When do you attend Espresso Academy’s Coffee Courses?

I attended 5 Espresso Academy Courses in October 2022. SENSORY BARISTA BASIC
BARISTA ADVANCED
BREWING COFFEE SHOP MANAGEMENT

Three words (or even more) to describe Espresso Academy?

I liked Espresso Academy at the very first moment. The fact of being located into a super traditional Torrefazione made me feel even more connected to the coffee world, being sure I was in the very right place.

The school itself has all a coffee lover always dreamed about. Machines, old and new. Instruments, tools, plenty coffee beans toasted just upstairs, and most important: people who loves coffee as much as the students. Because of that, I would highly recommend any course in Espresso Academy, as before working at coffee, they are just absolutely passionate about it, which makes all the journey much more enjoyable.

What did you learn in Espresso Academy was important for your coffee career?

A lot, for sure! As I said before, people at Espresso Academy clearly are passionate about coffee. So they know everything linked to it, and are not afraid of sharing their knowledge. Professor Robert is a very applied instructor, who has all technical terms just ready to be used, covering the whole course with significant informations, not to mention his care with the students queries. Even the break times were something to learn from, as we had room to talk more about personal experiences at the coffee industry.

Simone is a super talented professional, who makes the most complex latte-arts look like the easiest thing a barista could make. He has an intense relation with coffee and it’s culture in Italia, which is something super admirable to see in a Professor. I had never worked with brewed coffee personally, so his Brewing class was a huge step. Both theory and practice were taken in a joyful atmosphere, with plenty to be learnt.

Last but not least at all, the Master Gabriele. It was fantastic to have such an expert during this course. Gabrielle was always around, helping us out with a smile in his face, he is probably the personification of HAPPYPEOPLECOFFEE slogan. I have been advising some food and coffee business, so his Coffee Shop Management Course was the perfect fit for my goals. A lot of theory, practical examples and personal experiences have been passed through during that day, making it a life changer for any professional that embraces coffee businesses. Gabriele went even further out of his way, as I was thnking of bringing home a small bag of coffee. He showed myself and my colleagues every single beans Mokaflor and Caffé Lab roast, talking about it’s characteristics. So much knowledge and kindness as well. Could not recommend this course enough!

Are you working in a coffee business? (Where can we find you? You can describe us your Coffee Shop?)

Yes. I have been working at Coffee for 4 years now. I am a Chef myself, coming from the hospitality sector since my moving to Ireland, 5 years ago.

Everything started when I was hired by the largest Irish catering company. They used to own food and coffee shops inside a Hospital in Dublin, and I had to supervise all of them. I have made some coffee foundation courses by this company back in the day, and after 1 year, I started to help other food businesses out with advising and consultancy as a Sole Trader. One of my first clients was Aventura Café, a small coffee truck located just a few meters away of my house. I advised them for 15 days, and the results were very satisfactory, both operational and financial. In October 2020, middle of Covid time, we decided to create a menu and put a standard coffee service in place. After 30 days, the monthly revenue increased hundreds and hundreds percent. From that moment on, I joined the business and started to apply the same operational techniques over and over in order to open more places and mark the coffee truck as a milestone in Portmarnock community. 

In 1 year, Aventura was selling around 80kg of coffee a week, operating another two spots in Portmarnock + a small restaurant, built a commercial kitchen to offer our suppliers, who are local producers, a safe place to work, as well to produce our own pastries and sandwiches, besides a coffee shop in Dublin City Centre. It was an exhaustively busy time, very succesful though.

In May of this year, after achieving professional goals through Aventura, I decided to step out of the business going back to provide advising services by myself. Aventura is still doing great, and that first coffee truck still keeps Portmarnock community caffeinated. 

What are your future projects?

My project has already started. I am currently advising two food/coffee businesses in Dublin, trying to apply everything I could learn at Espresso Academy. My goal is to use my passion at coffee, food and people, to keep helping small hospitality businesses to provide great service and increase their numbers. A personal future goal is to become an expert consultant in Ireland, and maybe overseas too. Who knows co-found Espresso Academy Schools in Dublin, or in Brasil as well 

@aventuracafe.ie