# Would anybody here like to teach others their barista skills?



## Michaelb (Mar 27, 2012)

Hey guys,

Just wondering, would anybody here think about teaching others their skills, knowledge and passion for coffee making?

You can offer a course in barista training, coffee tasting, coffee choosing or even a coffee tour of your local city! (Best hand-outs, best coffee etc.)

You can charge a fee for your time, which I think is reasonable!

This can allow you to make money doing something you love, while teaching a new, passionate person new skills, passions and knowledge! It could even lead to them finding a barista job...


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

There are several professional barista trainers on the forum. Glenn and funinacup are two


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## Michaelb (Mar 27, 2012)

MikeHag said:


> There are several professional barista trainers on the forum. Glenn and funinacup are two


Ah, cool!

I was thinking along the lines of anybody who thinks they're good enough, knowledgeable enough or simply passionate enough to teach others, can.

If anybody is considering this, please message me, or reply here!


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Michaelb said:


> If anybody is considering this, please message me, or reply here!


For what purpose?


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## Michaelb (Mar 27, 2012)

garydyke1 said:


> For what purpose?


I'm interested in gauging the response to users of this forum in relation to teaching classes of their own. If you're interested, just post it here, or message if you'd like to discuss further.


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

I wouldnt consider myself qualified to teach anyone.

Show them the good coffee houses in Brum = yes, show them how I make coffee on my machine and on my kit = yes. Demonstrate passion in coffee and focus on getting the best cup = yes....this also sounds like fun to me!..... But teach someone in a professional capacity = nope!

Open offer to anyone genuinely interested for geeking out in coffee for a day in Brum - hit me up!


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## chimpsinties (Jun 13, 2011)

Shame you're so far away from me Gary, sounds like a good day out that.


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## Michaelb (Mar 27, 2012)

garydyke1 said:


> I wouldnt consider myself qualified to teach anyone.
> 
> Show them the good coffee houses in Brum = yes, show them how I make coffee on my machine and on my kit = yes. Demonstrate passion in coffee and focus on getting the best cup = yes....this also sounds like fun to me!..... But teach someone in a professional capacity = nope!
> 
> Open offer to anyone genuinely interesting for geeking out in coffee for a day in Brum - hit me up!


Cool, this sounds good.

I think that is all fine, a professional coffee experience is over-rated compared to a passionate, real-life experience!

So, if I was to say that you could list these 'experiences' on a new website, full of people ready to book, would you be interested in signing up?


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## CoffeeMagic (Aug 7, 2011)

Wouldn't have thought you can teach anyone "passion" per se. Perhaps an appreciation of the product followed by some expert training would help sway people.


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## Michaelb (Mar 27, 2012)

CoffeeMagic said:


> Wouldn't have thought you can teach anyone "passion" per se. Perhaps an appreciation of the product followed by some expert training would help sway people.


I think the passion would rub off on the 'student', helping them learn about the coffee, tour, machine etc. from a real person, rather than a course.


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## Earlepap (Jan 8, 2012)

It sounds like a fun day, but I'm not sure people would pay for it. You could probably dupe tourists into it. I mean they're willing to walk around some grotty streets in Whitechapel and be given half-truths about Jack the Ripper, so perhaps you could wear a towel tucked into your belt and show them "the real coffee experience". There's enough decent cafes within a small locale in East London nowadays that you wouldn't even need to walk that far.

Did Jack the Ripper drink coffee?....... melting pot.

This is going somewhere.


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Michaelb said:


> So, if I was to say that you could list these 'experiences' on a new website, *full of people ready to book,* would you be interested in signing up?


I think that would be your trouble, a true coffee geek in the making might enjoy such an experience but the majority of people would probably wouldnt pay for such a thing.


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

I think we can all see the merit in anything that helps inspire people to become more interested in coffee, and being around passionate and skilled people is definitely inspiring. It isn't clear what you're proposing, but there could be some sort of market for it, for home baristas. But I think it would be niche, because I think you're wrong with the following statement:



Michaelb said:


> a professional coffee experience is over-rated compared to a passionate, real-life experience!


The inspiration, education and overall experience delivered by a professional and skilled coffee trainer is infact invaluable and under-rated, whether the recipient is a home barista or a working barista. There are enough poorly trained baristas already, and I think we should be wary of new people entering the market as trainers and charging for an inferior training experience. For me it would have to be marketed primarily as a 'fun' coffee experience, rather than a coffee training one. I certainly wouldn't sign up for charging anyone for training unless I had designed, written and beta-tested a proper training plan and course. I'm officially an SCAA Lead Instructor now, but I refuse to stake any claims of being a trainer yet.


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## Earlepap (Jan 8, 2012)

MikeHag said:


> I'm officially an SCAA Lead Instructor now


Congratulations. A few questions:

- why need for me mega bucks grinder when superstore has already?

- what is tomper?

- what coffee taste like?

Many thanks.


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

Inspirational


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## Michaelb (Mar 27, 2012)

MikeHag said:


> I think we can all see the merit in anything that helps inspire people to become more interested in coffee, and being around passionate and skilled people is definitely inspiring. It isn't clear what you're proposing, but there could be some sort of market for it, for home baristas. But I think it would be niche, because I think you're wrong with the following statement:
> 
> The inspiration, education and overall experience delivered by a professional and skilled coffee trainer is infact invaluable and under-rated, whether the recipient is a home barista or a working barista. There are enough poorly trained baristas already, and I think we should be wary of new people entering the market as trainers and charging for an inferior training experience. For me it would have to be marketed primarily as a 'fun' coffee experience, rather than a coffee training one. I certainly wouldn't sign up for charging anyone for training unless I had designed, written and beta-tested a proper training plan and course. I'm officially an SCAA Lead Instructor now, but I refuse to stake any claims of being a trainer yet.


I think the 'fun' aspect would certainly come into the mix when teaching, tutoring, explaining or showing somebody round a city in regards to coffee training. Saying this, you seem highly qualified, but still won't call yourself a trainer! Modest? Maybe. My misunderstanding on the level of coffee skill? Almost definitely!

I'm proposing a new website, where individuals, alongside small business, can list a course - 100% honestly, so the customer knows what they're getting. Let's say a professional barista training course costs....£89 (we have one already), but an 'enthusiasts' training day (basics, so people can make great coffee at home, etc.), costs £45....for the utilisation of the learned skills, I think the £45 enthusiasts course would be perfect. If not, we have the £89 'professionals' course.

We're building a platform for everybody to enjoy, a community of people who want to 'experience' rather than 'have' - coffee is just one area, but an area where passionate, real-life people exist (such as this forum).

In terms of people waiting for barista training, experience, coffee tasting, tours etc. - We're launching with a focus on Food & Drink, an area where there's always room for improvement, and I'm certain that people are interested in coffee experiences - think about it, a few hours training to inspire an individual to buy a coffee machine, make great coffee, pursuit a career or simply get the know-how!

We're launching soon, so I came here for feedback. You've not let me down.

Thanks for all the help,

Michael.


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

Michaelb said:


> We're building a platform for everybody to enjoy, a community of people who want to 'experience' rather than 'have'...
> 
> ...I'm certain that people are interested in coffee experiences - think about it, a few hours training to inspire an individual to buy a coffee machine, make great coffee, pursuit a career or simply get the know-how!
> 
> Michael.


Like I say, I think the above sounds great. Raising interest in coffee is exactly what the UK needs, so I sincerely wish you lots of luck. I think you may need to know a lot more about coffee before embarking upon this, though.


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## Michaelb (Mar 27, 2012)

MikeHag said:


> Like I say, I think the above sounds great. Raising interest in coffee is exactly what the UK needs, so I sincerely wish you lots of luck. I think you may need to know a lot more about coffee before embarking upon this, though.


Thank you. Well, coffee is a singular area, within the Food & Drink sector. The individuals, small business -they're the ones who can bring life to the coffee sector of our site! Our job is to provide the platform, booking security and community. We're heading for larger things than just coffee, but it's an area that I love - something I'm looking for, it took me a long time to find all the 'cool' coffee hang-outs in my city, a long time to make a half-decent cup of coffee, and I certainly still don't know exactly what coffee to buy and where to get it!


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

In that case you should speak to Nathan at Brewed By Hand http://www.brewedbyhand.com/blog/2012/02/28/how-to-teach-a-home-brewing-classes/

They are touring the country offering the above courses to good coffeeshops, to help propagate interest and a few basic coffee skills throughout communities.


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## Michaelb (Mar 27, 2012)

MikeHag said:


> In that case you should speak to Nathan at Brewed By Hand http://www.brewedbyhand.com/blog/2012/02/28/how-to-teach-a-home-brewing-classes/
> 
> They are touring the country offering the above courses to good coffeeshops, to help propagate interest and a few basic coffee skills throughout communities.


Great!

Thanks. I'm going to speak with a few more representatives from this forum, then I might be able to release some info from our company, so a few of you can have a listing on our site!


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## Michaelb (Mar 27, 2012)

Hey guys,

Thanks for waiting patiently! We're now available for hosts to list their coffee experience (and any others for that matter!).

Here's the link: http://blinkcollective.com/

Any questions, just ask!


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