Posted Tue Sep 13, 2005, 4:05am Subject: Barista Training in the UK
Hi
This is my first post here and it's a question:
My partner and myself just completed a Gaggia Barista "Introduction" course in London that we found very interesting. We were given a Gaggia Carezza, Xmas 2003 and have been using it every day. The course gave us a lot of additional information and our shots have improved markedly. We're now thinking about doing the full "Diploma" course and were wondering if anyone has done this or similar courses and what they think of them.
We're toying with the idea of working in a coffee shop when we initially move to New Zealand later next year and would like to improve our skills. We are even contemplating opening a shop of our own, but only after we have a lot more experience. The Gaggia course seems to be the only one offering any kind of "certification" and we can only assume this is a good thing.
mrkyle Senior Member Joined: 29 Mar 2005 Posts: 40 Location: ChCh, NZ Expertise: Pro Barista
Posted Wed Sep 14, 2005, 1:42am Subject: Re: Barista Training in the UK
hey chris! Can't say i know a lot about the course your looking at. I know the london school of coffee is meant to be a good course, although i havent done it myself. If you're genuinely looking at opening a cafe in New Zealand, be aware that the overall standard of coffee culture in NZ is much higher than in the UK. There are exceptions, of course. Might be worth trying to work for someone else first, so you can learn the ins and outs of the industry? I'm not sure what your work history is, so if youve done heaps of cafe work then completely ignore me! the best scene for coffee in NZ is in wellington. I'm not sure if it still does, but no too long ago it had more cafes per capita than any other city on the planet. plenty of scope to give you ideas! good luck bro! kyle
mrkyle Senior Member Joined: 29 Mar 2005 Posts: 40 Location: ChCh, NZ Expertise: Pro Barista
Posted Wed Sep 14, 2005, 1:49am Subject: Re: Barista Training in the UK
oh! forgot to tell you before. the best roaster/supplier in NZ is coffee supreme. they'll train your crew pretty hardcore, and are cool in that they wont sell you their coffee unless theyre confident youll make it properly, so if theres any gaps in your knowledge, theyll fill them.
Posted Wed Sep 14, 2005, 5:09am Subject: Re: Barista Training in the UK
Hi Chris
There have been a couple of threads on toomuchcoffee about barista training - I know a few coffeegeek readers are also tmc members, so they might pitch in here...?
Posted Thu Sep 15, 2005, 2:32am Subject: Re: Barista Training in the UK
Thanks for the responses.
We over in NZ for a whole month last year and we definitely noticed the "shift" in coffee quality and culture compared to the UK. I thought London wasn't too bad, but everywhere we went in NZ we had good coffee. Even in the smallest towns that had a handful of shops, the coffee was amazing. That's what got us thinking and hence the question about training - we figured we'd get our skills levels up a bit before we went. Gaggia seem like a good company and the trainer on the intro course was excellent. The thing that impressed me was that they didn't "push" any of the Gaggia equipment which was cool. Same as was mentioned about Supreme in NZ.
I'm going to check out Supreme and maybe contact them before we go. Another coffee company we noticed a lot was "Atomic" - their coffee was used in a lot of independent (at least we assumed them to be independent) shops and it was always good. They had a great logo too (but maybe that's me and my nerdy interest in design).
I'm heading over to the other regional forums to see if there's any further info.
Enrico Senior Member Joined: 16 Oct 2003 Posts: 58 Location: London Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Carezza Grinder: Nemox Lux, Zassenhaus Vac Pot: Bodum Santos Drip: no drip 4 me
Posted Tue Oct 4, 2005, 6:44am Subject: Re: Barista Training in the UK
Hi Chris,
I wasn't aware of the Gaggia barista training course in London, do you have some contact info about it? I've been looking for just such a course for quite a while without being aware of this Gaggia training you mentioned, I'd love to know more about it. I've just got a new Carezzsa and my aim is to upgrade from a wannabe to a more serious aficionado...
EmmaMW Senior Member Joined: 14 May 2003 Posts: 131 Location: Nelson New Zealand Expertise: Just starting
Espresso: La San Marco Grinder: Mazzer Drip: paper is good for this.. Roaster: Probat
Posted Wed Oct 5, 2005, 5:34pm Subject: Re: Barista Training in the UK
Another coffee company we noticed a lot was "Atomic" - their coffee was used in a lot of independent (at least we assumed them to be independent) shops and it was always good. They had a great logo too (but maybe that's me and my nerdy interest in design).
My thankyou!
We like to think we are good at what we do... Most cafes are independent in NZ though there are a few chains, yet nothing on the state of coffee chains in the UK.. Sorry guy's don't mean to be rude!
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