Refresher course / coffee training

Recently, I had a few days of training again to keep my barista skills up to date and get fully up to speed with the latest tips and tricks in the coffee business. 

To properly advise our customers in the hospitality industry, it is useful and necessary to know all the tricks of the trade. After all, there is more to it than you might think.

3 elements

To make the perfect coffee, you only need 2 or 3 ingredients: water and coffee, and possibly milk. (For example, 48% of coffee drinkers in the Netherlands occasionally drink cappuccino. That is 1% more than the previous year, and increases can also be seen for almost all other popular varieties.)

But to make the perfect coffee, the ingredients are not the only important factor. That is why I like to divide it into 3 elements:

• The machine
  Almost all coffees in cafés and restaurants nowadays are based on espresso, although there is also a return to filter coffee.
  The machine and grinder must, of course, be of good quality, but also thoroughly cleaned and perfectly adjusted. 
• The ingredients
  Good coffee, preferably suitable for both regular coffee and milk-based specialties. Traditionally, this could be a dark roast espresso blend, but customers are increasingly choosing a medium-roasted single-origin / single-estate coffee. This is because customers' tastes are gradually changing.
  In addition, good (organic) milk is needed for milk specialties. Oat milk is increasingly being used as a substitute. It is relatively neutral in taste, suitable for people with, for example, lactose intolerance, and the barista version of oat drink froths just as beautifully as cow's milk.
• The master touch
  But good equipment alone will not give you perfect coffee or cappuccino. The barista must also know their craft to make the perfect coffee. By operating the machine properly, of course, but especially by checking and adjusting the espresso machine and grinder daily.
  This also involves good organization behind the bar, so that there are always clean, preheated cups, fresh coffee in the grinder, a clean workspace, etc., etc.

After 2 days of intensive training, I am once again fully up to speed and full of inspiration and enthusiasm about (our own) coffee. 
I will take these experiences with me again when advising and training customers.