The first
Coffee Diploma System - CDS Coffee Week took place in Florence, cradle of
the Italian Renaissance, in November 2014.
From 11
to 16 November 2014, the Poggio Arioso farmhouse in Scandicci, on the outskirts
of Florence, hosted the first Umami
Barista Camp – a one-week training course based on the Coffee Diploma
System of the Speciality Coffee Association of Europe that has redefined the
Italian training format for baristas and coffee professionals.
Three
years ago, the coffee expert Andrej Godina and the multiple Barista champion Francesco
Sanapo founded the so-called new Italian
coffee Renaissance, started with the Io
bevo caffè di qualità (“I drink high quality coffee”) events and Pausa Caffè Festival, the first made-in-Italy
Coffee Festival. These events set a trend that actually led
to the creation of the Umami Coffee Campus – a place where people could meet, share
their professional experiences and learn more about high quality coffee. Taking the cue from the first Barista Camp organized
by the Speciality Coffee Association of Europe – www.scae.com, four Italian SCAE authorized trainers had the idea of creating a
similar, 100% Italian event, where participants could share the experience of a
high professional training week ending with the Coffee Diploma System
certification exams, thus enriching their educational baggage. The first CDS Coffee
Week, aka Umami Barista Camp generated
precisely from this intuition (for info, please send an email to
umamibaristacamp@gmail.com).
SCAE
Coffee Diploma System is the most comprehensive coffee education system
available and the most extensively awarded coffee certification in the world. If you are a barista wanting to improve your skills,
become a roaster, trade in green coffee, perfect your sensory skills, or just
brew great coffee, then the diploma has a module applicable for you.
The Umami
Barista Camp deals with the following topics:
introduction
to the world of coffee, green coffee
(botanic varieties, producing countries, processing methods, transport, sale
and product certifications), tasting
(cupping, sensory exercises, arrangement of a tasting lab, creation of tasters’
panels, SCAA cupping forms), roasting (defining
the roasting process, the influence of the roasting curve on the final cup profile,
control and adjustment of the roasting curve, cupping of samples), filter methods (filter brewing methods,
parameters for a perfect filter coffee, using the refractometer, tasting), the espresso coffee & barista’s skills (the world of espressos and
cappuccinos, brewing a perfect espresso, milk frothing and latte art techniques).
The first
editions of the Umami Barista Camp saw the presence of dozens of baristas and
professionals from all over Italy, over 30 single-origin coffees for tasting, four
Authorized SCAE Trainers – Andrej Godina,
PhD in Science, Technology and Economics of the Coffee Industry, Marco Cremonese, master roaster, Andrea Matarangolo, trainer barista and
Latte Art champion, Simone Guidi,
trainer barista and junior roaster, Alberto
Polojac, green coffee expert and professional taster and Davide Spinelli, trainer barista and Italian
aeropress champion.
The Umami
Barista Camp is highly professional but its courses are run in a familiar,
informal environment where coffee experts and lovers can create and take part
in a sort of permanent training lab on the Chianti hills. Depending on individual needs, the training experience
can last from 3 to 6 days, during which participants can choose their specific
training modules and start articulate educational paths that can last up to one
or two years – or just a week, depending on their personal objectives.
The Umami
Barista Camp is a permanent training lab where participants can attend classes
and practical sessions on the chosen module while sharing their experiences, thus creating a “training community”. It is a
comprehensive experience, during which people attend actual classes and share
convivial moments like a happy hour in Florence or a walk among the olive trees
of the Poggio Arioso farm.
After the
first edition, almost all participants chose to take part in the second edition
to complete their training with other modules, to repeat the same modules or
simply to share their skills and knowledge with new people.
During
the Coffee Week, participants can
choose their own study plans according to their specific needs and previous
professional experiences. To attend the Umami
Barista Camp, you must therefore enrol on a daily basis and choose among the training
packages offered by the organization.
The CDS Coffee Week of Florence includes the
following certifications:
barista skills: foundation,
intermediate and professional
brewing/filter methods: foundation, intermediate and professional
green coffee: foundation,
intermediate and professional
roasting: foundation, intermediate
and professional
sensory: foundation,
intermediate and professional
Moreover,
the Umami Barista Camp teachers offer professional specialization courses on
topics such as espresso coffee tasting, Latte Art, roasting for micro roasteries,
web marketing for roasteries.
The
Coffee Diploma System offers an introductory module followed by modules in five
core areas of coffee:
Introduction
to Coffee (10 points)
Green
Coffee, Sensory Skills, Roasting, Brewing, Barista Skills. Each of the five core modules offers qualifications at
three levels:
·
Foundation (5 points)
·
Intermediate (10 points)
·
Professional (25 points)
Students
will receive a certificate for each examination they pass and points are
awarded towards their Coffee Diploma. When they earn 100
points they will automatically be awarded with the overall Coffee Diploma
certificate.
The Foundation level provides the first
taste of a particular coffee discipline. A great
way to get initial insight into the basic skills in an area and help you decide
if you want to go on to learn more.
The
Foundation level requires no previous experience.
Courses
at this level would be expected to take 1⁄2 - 1 day.
Intermediate: suitable for those
already working in the area with a firm knowledge of the basic skills. Experience working in the field is recommended before
attempting this level.
It is not
mandatory to hold the Foundation qualification in order to be able to
participate in the Intermediate courses, but strongly recommended.
Courses
at this level would be expected to take at least 2 days (including exams).
The Professional level is suitable for
those wanting to pursue specialist knowledge at a high level in their field. Success at this level should indicate to employers’
competence to work in this field.
Extensive
experience working in the field is recommended before attempting this level. Candidates must hold the Intermediate qualification to
be able to participate in the Professional courses.
Courses
at this level would be expected to take at least 3 days (including exams).
Classes
are run by teachers/tutors – Authorized Scae Trainers (AST) specialized in
specific CDS modules – who provide the attendees with presentations, practical
sessions and bibliographic info. The classes of each
module are subject to limited enrolment so that restricted groups are created and
attendees can interact actively with the teacher and with each other.
The
equipment provided at the Camp consists in top-quality tools that are necessary
to meet any training needs. It includes: gas and
electrical roaster, grinder for espresso coffee (equipped with cooling system),
flat-burr grinder for filter and manual pour-over coffee, espresso machine with
multi-boiler technology, filtering systems to obtain the best water quality for
espresso and filter pour-over coffees, refractometer, water analysis kit
(temporary and total hardness, PH, TDS), set of green coffee screens, kit of
sieves for coffee grind size, a wide library including the most important books
on coffee.
Technical
support for practical sessions and cuppings at Umami Barista Camp is provided
by Dalla Corte Espresso Machines, filter machines by DM Italia, tools, quality
control lab equipment and roaster temperature probes by Hario, water filtering
cartridges by Water & More, roasted coffee by Torrefazione Piansa, Le
Piantagioni del caffè and Coffeel, green coffee by Sandalj and Imperator, decaf
coffee by Demus.
Andrej
Godina: “The format of the so-called ‘Camp’ – based
on intensive training over a number of days – allows attendees to carry out an
in-depth study of the Coffee Diploma System topics they are more interested in
and to share their experiences with the other attendees, thus basing their educational
baggage on a permanent training lab format. Umami
Barista Camp is more than lessons given by Authorized SCAE Trainers – it is a community of trainers who offer their
theoretical knowledge and practical skills, and try to convey them in the most
effective way. The Umami Barista Camp format is unique in
Europe – it is a training period that allows participants to access foundation,
intermediate and professional CDS certifications.”
Marco Cremonese: “The Barista Camp started in 2012 to meet the
general need of knowledge on various coffee-related topics. These topics are very different from one another and certainly need to
be studied separately, but should also be considered as connected to one
another for a more global vision of the world of coffee. During the Umami Barista Camp, in-depth courses in the different
specific sectors take place. This way, baristas have the chance to know and
study topics that seem very far from their everyday lives, but in fact influence
their activities.
They are also able to debate with colleagues, exchange
opinions and ask for information to deepen their knowledge about the different
topics. Unlike traditional courses, the Camp allows attendees to choose their
personal training plan on the spot, according to their most specific needs. They can meet and discuss with some of the greatest experts in the
various sectors; moreover, the connection with the SCAE Coffee Diploma System provides
them with high-profile professionalism and with an international perspective that
allows them to face the world of coffee with an impartial attitude. Obviously, roasting sessions with gas and electrical roasters cannot be
missing.”
Simone Guidi: “The Umami Barista Camp
started in September 2014 as a result of the idea that an event should be
created to allow baristas, professionals of the sector but also newcomers to
experience an intense training week. The Umami Coffee Campus
events – which immediately got a strong and positive feedback –, paved the way
for the Umami Barista Camp, which is a more specific and specialized event
during which any coffee topic is covered.
The Barista Camp started because of an ever-increasing
training demand. A customized, intensive training plan chosen directly by each attendee
(i.e. anyone can choose the area they want to specialize or improve in) proves
to be the best way to increase one’s interests and skills. Attendees at the Umami Barista Camp can decide to stay for one, three,
five or six days.
All these activities are connected by SCAE, the
Speciality Coffee Association of Europe, which has the aim of spreading the
knowledge of high quality coffee. During the Camp, attendees
can attain all CDS certifications, as well as the renowned Coffee Diploma (once
they have completed a number of SCAE training plan modules and earned 100 points).
Obviously, this Camp is
not open to baristas only, but to anyone who already works in the coffee sector
or has just entered it and want to know more. As a barista, I would suggest
that my colleagues start getting informed, studying and researching to improve
their work and to get keener on this special world. The Barista Camp is
therefore a unique occasion for baristas to deal with all the topics, questions
and explanations they need about coffee – from bean to cup. Why are we focussing on
the barista? Because baristas are the
final actors of a very long production and supply chain, and they are in direct
contact with final customers … so, they should not be unprepared! We try to increase
professionalism in this sector – a sector that is loved, yet overestimated as concerns
quality. What really matters,
now, is to start training. The Umami Barista Camp is a special occasion, a week
that can change our general vision of coffee. It may be a way to make research
stop being a duty and become a pleasure … or – why not? – A PASSION!”
