Experience date: 14/09/24

‘Coffee isn’t a drink, it’s an experience’ is what was taught to us for our Barista course. 

Everyday about 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed globally every day. Based on surveys, statistically 7 out of 10 people drink coffee, and so the people that prepare their coffee have a big responsibility on their shoulders. Yet learning about something that I love intrigued me, yet to me making coffee was simply having a machine and making an espresso or any other drink, but I learned about all the different kinds of coffee there are, how it’s grown, its history, how it’s washed and baked and so much more. 

So here’s a little about coffee: Coffee is a shrub, a small plant that starts from a small white flower that after months of care and tending to grow into bright red and plump cherries. Within the cherries lay the coffee bean from which we make coffee. After the cherry is grown it is picked and dried. Using different techniques the beans are washed and then tried. The beans are then grounded to make the coffee and the finer the grounds the coffee will be more bitter and flavourful. 

I learned how all types of coffee are separated into different types: French press, v60 pour over and espresso, which are then used to make lattes, cappuccino and more drinks. Of Course there’s more to learn, with something such as coffee there is a boundless depth to it yet by doing this barista course I learned about coffee, its origins, about its preparation and it made me more knowledgeable. 

LO1 Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

I identified my own strengths, my strength for this experience was to explicitly and distinctly understand how coffee is prepared and all the different ways its molds for the one consuming it. I remember the knowledge they shared with us and I was able to take it away and share it with my peers. My strength was to understand coffee on its most basic level and learn to cultivate the art of it. Now that I understand my strength I am able to make coffee by myself now that is prepared by myself. Yet I have also found my weakness to be constantly changing, I like to experiment and have trials to understand different concepts and activities and the same is applied when I prepare my coffee yet this is a downside since it causes my coffee to be ill prepared 

LO 2 Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

Developing a new skill can always prove to cause challenges yet I have learned the skills to prepare simple coffee’s such as cold brews and v60 pour over and more drinks that can be made using these. I also learned about how to change the taste of the coffee to its fineness. It was important for me to take on this challenge of learning new things that took time for me to understand yet it proved to be fruitful, of course I had chosen to prepare different types of coffees before such as the famous dalgona challenge during COVID and simple iced and hot coffee, yet each time I could not understand how to 

LO6 Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance

A global issue that most have heard about perhaps every few weeks or months has heard about the issue of a country’s economy and how small local businesses are not supported which can send the working class into further poverty. When our school chose to provide us with this course by the small business, I got to learn from people that have actual interest in coffee and enjoy the process and values it and we got to support them, and I chose to engage with the issue further by choosing to buy my coffee from them such that I can support them and receive coffee that is well prepared. I also learned about various issue the coffee industry has been a part of is uneven distribution of profits favoring large corporations such as starbucks, and the lack of fair trade practices ensuring farmers receive a stable income, This is important globally since monopolies such as starbucks take away from supporting small business and fair wages as well as fair trade practices, yet by directly paying the ones that are preparing the coffee I am making steps towards going against the issue and supporting small businesses. 

Final takeaway 

After this course I became more knowledgeable about coffee and its origins. And one of my highlights for this experience was to see different types of coffee being tested and made into espresso. I remember the different bitter taste of the coffee and the rich aroma. After completing this I myself now make coffee for myself everyday instead of buying it and make it for others around me, this made me more knowledgeable and replicating and overall it was a successful experience since I took away a lot of information and knowledge on the topic.