Barista'ing In Italy

mimmo124

Hi All,

I am looking to go Italy around July this year for a bit of a holiday/work/life experience

While I am there I am looking to do an Italian language course and maybe an Umbrian cooking course.

As an avid Barista/EMO I thought It could be handy to partake in a Barista course if any such thing is offered in Italy. I have heard many a "top" barista/EMO say....."I had training in Italy". Not that I believe it will make oneself a better barista having being taught in Italy. This is especially true of someone who plans to work in Australia, in a different market with a very different clientele.

But while I am there I thought I would give it a shot as it may help me to gain employment as Barista/EMO in the cafes there(I have permission to work in the EU)

Anyone know of the employment potential for Aussie Trained EMOs...I think I will write Barista on resume though

Does anyone on here know of any schools in Italy worth getting in contact with? I know many on here agree that Italy is not the home to the best coffee in Europe, but I am sure, just like Australia there are good and bad places to get coffee. Maybe all past samples of Italian coffee have been from the bad places and the good are still yet to be found

I plan to be in the north of Italy, around Lago di Como, Lago di Garda which are very touristy spots in the summer, so hopefully the job potential is out there for inspired coffee makers!

Regards

Mimmo

admin

Hi guys - have been away for a few days; my understanding is that most Italian baristas get their experience 'on-the-job'. I'm sure many of the bigger roasters (eg Lavazza, Segafredo) have in-house training centres, but I wouldn't be sure that they train to a standard any higher than in Australia.  Will contact Kate Fellowes, who until recently was Lavazza's training manager in NSW, to see if she has any comments to add. Cheers -A

Unknown

Hi mimmo. would have responded to this earlier but was in ITALY! near where your going actually... Admin is quite correct that up untill recently training is on the job.  If you have been to italy before you would see that baristi commuicate with customers much more than in Australia (most coffee is consumed at the bar) and it is not uncomonfor the barista to be standing at the machine while customers are yelling their orders at him/her (female baristas seem to outnumber the boys sometimes! (go girls!!))... Hence the language issue may be a problem (considering many italians dont speak 'Italian' but rather a regional dialect (im guilty of that one!). There are several courses run in italy depending on what you wantto learn (and how much you want to spend)... Planet one (planetone.it) have some great courses including general bartendering. otherwise check out the European Speciality Coffee Association web page (www.scae.com) and follow the links to "coffee and barista training" hope this helps...! john