Barista training needed

[Pace]

Hi every one!

I love coffee and winter, and I have always imagined myself behind the bar serving espresso drinks since 1999. Nevertheless, it is the time to open my coffee shop.

Please, could you help me where to find a barista and business training. I can work at any coffee shop for free. I need just to learn. This February I'll be off work. I tried American Barista & Coffee school (ABC's) in Portland, OR but classes is full until March 20. Private lesson for reasonable cost is good.


I really really really need this opportunity!!

[barry]

where are you?

[HB]

As a non-professional, I can't offer advice based on having taken formal classes, only what I've learned on my own and read elsewhere. The Barista Guild of America would probably be a better place to pose your question, or CoffeeGeek's Retail Coffee Jobs forum. I've heard good things about David's Schomer training sessions, though the site indicates they're sold out. Also Intelligentsia Coffee Roasters offers training courses, taught by top barista competitors Matt Riddle, Ellie Hudson-Matuszak, and Amber Sather (bios).

[buzzmc]

Dan,

Is there a good place to try and find local places for training, or "labs", demo's, etc, that you're aware of? I'm going to go google'ing for San Fran/bay area espresso enthusiasts and see what I come up with.

Essentially what I'm really looking for, for me, is a local La Pavoni user that might be willing to share some time with me, techniques, etc, who manages to make at least acceptably drinkable espresso's more often than not

[Pace]

Hi

I'm in santa barbara but I can travel anywhere in the states to get barista training.

[HB]

Is there a good place to try and find local places for training, or "labs", demo's, etc, that you're aware of?

I've found that ingratiating yourself to a local roaster or cafe owner is very effective. Another way of discovering locals is posting on the Regional forums on CoffeeGeek.

[roadman]

Essentially what I'm really looking for, for me, is a local La Pavoni user that might be willing to share some time with me, techniques, etc, who manages to make at least acceptably drinkable espresso's more often than not

The more I do this the more I realize just how valuable it would be to have a clinic for leverheads.

I've been at this espresso thing for almost a year now and like yourself, I'd welcome another lesson or two with someone who really knows what they're doing on a manual lever. After groping around trying to figure things out on my own I made quite a leap after a quick lesson from Danno (thanks again D). I know that I could make another leap if I could spend some more time with an experienced leverhead.

I'll be in the greater SF Bay area until mid March. Is there anyone in the zone willing to help us newbies see the light?
Jon

[buzzmc]

Hey Roadman, I agree completely, assuming of course we find a seasoned "pro" with a lever in the area that can help out.

I just went to two local cafe's, Barefoot and Cafe de Doge, just to taste their espresso. I wish I could have seen how they were doing everything at Barefoot, as that cup was pretty tasty. Cafe de Doge wasn't as impressive, but still better than what I typically get right now with my Pavoni.

The one thing I think I learned from visiting both shops is that I probably pull my shots too fast. Be that I need a finer grind, harder tamp, a combo of the two, I don't really know. But from my two visits that's what I'm guessing now, so I'm going to work on whatever it takes to get a longer extraction time and see what happens to the tastes of my shots.

I think I need to read, re-read, and re-re-read this: http://www.home-barista.com/espresso-guide-skills.html , and pay particular attention to the "Working the shot" section and the graph in that area.

Back to the topic at hand though... I would very much love a "local lever lesson", even if not on a Pavoni. I'm sure most lever techniques are fairly similar with subtle variations per machine.

[kbuzbee]

I used to think the grind should be much tighter than I do now. I used to grind to powder and tamp hardly at all. Even so, the La Pavoni would lock up at least once every day and the number of pours I had that were like arm wrestling to get out of the machine, I don't even want to think about.

Now:

The coffee is fresh (< 8 days old).

I grind much more coarsely. (maybe 1/2 a grain of salt??)

I grind each shot independantly then pull it. Don't underestimate this. Don't keep the little bit left over from dosing, throw it out.

I distribute similar to Schomer. I never used to consciously distribute at all, just used the tamper - WRONG!

I tamp HARD (50 maybe 60 pounds!). Finish with a twist to polish the top

I keep the shot glasses in Hot water. (Pan on the stove)

I preheat the group head and portafilter.

I pull a single shot through a double filter. Lift the lever, count 2, pull all the way through. You won't get much, but it will be delicious!

I empty the boiler every day.

I use filtered water.

This results in 1 3/4 oz that is 80% crema. Dark and rich.

Training is great and I too would be interested but, you can improve your espresso ALOT by working through these things. I did. Thanks to all on this forum for their guidance and support!



Ken

[buzzmc]

Training is great and I too would be interested but, you can improve your espresso ALOT by working through these things. I did. Thanks to all on this forum for their guidance and support!
Ken

I totally agree, and with help from folks here I've already improved my espresso by 1000%. But then most of us know just how BAD It was when we started, so that's possibly not saying so much

I'm going to take Eton up on his home barista class up at Cafe Organica... We're working on scheduling now. It should be very interesting.... If things go really well maybe we'll have time to work on just one latte art kind of drink ... But I'd just be happy learning better how to make my Pavoni sing better.

[kbuzbee]

Awsome. Let me know how that goes.

Ken

[buzzmc]

Kbuzbee,

I had my training session with Eton at Cafe Organica today, and I must say it was outstanding. Really the best part is that he asks you bring your machine and your grinder... Which if you think about it makes perfect sense. I think he could have taught me how to pull pretty dang good shots on his commercial machine and grinder in about 15 minutes.

Anyway, for those fortunate enough to be close enough to San Francisco to make this happen I would highly recommend taking a class from Eton. We had a lot of fun, and I learned a lot about my machine, and learned some techniques to make it work better for me.

I pulled several really tasty shots before I left. I learned more about distribution and tamping. I learned that the Pavoni filter basket really is suited to a 1-pull single (I was leaning towards this already). I learned a couple ways around dealing with a HOT machine. I learned that some coffees are more tolerant of heat, and others are really, really stubborn about brew temp.

I learned more than I'll remember. But, the absolute most valuable thing I think I learned is being able to watch what's coming out in the cup, and knowing if it's going to be good, bad, or somewhere in between... And if its bad some general areas to tweak to get it good again.

I don't know if I'll learn to LOVE my Pavoni as a daily machine. Unless you want to use beans that really like high brew temps, pulling more than 2-3 shots isn't possible without tweaking. And since I"m really starting to believe pulling a "real" double (1.5-2oz) isn't possible, then I have to decide if I want to drink really tasty singles, or if I need to keep the Pavoni for special occasions and get a different daily machine.

But learning to watch what's coming out in the cup, and learning what colors and smells to look was what I really needed. And now when I'm pulling shots I have useful experience to draw from so I know if things are right, wrong, and what to do to make changes.

I still have just scratched the surface... But just this knowledge was so helpful ... I'm sure you couldn't tell

[kbuzbee]

Sounds like it worked out great for you. It also sounds very much like the journey I'm on (with lots of help from resources like the great folks here and Schomer's book). The big differences are:

1. I AM convinced the La Pavoni is my daily machine. I really enjoy both the process and the results.

2. Overheating is not a problem for me as I only have 2 (occasionally three) shots a day and I just turn the machine off in between.

Good luck on your journey. Please post any "discoveries"

Ken

[buzzmc]

Oh yeah, I'm giving myself a month to see how things go. The reason I say i don't know if the Pavoni will be my daily machine is much more around the fact that it doesn't seem to be a machine that can produce good double shots. Its heating limitations would only be problematic if I were entertaining people.

So I have to see what I can do with singles, or make 2 doubles in the morning, or whatever. That's really the only problem I foresee... And I just don't know how I'm going to feel about that.

[kbuzbee]

Oh yeah, I'm giving myself a month to see how things go. The reason I say i don't know if the Pavoni will be my daily machine is much more around the fact that it doesn't seem to be a machine that can produce good double shots. Its heating limitations would only be problematic if I were entertaining people.

So I have to see what I can do with singles, or make 2 doubles in the morning, or whatever. That's really the only problem I foresee... And I just don't know how I'm going to feel about that.

Well, clearly entertaining is one thing. For me, I was real intent on pulling full doubles for a year or so. The epiphany I had was realizing that the "single" (you know, with a full portafilter and _slightly_ more than a full pull) was so good I didn't need the volume of a double. I pull 2-3 a morning. Maybe 1/2 - 1 hour apart. Just fantastic.

Ken