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BARISTA TRAINING IN COALFIELDS

Last week I was teaching Basic Barista Classes in Clermont and Moranbah. There was a lot happening other than training. Here are their stories we would like to share with you. Enjoy the reads !

QCWA Clermont Class

Hi I thought I would share some great highligts from our Clermont Basic Barista Class last week.

This class was held in the Clermont QCWA building. This venue was a perfect area for training and a big thank you to Dawn and Jennifer for organising this for us.

P.S. I hope you enjoy the coffee aromas still lingering in the entire building when you open it back up today. I did at 6.30am this morning.

Last night Kay, Shane, Chris and Larissa were trained the basics on how to make quality espresso coffees consistently and the dedication involved to do so.

Within 2 hours, nerves were settled and they had the CWA kitchen smelling like, sounding like and buzzing like a real cafe!

The coffee aromas wafting from this kitchen were absolutely delicious.

Perfect coffee extractions poured and milk texturing happened with some gentle tweaking of new dosing, tamping and texturing skills.

Anyone for a great coffee?

Cappuccinos, Flat Whites, Lattes, Piccolo Latte (Chris's evening favourite), Mochas, Long Blacks and Espressos were the other coffee stars of the night.

Larissa made an awesome layered Hot Mocha with marshmallows and her dad Chris, now knows 'the game is on' a home. There will be healthy competition between the two of them to make the best espresso coffee once they purchase their new espresso machine.

Kay was clever. She poured out coffee art with her first coffee for the night - an apple. Her milk texture was perfectly creamy and silky to achieve that. Well done !

Shane mentioned that both him and Kay had travelled over 50 klms to this class to drink a quality coffee. Shane's smile broadened once he had is first coffee he made in front of him. I hope both of you got some sleep last night.

At the end of the course, I asked all of them how I could improve this training for future students. Chris cheekily piped up, 

Penny's Plaza Cafe - Barista of the Week

I had the pleasure of meeting an awesome group of cafe staff at Penny's Plaza Cafe in Clermont during  last week's training there.

Penny has owned this business for more than 13 years and admits she is all self-taught. Her business is busy with local trade and town visitors from other regions. They also cater for many functions and events on top of their normal trading times.

Ainslee is one of Penny's staff members, who is passionate about coffee even though she is a 'Jill of all trades'. 'Everyone does everything here', she said. Ainslee went onto say she has worked at this cafe since 14 and still remembers when Penny had the old Harrris Boiler to texture milk. Ainslee said she would cringe every time asked for a cappuccino at it meant she had to use 'THAT THING'. Her fear of this equipment stopped any passion in Espresso Coffee preparation. Nowadays, Penny has modern commercial coffee equipment and Ainslee and the others enjoy using them.

Ainslee and Penny explained that they buy the Primo Taza D'oro coffee blend for their cafe. This blend has sweet peach, chocolate and nutty undertones which their customers seem to like. Some of their customers also like the 'Volcano Coffees' meaning heaps of milky foam included. Ainslee said they make the coffees how their customers ask for them. Sometimes they are not the standard coffee style. 

After our training session, Ainslee said she was going to work on getting their grinder fixed after I could see it needed their blades changed and service. She also said she was going to keep practising her milk texturing skills and coffee art.

Ok Ainslee the challenge is on to stretch your skills...

I will be back in your store this week and please do not cringe when I ask for a cappuccino with some artwork on top.

Thank you Penny and staff for letting me into your happy team environment for a short while and training you. Penny it is obvious you are a wonderful second mum, friend and employer to them all. See you soon with your Statements of Attendance Certificates and new coffee station procedures.

Moranbah -Fantastic Barista Time 

OH what a fantastic Barista Time we had in Moranbah.

The QCWA building was rockin like, smellin like and sounding like a real cafe. Those aromas coming out of the kitchen were simply divine.

Participants learnt the basics of what is involved to be a Barista. Not just an average Barista but a Barista who is highly sought after in the hospitality industry and can travel the world with their skills and knowledge.

They had so much fun while learning; there were heaps of giggles, coffee and milkly smiles, new friends made, coffee trade secrets shared, new and current business owners refreshed and honestly the odd sleepless night from drinking too much coffee. 

There was also healthy rivalry between the day and night Moranbah classes.

So here, here..

I think you are all amazing and best of luck with your coffee making from now on.

 

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