What it’s like training to be a barista from scratch in 10 hours

I will be honest, I didn’t think it was possible.

But if this year’s taught us anything, it’s that... anything can happen?

The challenge: five weekday evenings, learn to be a fully-qualified barista.

The obstacles: a global pandemic.

Back in the naivete of February I embarked on this mission with East Sussex College.

My learning was placed in the capable hands of Oliver Zecchin and Laura Da Silva Henriques.

It began as a small weekly session on a Wednesday night at the campus off Cross Levels Way.

From the first moment, you are thrown in and by the end of the first three-hour class I was able to produce a passable latte and espresso.

We learned the Latin word for tea plants (Camellia sinensis don’t you know), the differences between the two main types of coffee bean – Arabica and Robusta – and the history of the world’s top commodity.

It was amazing how quickly I was taught how to grind the correct amount of coffee beans, ‘bless’ the porta filter, manipulate the steam wand to heat the milk to just the right temperature and frothiness (more technical than it sounds), and combine it all at the right timings.

Everything was going swimmingly, I was being uplifted by the unique satisfaction of learning a new skill, and then corona came along.

With lockdown, like many places the college had to put itself on pause. After just six hours, my dream of being able to whip up a cappuccino was over before you could ask ‘do you want chocolate sprinkles with that?’

But – when things calmed down a bit, and people were tentatively allowed to roam outside again, like cows after spending winter in a barn – Ollie came to the rescue.

We spent a few hours going over what it would take to pass the practical exam – to make seven drinks in under 10 minutes.

After about six months I was rusty to say the least, but, with a little perseverance, I mustered my courage and cracked my knuckles and was ready to go.

In whatever order you choose, you are required to make a cappuccino, latte, espresso, filter coffee, hot chocolate, tea, and smoothie.

You are timed and scrutinised throughout, all while trying to make conversation with the examiner like a barista would be expected to in the real world.

I spoke to Ollie about his and Laura’s wizardry in being able to teach someone such a demanding skill so quickly.

“It’s a good skill to have,” he said, “If you take Eastbourne, how many coffee shops pop up each year, here there and everywhere?
“And it’s clearly a skill which people like to acquire, but there’s a huge industry for it. People love coffee and they like to support their local businesses.”

But how has all this been affected by the coronavirus pandemic?

Ollie said, “I think the lockdown did obviously impact a lot of places and for those small coffee shops, they would only have survived with the likes of mortgage breaks and furloughing staff.

“Many in the industry are quick to think on the spot and decide how things can be changed or adapted to meet the demands.

“Moving over to takeaway service instead of eating in and preparing items that are grab and go enabled a lot of small coffee shops to continue selling.

“Having said that, coffee shops in town will have relied on a lot of customers who commute and drop in for a coffee en route – those that began working from home that are no longer dropping in coffee will have had a huge impact on those smaller businesses.”

And with Lockdown 2 looming, it seems coffee shops across Eastbourne will have to rely on takeaway business once more.

The Barista Skills Level 2 Award is a relatively new City & Guilds qualification being offered at East Sussex College; they’ve only been doing it for a year.

It’s part of the catering side the college has on offer at Kings Restaurant, which students train at and is open to the public.

Future courses will have covid-secure measures like social distancing and deep cleaning to factor in.

Whether people want to work in a coffee shop, or have a machine and want to know how to use it, they can sign up for the whistle-stop five week barista course.

“The hardest thing would definitely be milk,” said Ollie, “There’s different versions of coffees and there’s different ways of steaming it.

“You can get into the swing of things with the shots but with the milk there’s different ways of doing it and timing.

“Going into it that can be the hardest aspect. And time management.

“It’s the pressure and also there’s someone sat watching and you have to ask them questions like how their day is going.”

By some stroke of miracle, those drinks arrived in the nick of time for my exam. I even managed to get a distinction.

What a cheesy fist-pump moment that was, it is a feeling I’ve only experienced when passing my shorthand exam and driving test.

So, whatever the rest of 2020 has to throw at me, at least I know I can make a decent coffee.