Every month we organize a week of courses for international students where we teach the basic concepts of the whole coffee chain that goes from farm to cup, it’s a chance for people with a coffee related project to get some general knowledge about this very complex world and maybe come back for some more advanced courses later.

This month we started the journey with a green coffee course.we talked about the origins of coffee, the species, varieties and history of coffee consumption and then we tried to measure the physical characteristics that we can use to classify and grade green beans and we tasted some different processing methods and defective coffees.

The second day we focused more on sensory analysis,  we started with some theory to understand how we can objectively describe the sensations that we get from a cup of coffee, then we trained our nose with the nez du cafè aroma box, we tasted some solutions of the different tastes and finally we got to the description of an espresso and how to survive a cupping session.

The next two days were dedicated to barista training, from the basic concepts of espresso extraction to frothing milk, history of italian espresso, latte art, italian coffee recipes, cleaning the machine and much more!

We called in Helena to do our brewing course so she could explain everything we need to know about the parameters of extraction that influence the final taste of our coffee like brew ratio, water quality and temperature, time, turbulence, filter material…. This is the basic knowledge that you will need for espresso extraction as well!

We recently added the cafè management course, where Gabriele explains some things we should know before even thinking about opening a business, the mindset we will need and the amount of hard work we must be willing to do to make it work.

Finally we introduced the group to the art of roasting, we started by explaining the importance of the selection of green coffee and then we introduced the two variables that we will need to master: time and temperature. The final taste of our coffee will depend entirely on our understanding of how these two variables transform the beans.

When we finished doing the SCA Exams we eventually had to say goodbye to our students, after a full week together it feels like we’ve all known each other for months! We’re happy to have added some really good people to our list of students and some flags on our world map! This month our friends came from Bulgaria, Indonesia, India, Iran, Turkey, Holland, France, USA, Malta, Israel, Siria, Japan, Taiwan, England, Hong Kong!!!

We’re proud of our students and wish them all the luck in the world, hope to see you again soon!!!