Barista Maestro

(Intermediate Coffee Excellence)

Training and Assessment

Pre-Work Pack

Information and Pre-Work Exercises

PLEASE READ

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Contents of pack

1. Introduction
2. Practical Assessment
3. COStA Check Exercise
4. Espresso Exercise
5. Coffee Knowledge Assessment

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 Introduction

The Intermediate Coffee Excellence programme is designed to do the following:

- improve your knowledge and understanding of coffee

- give you support in measuring the coffee standards in your store
- help you think about coffee training that you need to provide in your store to
maintain standards every day
- introduce to you the new store-based training process for core coffee skills

What do you need to do?

1. Revise all your coffee knowledge over the next 4 weeks

2. Complete all the exercises in this pack during the next 4 weeks
3. Ask questions any time if you do not understand what you need to do at any
point
4. Ensure that you keep all the work and exercises that you complete safely
5. Bring all the work required to the assessment and training day.

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 Practical Assessment

On your training and assessment day you will be assessed in how you do the
following in 30 minutes:

- Set the grinder to standard

- Make and present an Espresso
- Make and present a Cappuccino
- Make and present a Café Latte

All the above must be done to the Costa brand standards.

Step 1
Revise all your coffee recipes in store and make sure you know how to make
each drink

Step 2
Practice and ensure that you achieve brand standards every time and do not
worry about speed.

Step 3
Once you have achieved consistent brand standards, practice building your
speed so that you can do the grind and dose check, and make the required
drinks in 30 minutes.

You will also be assessed on cleaning the espresso machine and grinder to
brand standard.

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 Costa Check: Coffee Excellence Exercise

Over the next 4 weeks you need to complete the following activities in your store that
will help you and your team understand, measure and improve the coffee standards
in your store.

Week 1

Step 1
Complete a Costa Check on the quality of coffee in your store using the Coffee
Excellence section on the Costa Check pad.

Step 2
Using the results, make a note of what areas are not to the Costa brand standards.

Step 3
Decide which areas you need to work on with your team in order to improve the
coffee standards in your store.

Step 4
Complete the enclosed COStA Check Training Plan sheet. You may need to
use more paper than just the one sheet
Using the sheet, plan a training session around the standards that need to be
improved.

Step 5
Deliver and complete the training session.

Week 2, 3 and 4

Complete a Costa Check on the Coffee Excellence in your store each week.
Fill in the results on the enclosed Costa Check: Coffee Excellence Review
sheet each week.

End of Week 4
Make notes of the changes and the results in your store.

Bring your training plan and your review sheet to the assessment day.

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 Costa Check: Coffee Excellence Training Plan
Name: Store:

Brand Standards

What standards do you

need to deliver training
in? (as identified by the
Costa Check)

The Training Session

What will you do in the

training session?

What key information to

you needs to
communicate? (be
specific – what, how,
and why)

Organising the
Session

What equipment do you

need for the session?

What other material will

you need?

Where will you hold the

training session?

When will you hold the

training session?

How long will the

session be?

Barriers to Training

What potential problems

or barriers could there
be?

How will you overcome

them?

Results

What would you like to

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achieve from the training
session?

Costa Check: Coffee Excellence

Review Sheet
Name: Store:

Planning
How did you plan the
training session?

What standards did you

focus on?

The Training Session

What went well in the

session that you
delivered?

Organising the
Session

What tools did you use

to support your session?
i.e. equipment, written
material etc.

Where did you run your

session and why?

Learnings

What did you learn?

What would you do

differently next time?

Results

How did you measure

the success of your
training session?

What feedback did you

receive?

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 Costa Check Results – Coffee Excellence Section (score out of a possible 11)
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4

Espresso Exercise

The espresso is the heart of the Costa business and forms the basis for all our coffee
drinks. An espresso is just 30ml of liquid. With such a strong flavour in such a small
amount, it is essential to get it perfect each time. It doesn’t matter if you create the
rest of the drink perfectly, if the espresso isn’t spot on, the drink is spoilt.

Remember!
There are a huge number of factors that can affect the taste of an espresso:

 Grind Size
 Portion Size
 Pressure of Tamp
 Pressure of water
 Temperature of water
 Temperature of Group handle
 Temperature of Cup
 Cleanliness of Machine
 Cleanliness of Grinder
 Cleanliness of Group Handle
 Age of Coffee
 Colour of Roast

What do you need to do?

Step 1
Complete the attached Espresso Tasting Card for an espresso in your own store.

The Espresso Tasting Card card asks you to judge the following about the espresso:
1. The Look
2. The Smell
3. The Taste

Step 2
Find out who the 2 closest competitors are in your country.

Step 3
In the next 4 weeks visit a store of each competitor and taste their espresso.
Complete the Espresso Tasting Card after each visit.

Step 4
Make notes on the following:
1. The main differences that you found in each espresso
2. What you feel the reasons for those differences are

Step 5
Keep your Espresso Tasting cards and notes safely.

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Step 6
Remember!
Bring your completed Espresso tasting cards to your assessment day with the notes
that you have made. You will be asked to talk about what you discovered.
Espresso Tasting Card
Use the table below to test 3 key areas of the espresso –

The Look

Colour of Crema – tick the box that most closely matches the crema.

Costa

Pale ideal Dark

Competitor 1

Pale ideal Dark

Competitor 2

Pale ideal Dark

Why should the crema not be too pale? …………………...............................................

Why should the crema not be too dark? ……………………………………………………

Costa Comp 1 Comp 2

The Look (continued) Yes No Yes No Yes No
Can you see coffee liquid under the crema?
Does the crema have bubbles in it?
Is the crema smooth and silky?

The Smell Yes No Yes No Yes No

Does the espresso smell like coffee?
Does the espresso smell burnt?
Is there sweetness to the smell?
What does the smell remind you of?

The Taste Yes No Yes No Yes No

Does the liquid feel the same as warm water in
your mouth?
Does your tongue react on the top? (acidity)
Does your tongue feel dry on the sides?
(astringency)
Is there a burnt taste?
Can you still taste the coffee after a few
moments?

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 If yes, for how long?

Coffee Knowledge Assessment

During your intermediate training and assessment day you will sit a short written test.
There will be 20 questions.

During the next 4 weeks make sure that you revise the following:

Coffee Background
- Know and understand Costa’s coffee roasting process
- Know and understand what the Costa Mocha Italia Blend is

The Coffee Machine

- Know the names of ALL areas of the Coffee Machine and grinder
- Know and understand how the coffee machine and grinder should work when
operating correctly

For example
What are the 2 gauges at the front of the coffee machine and what should
they read?
What is the temperature of the water when it passes through the group head?
What is the ratio of steam to water in the boiler?
What are the type of blades used in the grinders?
What happens to the blades when you adjust the grinder?

Recipes
- Know the recipes for all the Hot Drinks
- Know and be able to demonstrate how each drink should be presented to
brand standards

Coffee Quality
- Know and be able to apply all the standards on Coffee Excellence within the
COStA Check
- Know and be able to use the heartbeat sheet correctly

Use your Operations Manual and all the information and material that you have
in your store to help you.

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NOTES PAGE: make any notes here as you complete each exercise

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