Coffee beans – Describe espresso flavour in terms of blends, variety, origin, processing method, and roast degree. Recognise how coffee density affects extraction.
Understand and explain how caffeine is removed from coffee via different decaffeination processes. Distinguish coffee that is too fresh or stale by visual clues
during its extraction, and flavour.
Workspace management – Analyse a café layout to ensure speed and efficiency, good workflow and smooth customer traffic. Identify problems with a cafe’s layout. Adjust and recommend adjustments to a café’s layout to correct problems related to speed, efficiency, workflow and customer traffic.
Grinding, dosing and tamping – Understand the advantages and disadvantages of various grinder features – including motor speed, size and types of burrs, grind distribution, degree of static and waste, construction, ease of use​, features of different styles of hand tampers and distribution tools and when to use each. Learn how the degree of roast will affect the physical volume/mass of a dose and affect the amount of potential solubles and flow rate.
Extraction and brewing – Determine what adjustments can be made on an espresso machine to achieve a desired
flavour and body in the espresso. Gain the skill to discern an origin, processing style and roast level and give objective flavour descriptors to a customer. Establish a wide experience of coffees of various
species/origins/process/roast informs brewing decisions and advise customers.
Milk techniques – Understand the components of milk and how they are impacted during the pasteurisation and
homogenisation process. Perfect techniques to consistently produce high quality ‘microfoam’ and ‘freepour’ two latte art patterns to a consistently good standard – on two consecutive drinks.
Barista menu – Recognise standards for drink range as well as regional variations around the world. Apply various techniques to prepare complex orders of drinks quickly and efficiently.
Hygiene, health & safety – Learn organisational and operational policies and procedures (for beverage preparation and service, cleaning and storage) – to keep
everything in the espresso workspace safe and hygienic. Understand how to train staff in policies and procedure related to safety and hygiene.
Customer service – Recognise how customer service ensures quality drinks, speed of service, and exceeding customer expectations. Demonstration of consistently
exceptional customer service when communicating with customers.
Cleaning, maintenance & troubleshooting – Demonstrate the ability to change water filters, grouphead gaskets/seals and grinder burrs, clean and change drainage tubes, and properly adjust pump pressure. State the difference between necessary preventative maintenance and mechanical/electrical issues deserving of a service call.
Recognise the need for water filtration based on testing.
Café management – Understand the cost related to the price of a drink – including cost of ingredients, staff costs, general overheads and taxes. Gain knowledge on how
factors like spoilage, waste and theft (other than costs) can impact on profit. Learn how to implement good techniques in staff management.