Coffee Training
(I know it’s been more than year since I last blogged, and here’s an attempt to get back into the habit!)
The Opo Coffee Training Lab has been up and running since March, and I’ve had the privilege of teaching more than 200 students in that time! Going into the launch of Opo, we knew that our training and education would be a differentiator - I still think we’re one of the only active coffee training centers in all of Georgia.
We started with a run of coffee science classes during the 2023 Atlanta Science Festival, and then gradually started filling the calendar with regular coffee education events.
Community Classes
Our bread and butter has been two classes geared toward home espresso enthusiasts: Home Espresso and Latte Art Basics. It’s been so much fun to walk amateur baristas through the fundamentals of dialing in espresso shots and learning how to pour simple latte art shapes in a cappuccino. One of my favorite recurring moments is when someone in the latte art class pours a heart for the first time and the whole class erupts in cheers and applause that can be heard all the way in the cafe.
We also started a free coffee cupping time on the first Friday of every month, giving anyone a chance to join us for a cupping of some of the coffees we’re currently featuring. I got a lot of my own coffee education by attending Counter Culture Coffee’s similar monthly “Tasting at Ten” when they had their training center in Atlanta, so in a way we started this free event to provide the same experience to others.
Professional Courses:
I received my Authorized SCA Trainer certification in May, which allowed me to start administering the SCA Coffee Skills Program in our lab. I’m authorized to teach the Brewing and Barista Skills modules, since I have completed my own Professional-level certificates in those courses. So far we’ve only been able to offer the Introduction to Coffee class and the Foundation-level courses for the two modules, but we have our first Intermediate-level students lined up to take classes within the next couple of months.
We’re slowly taking all of the Opo baristas through the Intro and Foundation courses, and most of Taproom Coffee’s baristas have been joining us for SCA courses as well.
Virtual Classes:
I was able to teach one Introduction to Coffee course virtually a few weeks ago. While it’s not my favorite format, it’s certainly convenient to be able to offer our SCA courses to anyone, anywhere with an internet connection. Eventually I think we’d benefit from putting together our own full online course with videos so that we can provide high-quality content passively, and focus on coordinating cohorts of students and guide them through the curriculum.