Student Spotlight

We recently interviewed a number of our previous students to feature their endeavours in the coffee industry and how the training at Melbourne Coffee Academy has influenced their barista journey. We couldnโ€™t be prouder of what everyone has achieved so far and continue to look forward to seeing how our training has helped people achieve their goals in the coffee industry!

KINGSLEY

Meet Kingsley! He came to us all the way back in 2022 and is now making waves in the specialty coffee industry.

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐— ๐—–๐—”?
Barista Apprenticeship Course

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ ๐—ท๐—ผ๐—ฏ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฒ?
I worked in a cafe in South Yarra called Boy. I worked there for over a year but unfortunately the owners have sold the cafe.

๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ?
I learned how to make a great coffee in a real cafe environment and gained an understanding of the standards for specialty coffee in Melbourne. MCA has a great setup and mindset in training that is quite relevant to Melbourneโ€™s specialty coffee scene. A lot of cafes will do a trial which involves just making one or two coffees to see what kind of habits you have and if you can make a good coffee. And since the setup at MCA is quite common in Melbourne, the training helped a lot during trials. I was taught what the common good habits to have and bad habits to avoid were while making coffee, which I think has stuck with me since the training.

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„?
Currently working at two different places - Humble Rays and Tone Coffee! Also previously at Axil Coffee Roasters.


MOE

Next up we have Moe. She came to us from Japan and took the Barista Masterclass as a way of starting her coffee journey in Melbourne. She recently went back home but has returned to Melbourne for a short stint.

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ ๐—ท๐—ผ๐—ฏ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฒ?
Barista at Warkop in Richmond.

๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ?
It prepared me mentally and physically to be a barista. Training with other students on the machine was good practice to learn how to work as a team. It taught me how to look ahead, to know what others are doing and also to read orders ahead so you know how to work efficiently. Even if you personally think you know only the bare minimum compared to people who have worked in the coffee industry for years, it still helped me have the confidence to start working at a cafe as a barista in โ€œMELBOURNEโ€.

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ?
Drink, love and enjoy coffee for life.

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ?
At home on a rainy day, at a cafe on a sunny day.


HARRY

Weโ€™re heading overseas for our next student feature. Meet Harry - word of mouth is he is a jazz guitar genius who moved from Melbourne to Amsterdam to continue his music studies. Heโ€™s always made coffee at home but wanted to also work as a barista while he was there, so did a short course with us to get him ready for cafe life.

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐— ๐—–๐—”?
Advanced Espresso

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ ๐—ท๐—ผ๐—ฏ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฒ?
First job (and current job!) is at Espresso Fabriek - a cafe founded and based in Amsterdam. I moved from Melbourne to Amsterdam mid last year, had a trial shift during my first here, and began working shortly after. Itโ€™s a mixture of FOH and switching between milk and espresso stations. This keeps it varied and interesting for me as the shifts are nine hours long!

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ?
Iโ€™m balancing my masters study, creative career, and some other part time work so Iโ€™m just doing weekends at the cafe at the moment. Iโ€™d definitely like to get better at working with different milks and pouring latte art. I enjoy working with my hands and doing something thatโ€™s different to music which occupies so much of my other time. 

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ?
I generally just drink shitty filter coffees at home to get me through the day. That said, if I feel like splurging on a โ‚ฌ5 flat white then Back To Black Coffee in Amsterdam West gets the crucial balance of excellent coffee, cosy interior and genuinely friendly staff right.


JIN

Say hello to Jin - She joined us back in 2022 and has been steadily improving her coffee skills since then.

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐— ๐—–๐—”? 
I first took the Barista Masterclass course as a newbie in November 2022, then came back to do a refresher course for cafe Baristas followed by the Latte Art and Filter Coffee courses.

๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ?
Most importantly, having passionate and encouraging trainers allowed me to stay positive and have the courage to keep on trying. The comfortable size of max. 4 people per course really helped to create a safe and welcoming space for me to ask questions and receive the focused learning I needed. I especially loved that the Barista Masterclass offered the opportunity to serve coffee to tenants of Waterman Caribbean Park, allowing me to get a taste of what working in a fast-paced, high-pressure cafe environment is like. Even after completing the courses, it has been a huge support being able to stay connected with the MCA community on Facebook and share coffee-related information and experiences with one another. It was also memorable when Charles and Justin swung by to where I work to show their support and see my progress!

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ ๐—ท๐—ผ๐—ฏ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฒ?
The Butlers Pantry in Rowville.

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„?
Micah Coffee Brewers in Ferntree Gully with the most amazing team and loveliest community of customers!

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ?
It has been a real blessing being able to work in a specialty coffee environment from a boss who is so knowledgeable and yet so humble and giving. I hope to continue picking at his brain, so I can keep on learning and growing, and maybe.. one day.. reach his level of producing beautiful, quality coffee.

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ?
On my days off, I like to make myself a pourover at home or take the opportunity to explore other specialty coffee spots around Melbourne.


TAKUYA

Our next student feature is Takuya - he joined us for his first course less than a year ago and has worked harder than anyone to get to where he is today. He truly immersed himself in the Melbourne specialty coffee industry through events, cuppings, coffee competitions and most importantly, through connections with so many people... We are sad to hear he is going back to Japan soon but we are confident he will be doing amazing things over there!

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐— ๐—–๐—”? 
The Barista Apprenticeship Program, followed by the Latte Art, Advanced Espresso and Filter Coffee Courses.

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ ๐—ท๐—ผ๐—ฏ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฒ?
Barista Position at Le Petite Chateau.

๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ?
I had literally no experience working as a barista and never used an espresso machine before taking it. However, the Barista Apprenticeship course provided me with all I needed to know to work in a real cafe situation such as how to take orders, extract espresso, steam and pour milk, and serve a cup of coffee to the customers at quite a fast pace. It was really good to know how to get a barista job in Melbourne because it is following what Melbourne coffee shops do.

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„?
279 & Roasting Warehouse in North Melbourne

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ?
My goals for now are trying to get Q Graders Certification within a year and join a company of green beans importers. I want to stick with the coffee industry and it would be nice if I could connect people through coffee.

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ?
Maker Coffee CBD, The Flour in West Melbourne and Crimson Coffee in Camberwell โ€ฆ and of course 279 and Roasting Warehouse!!


NIC

Nic did the Barista Masterclass with us at the start of the year. Already a hospo professional, he wanted to level up his coffee skills and dive deep into the world of specialty coffee. What a legend!

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐— ๐—–๐—”?
Barista Masterclass

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ ๐—ท๐—ผ๐—ฏ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฒ?
I already had a job at Novotel South Wharf but got a second barista job at Fox in the Chamber because of the course I did with MCA.

๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ?
Improvement in work flow, better understanding of milk steaming and grind size vs machine pressure for shots.

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„?
Novotel South Wharf and Fox in the Chamber cafe.

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ?
Doing more in specialty coffee and potential work with connecting coffee farmers to cafe owners.

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ?
Because I live a fair way out of town, Fox in the Chamber. But, if Iโ€™m in the CBD, Dukes Coffee or Code Black Coffee.


JUNICHIRO


Say hi to Junichiro - We had the pleasure of having him in for a course back in April 2023. Weโ€™re so happy he has been able to apply his skills and flourish in the coffee industry all the way up in Port Douglas!

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐— ๐—–๐—”? 
Barista Apprenticeship 

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ ๐—ท๐—ผ๐—ฏ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฒ?
It was a drive thru coffee shop. I didnโ€™t have to worry about latte art. 

๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ?
I was able to work confidently and cope with pressure at my first work place. Also I didnโ€™t get panicked at all even though there were a lot of dockets. To be honest, not so many cafes are as busy as MCAโ€™s cafe setting. I have got everything that I needed to start working in cafes through the course!

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„?
Origin Espresso in Port Douglas.

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ?
I want to join competitions. Opening my own coffee place is a dream too. 

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ?
I used to go Ona Coffee or Wood and Co when I was in Melbourne. In Port Douglas, I go to Origin Espresso.


MATT & SAM

Weโ€™re heading interstate and overseas for our next round of student features! Let us introduce you to Matt and Sam from Kossies Cafe. They have been on quite the journey over the last year. They had the crazy idea to pack up their bags, leave Melbourne behind and open a cafe somewhere in Europe - when we met them, they were still decidingโ€ฆ but after some research they settled in Lisbon, the capital city of Portugal.

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐— ๐—–๐—”?
Barista Masterclass in early 2023

๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ?
Hard to overstate! I learnt so much about coffee - where it comes from, how to identify and describe flavour notes and characteristics, how to make it, and of course, latte art!

๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜†๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„?
Amazing. Sam and I have opened a cafe in Lisbon, called Kossieโ€™s, that is going gangbusters! We owe a lot of our success to the team at Melbourne Coffee Academy.

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ?
To further establish ourselves as a cosy, neighbourhood cafe that provides a warm experience for our customers

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ณ๐—ฒ?
Patricia Coffee Brewers in Melbourne and of course, Kossies Cafe in Lisbon!


CLAUDIA

We are heading to Malaysia for our next student feature! Claudia did extensive training with us in 2023 and we knew right away she was going to be an amazing barista.

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐— ๐—–๐—”?
The Barista Masterclass

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐˜€ ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ป?
Currently Head Barista at Dash Coffee in Sarawak, Malaysia.

๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ?
I already had prior experience with brewing coffee in a home setting, but MCAโ€™s course had helped so much with teaching me how to maximise workflow efficiency in a professional setting and helped me set good practices in my coffee making from the get go. It was a great introduction to working as a barista in a cafe setting to someone like me who did not have prior experience in a professional setting and Iโ€™m so grateful I got to train with the guys at MCA. 

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ?
Iโ€™d love to participate in brewing competitions in the future, go into coffee roasting and continue connecting with people in this wonderful industry.

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ?
Usually pull out my favourite beans from my frozen stash to brew at home or if I was in Melbourne, definitely Manta Ray Coffee, Small Batch Coffee or Ona Melbourne.


MURTAZA

Finally we have Murtaza - he joined us for a Masterclass back in December 2021. He has been one heck of a coffee journey over the last few years and has joined the MCA team, now working at our Eastland location in Ringwood!

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐— ๐—–๐—”?
The course I took was the Barista Masterclass, a 4 day intensive course with 2 days of real world cafe experience making coffees for people.

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ ๐—ท๐—ผ๐—ฏ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฒ? ๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ?
My first job following the course was quite an interesting one. I was hired by Industry Beans as an in-house Barista for their partnership with the co-working space Wework. I was mostly stationed in Barangaroo, Sydney. There, I was responsible for everything as the in-house Barista, from taking orders, running shots, steaming milk, pouring coffees and calling out the coffees as well. It was quite an intense role as I was making around 120 coffees in about 4 hours. The Barista Masterclass really gave me the knowledge, skills and confidence to work in a role like this. I was also assisted by Charles to re-program the coffee machine when I was having some issues. Not only did the training help immensely, but I was continuously supported even after finishing the course and being in a different city!

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„?
Since then, I have worked at various cafes. Currently, I work at Padre Coffee at their South Melbourne Market store and the Melbourne Coffee Academy coffee bar in Ringwood.

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ?
As someone who has a unique position in the coffee industry as a green coffee importer SBC Coffee Traders and a Barista, I want to play a role in making Yemeni coffee as a mainstream origin in Australia. I plan to do this by partnering and doing business with roasters, as well as setting up a coffee shop or trailer where I use Yemeni coffee beans in the beverage I sell.

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ณ๐—ฒ?
This is a hard one, especially because I havenโ€™t had a chance to visit many cafes since I moved to Melbourne. However, Core Roasters in Brunswick is a place where I know I will be greeted with a warm smile and a tasty brew every single time.