TRAINING FEATURE

Changing tastes

Grinders Coffee has begun holding public cupping sessions to educate consumers about what goes on behind the scenes to make great coffee.

From the farmer to the roaster, a lot of work goes into producing coffee to keep it consistent and at a good quality. To teach this to the public, Grinders Coffee has introduced a new series of public cupping sessions, the first of which took place at its Lygon Street café in Melbourne on 23 October, 2019.

“If the consumer knows what to look out for, they’ll be better able to acknowledge, identify, and buy good coffee,” says Alec Zeta, Training Manager and Coffee Specialist at Grinders Coffee. “The more you educate people, the more they lean towards change, and the less they’re educated, the harder it is to break habits.”

The October cupping session began with a summary of the work done by producers and roasters before coffee reaches the café. This included how farmers identify ripe cherries, pulp and process coffee, and steps taken before a roaster or trader buys it.

“This gave the audience an understanding of what the process is when it comes to specialty coffee and an appreciation of the farmer’s effort,” Alec says. “The farmer does a lot to produce a good bean to deliver to Australia. We’ve noticed the more you educate consumers on the work of the farmer, the more they appreciate the coffee.”

The cupping focused on Grinders’ blends, highlighting the different profiles and characteristics of the dark chocolatey Classic, nutty Foundation, fruity and smooth Source, and high-end SoCo Roasters Society Blend. The floral Zambian coffee that contributes to more than half of the Society Blend was also presented as a single origin, allowing attendees to experience the differences between the two.

“This allowed us to go into the purpose of a blend, how some are made to work with milk, and why you’d add other beans to achieve a certain body or flavour,” Alec says. “The variety of coffees gave them a reference of how a bolder or lighter blend should taste, the characteristics of different beans, how they taste when combined as a blend, and what they’re like when served on their own.”

After the fragrances of the dry coffees

Grinders Coffee Training Manager Alec Zeta runs a public cupping session.

were sniffed by the attendees, they were brewed at a ratio of 12.5 grams to 230 millilitres of 93°C water. When ready, Alec demonstrated how to break the crust and take in the aroma before allowing participants to try it themselves. They then took turns slurping the coffees and identifying certain flavours.

“Cupping breaks down the flavour much more than we’d be able to demonstrate with espresso. It’s also more consistent than espresso tasting, where there are multiple variables that can affect the flavour,” Alec says.

“This session was actually pretty similar to our quality control at Grinders, where each batch we roast is cupped and graded individually, then a s ample is kept for comparison in case there are any issues.”

While the introductory session focused on tasting different blends, Alec says there is more to cupping, and future sessions will highlight the different flavour profiles of single origins and defects in certain coffees.

“Everything comes down to what we do at the backend – to show the public the extra mile everyone goes to while producing great coffee,” Alec says.

“Across Australia, but specifically in Melbourne, there’s such a good coffee culture, but a lot of people don’t know what they’re looking for when it comes to a good cup of coffee. Showing them will help them differentiate from cup to cup.”

Code of Ona

Ona Coffee has revamped its training program, incorporating knowledge the roaster has gained from competitions, café service, and activities across the supply chain.

Coffee quality depends on every link in the supply chain. The producer needs the right growing conditions, the roaster must follow a specific profile, and the barista has to extract the right flavours.

Hugh Kelly, Training Manager at Ona Coffee and 2016 and 2017 Australian Barista Champion, says without a knowledgeable barista, all the effort put into a coffee before it reaches the café can be lost.

“Ona is spread across the whole coffee supply chain. We work closely with our green bean suppliers and have a roasting team who are obsessed with what they do. [We] work with manufacturers to make their machinery work how we want them to and operate our own cafés, so we see how each of these steps are linked,” Hugh says. “Without proper training, the whole thing falls apart pretty easily. If you’re experimenting at the farm to crazy levels to get unique flavours, the barista needs an understanding of how to extract that or else there’s no point. It’s really where it all comes together.”

Ona Coffee offers a range of public courses out of its Canberra roastery in Fyshwick and Ona Coffee Sydney in Marrickville, and plans to extend its courses to Melbourne in 2020. Hugh redeveloped the course structure in 2019 to take in new information and ensure there is enough time in each class for one-on-one work between the student and teacher.

“I looked at what we’ve taught for years, incorporated what I think is relevant to cafés and coffee now, and changed the structure and setup to make the objective of each class a little bit clearer,” Hugh says.

“For example, we’ve always had a Foundation Barista course. Now we’ve added Café Barista courses with the intention of whipping someone into shape, to be able to apply for a job, within a day. We’ve also added specialist custom sessions as well, like team building and sensory.”

Alongside the Foundation Barista and all-day Café Barista classes, other training sessions Ona offers includes latte art and filter coffee courses that adapt to the student’s skill level, Intermediate/ Skills Practice which builds on Foundation Barista, and Advanced Coffee Extraction for in-depth coffee making.

“The advanced class utilises techniques we’ve used to dial in coffees at world

Caption

Ona Coffee runs filter coffee courses that cater to different skill levels.

competitions to provide a foolproof method of approaching espresso and offers a bit more detail on extraction and tasting,” Hugh says. “It’s for people who are coffee enthusiasts, want to run their own bar, or are head baristas and want to take their theoretical knowledge further.”

Ona also provides specific training to its wholesale clients to get the best out of its coffee.

“Some of the techniques are similar [to public training], but they’re targeted more towards just using our coffee,” Hugh says. “If you’re in a coffee bar using Ona Coffee, you’ll follow certain procedures specific to our brand, whereas the public training is more generalised and tries to cover a broader range of factors.”

Hugh says Ona intends to further develop its training program, taking advantages of the roaster’s collective knowledge.

“We’re going to add layers to the courses and introduce more tasting and rotating specialist sessions that go into more detail on higher-end, technical barista-focused work,” he says. “We want to give people not just the opportunity to learn about coffee, but taste and experience it in ways that we’ve learnt through our competitions and café service.”

A competitive edge

To Veneziano, a training program is only as good as the people who teach it. That’s why the roaster is investing in its trainers to empower customers to create careers of significance in coffee.

In the world of competitive coffee championships, precision matters. Every seemingly minor variable can have a major influence on the flavour and presentation of a barista’s coffee, with the winner often separated by just fractions. Because of this, the competitive scene attracts those in the industry who are passionate, skilled, and committed.

Veneziano Coffee Roasters has an active history participating in coffee competitions and is channeling its team’s expertise and experience into its training programs.

“All of our training stems from our experience in barista competitions. It’s the pinnacle of the coffee industry and many of the skills translate to café baristas. We believe in teaching these skills and striving for excellence with our students,” says Jade Jennings, National Training and Development Manager at Veneziano.

The roaster offers a range of training courses that vary in skill level. These include Espresso Foundations, Brewing Ratios, Latte Art, Cupping, and Roasting Fundamentals. The courses are designed to support professional baristas to either round out their skills or hone in on a particular area.

According to Jade, regardless of which course a student participates in, the most unique aspect is the trainer’s ability to create impact, purpose, and connection with each of their students.

“Our trainers have been in the industry for years, usually as a barista or café owner, which means they innately know the challenges our customers face and how to work with them to improve,” she says.

“But we don’t just rely on experience. At the heart of Veneziano, we are passionate about investing in our people so that they can add value to our customers.”

To do this, Veneziano trainers must pass multiple levels of assessments to gain their accreditation. This includes 40 beanscenemag.com.au

the Level Two Assessment, in which they must successfully perform under a competition-style format to certified World Coffee Events (WCE) or Australian Specialty Coffee Association (ASCA) judges.

“Most people don’t pass our assessments on the first go and we actually don’t mind that. It’s not just about passing, it’s how they learn personally and professionally that matters,” Jade says.

“These high standards ensure our people have the best possible skills and experience to develop and add value to our customers.”

In addition to a competitive technical skillset, Veneziano seeks people who are personable and adept communicators.

“We look for trainers who are relatable, nurturing, and willing to have some fun with their baristas,” Jade says.

She adds that the most rewarding part of running training sessions is knowing that students pass the skills they learn onto the rest of the team at their workplace, which improves the whole business.

“There is truly nothing like the feeling you get when you see a student experience that ‘ah-ha moment.’ They become inspired and take this back to their colleagues, which leads to better

Veneziano’s training studios are fitted with state-of-the-art equipment.

coffee across the business. The better coffee means an increase in loyalty from customers and also additional exposure through word of mouth and reviews – the training is always a winwin,” she says.

To match the prowess of its people, Veneziano has heavily invested into its facilities to ensure that students have the optimal tools and environment to learn.

“We love showing off our training studios as they are a real spectacle. Our coffee pods are self-contained benches, set up as a benchmark example of a high-performing café. Our students have the opportunity to learn on state-of-theart equipment,” Jade says.

“We also teach students about workflow and provide the tools to create consistency and efficiency. We know we’ve done our job when they apply even just one piece of knowledge to improving how they make coffee their own venue.”

Veneziano currently has training studios in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane, with Adelaide and Canberra soon to follow.