched youtube videos and have prior cafe work experience, we still recommend you take our barista level 1 + 2 before registering for this level 3 class. This class is hands-on and interactive involving and using all your senses. You will learn to manipulate techniques to enhance taste and fine-tune the technically correct drink.

• Tasting exercises for understanding the basic elements of tasting and tastes perception
• Developing and understanding your palate
• How to talk about what you taste in coffee
• Blind coffee cupping
• Comparative cupping for roast level, branding and taste descriptors
• Cupping for quality
• How different methods affect coffee flavour
• How should Espresso taste?
• Roasters influence on taste
• Grinders role in affecting taste
• Machine engineering and taste
• Baristas impact on taste

Barista Level 4

Prerequisite course: Barista Level 1, 2 and 3

This barista class is hands-on and will teach you to be consistent by following our step by step instructions, practising over and over again for making and tasting great coffee.

• Espresso definition, essentials and preparation
• How to use and care for coffee equipment and tools
• Grinder differences, efficiencies and burr sets
• Making adjustments to the grinder to change taste depending on retention, dosing and tamping
• Identifying espresso components for safe easeful use
• Learn to troubleshoot coffee
• Basics of beverage preparation
• Learning how and making a technically correct drink
• Practice, practice practice
• How to grind, dose and tamp coffee
• Espresso drink names, sizes and recipes
• Latte and cappuccino milk texturing principals
• One-person bar and two-person bar practice
• Milk based drink names, sizes and recipes
• Advanced barista techniques
• Dialing in coffee by extraction ratio
• Dialing in coffee by taste
• Latte art heart, detailed heart, rosetta and tulip instructions
• Machine cleanliness and maintenance