Photo by Derryn Semple Photography
Do you want to pour like a pro and get the most out of the fresh roasted beans you buy for home. There are numerous options around the country to enlighten your senses about the amazing bean and how to get the best out of it.
Here are a few of our favourites:
Barista Training Workshop
These courses are held on the first Saturday of the month, however we do add in additional Saturdays when it is fully booked or if we have a group that would specifically like to attend the course on their own. We can also do a one-on-one course during the week on special request for people who are unable to attend over a weekend.
The course covers the following topics, with a lot of hands on experience:
-Extracting the perfect espresso
- Grinder settings
- Dose vs. Flavour of espresso
- Roastery Tour
- Growing and processing
- Coffee Cupping
- Milk texturizing
- Introduction to Latte Art
- Slow Brew Methods
- Menu Deconstruction
- Trouble shooting
- Cleaning and Machine Maintenance
This course is
R1500.00 per person, however we do offer a discounted rate for group bookings.
The course starts at 8:30am and goes on to 14:30pm, and includes a welcoming coffee and pastry, and a light lunch.
Latte Art Workshop
This course is one-on-one and is 3 hours long.
The following is covered:
- Basic espresso extraction
- Milk texturizing
- Steaming different types of milk
- Pouring standard shapes
- Pouring advanced shapes
The Latte Art Workshop is
R550.00 per person.
In addition to the 2 courses we run, we can tailor make a coffee experience for individuals or groups, depending on the area they would like to focus on (cupping, espressos, slow brew methods, etc.)
These dudes are a fully retail and training operation, so they are an excellent choice for the aspiring home barista!
They have numerous different options, you can see all of them on their website.
BASIC BARISTA TRAINING COURSE
Coffee History
Basic Roast Profiles
Setting Grinders
Espresso Parameters
Basic Milk Texturing
Pouring Basic Milk Drinks
R 1200 FOR 4 HOURS
R 1600 FOR 6 HOURS
Colombo's Coffee Appreciation Masterclass is a blend of coffee theory and application and is a 3 hour course held at Colombo Coffee and Tea (Shop 1, 59 Kensington Drive, Durban North) every Monday and Friday at 12pm.
In the course they cover:
An introduction to coffee, it’s origins, it history, harvesting and processing methods.
Brew techniques and methods for multiple brew apparatus such as the Aeropress, Pour Over, Plunger and Chemex.
An introduction to roasting.
An introduction to espresso based coffees such as Cappuccino, Latte and Macchiato along with methods of preparation and how to evaluate.
The course instructor will also take you through a Coffee Cupping and introduce concepts around identifying tastes and how to apply cuppings principles to your own coffee drinking habits.
Every attendee receives a theory booklet, a sample bag of coffee and a certificate of attendance.
NB - The maximum number of people per course is three, so booking is essential.
R1000/person
This team offers a fun and laidback option for improving your barista skills over the space of an evening that cover the following topics:
01/THE PICKER PERSON
A basic understanding of coffee (history, growing process, roasting process)
02/THE ROASTER PERSON
Hands on making your own cappuccino (extraction process, steaming milk)
03/THE BARISTA PERSON
Latte art (yes this is your attempt at achieving that heart shaped picture in your cup!)
04/THE DRINKING PERSON
Yup, this is you. Where would we be without you? Cheers, have another!
We love this approach to coffee, they also run regular cupping evenings, check their Facebook page for updates
Can't ever go wrong with the Bean There crew! This team provides an amazing environment to learn about coffee. You can choose between a home brewing course which covers alternative brewing methods or a home barista course which covers work on the espresso machine.
The comprehensive descriptions can be found here.
Each course costs R1000/person
The
3-day course covers all aspects needed by the professional barista - including coffee theory, the perfect espresso pour, micro-textured milk, and latte art. Our training gives baristas the tools to diagnose and solve their own problems. In essence, we teach the why, not only the how. The training takes place at Origin HQ (28 Hudson, De Waterkant). Our 3-day training course runs most weeks from Tuesday to Thursday and accommodates classes of 6 to 8 students, 9:00 to 3:30.
This course is R3000
We also offer a one day course for no more than 2 students per class. This means each student gets to work on their own espresso machine and the direction of the class can be shaped to suit the student's needs, and spend time focusing on a personalised, student specific class dynamic. The training takes place at Origin HQ (28 Hudson, De Waterkant).These classes are available any day of the work week depending on availability.
This course is R2500.
The home barista course is a four hour long workshop and demonstration covering a good bit of coffee theory, all the alternative brew methods available at Origin and an espresso based drink tasting and troubleshooting guide. The course is
R600 per person and run for groups of 6 to 10 people.
If you ever have the opportunity to visit Beaver Creek on the KZN South Coast, you can attend their basics course, which includes a tour of the farm, bonus!
The course will focus on increasing your coffee brewing knowledge as well as information on the process of coffee production. Learn how to make great coffee at home through a variety of percolation methods. The course includes: ◦ A guided crop to cup tour. ◦ Basic bar setup. ◦ Machine calibrations. ◦ Brewing ratios and brew times. ◦ Milk and coffee theory. ◦ Espresso preparation. ◦ A variety of brewing methods. ◦ Milk texturing. ◦ Machine maintenance. ◦ Coffee cupping (cup tasting). Duration: 3hrs Attendees: Up to 5 people at a time max So if you consider yourself a coffee fanatic or you would just like to have the confidence to brew great coffee in the comfort of your own home, then come get behind the machine and other brewing apparatus at BEAVER CREEK. If you're not interested in the course then simply visit us and enjoy some coffees from the Estate or from around the world. PLEASE NOTE: Barista Course is by appointment only; please phone 039 3112347 or email sales@beavercreek.co.za to make your booking.
Passionate about creating more passionate people who appreciate the wonder of the bean. Alyssa heads up the Truth Barista School with a number of different options to suit whatever level of barista mastery you hope to achieve. Their most popular is their Coffee Appreciation course.
Coffee Appreciation includes
Coffee facts – theory on coffee, history, origin, Interesting facts about all the aspects of the coffee business from growing, harvesting beans to roasting, production, preparation, sales & after-sales
Roasting theory of coffee – different bean profiles.
Cupping – the professional method to taste coffee of different origins and characteristics before blending and preparation for brewing.
Intro to the equipment – espresso machine, bean grinder, an in-depth discussion about all the equipment a barista uses, including the tool kit (barista kit).
Pouring the perfect espresso -Pulling a shot of espresso, a step by step “start to finish” guide to preparing the perfect espresso consistently, just like the pro’s do.
Milk Preparation – learn the key technique to preparing micro-textured milk, this give you the skills to get the milk perfect for every espresso-based drink.
Presentation – learn the importance of presentation standards when preparing your coffee, with latte art demonstration, “ great presentation equals great coffee”
This course goes for
R650/person
This wonderful roastery in the heart of Centurion loves to teach it's patrons more about the bean, they offer three different courses including a comprehensive three day Barista Tarining course for R1500, Intro to Espresso (2.5 hrs after hours) for R350 pp, Intro Milk steaming (2.5 hrs after hours) for R350 pp and Intro to Latte Art (2.5 hrs after hours) for R350 pp. They can be contacted on info@heavenlycoffees.com
There are many other options out there, so let us know if you've been on one that you learnt a lot from and you would like other people to know about.
