One of the best things about being extremely geeky when it comes to coffee, is that it gives us Beve boys a chance to meet and teach some really fine people about the ways of coffee. This past February, Nathanael and I were privileged to train the staff members at Edgehill Cafe on the corner of Villa and Edgehill, in the ever expanding Edgehill Village. This place has undergone many changes throughout the years, but I believe that this last ownership change has been one for the better.
Winn Elliott, also owner of Brite Revolution and his newly acquired Fringe Magazine, bought the struggling cafe back in spring or summer of 2010. With the help of some local and very talented contractors, Winn completely redesigned the inside of the store which now boasts a very elegant yet down to earth, backwoods Montana vibe, utilizing what looks to be some old barn wood on the counters, walls, and table tops. Winn has a very good vision of what he wants the store to be, and he and I are collaborating often to continue changing the face of Edgehill Cafe.
Beve had already been a huge part of the happenings at Edgehill Cafe prior to the employee trainings that took place in February. There were many long talks with Winn on how to further improve this picture perfect location for a coffee shop, and this eventually led to us holding a day full of public cupping classes. The local community came in to taste three coffees, from three different regions, and hopefully learned something entirely new about processing, roasting, and how to profile coffee’s tasting notes. Keep an eye out for more of these public cupping classes!
In February we held our Coffee 101 course for about 8 of Edgehill Cafe’s staff, including Winn and his father who aids in running the place. This course is an hour-long dissection of the processes that coffee goes through from seed to cup, followed by an offensive cupping where they get to see firsthand the differences in regions, processing, etc. In light of everything that goes into coffee before it reaches the barista’s hands, our responsibility as baristas is not something to be taken lightly. The next portion of this 3 hour course is a walk through of all the ways we can either “mess it all up” or “hit a home run” with the coffee. We also do a thorough cleaning and breakdown of machine parts and equipment. This is one of the most eye opening parts when we realize that EVERYTHING the coffee touches could in the end affect the way it tastes.
The Coffee 101 was followed up by three of Edgehill’s baristas taking our 4 hour Espresso 101 & 102 courses. We spent two weeks developing good habits, as well as teaching the science and technique behind preparing great espresso beverages. Trevor, Rachel, and Tyler (not pictured) all gave up 8 hours of their life to learn more about this exciting process, and quite happily at that. These courses touch on everything from the basics of dosing, tamping, steaming and overall drink prep to the theory of espresso extraction, weighing your shots, calculating extraction yield percentages, latte art, and a breakdown of the proper maintenance schedule every coffee shop should have in place.
The aftermath has been very game changing for Edgehill Cafe. Immediately they began hearing that their coffee was tasting better than it ever had. They are even looking into getting new equipment that will allow their baristas to better utilize the things they’ve learned, and have gone as far as making sure they hire new employees who are passionate about coffee. We’re thrilled to be a part of their continual development, and we think you should be too! If you’re a barista or coffee enthusiast in town, go be a patron of their place, and know that you can talk coffee with them. I’m sure they’d be thrilled.
There’s more to come from Winn at Edgehill Cafe, so stay in the loop!
Who’s next for training? Contact us at info@bevecoffee.com for pricing and an expanded information brochure about our training.
Cheesy Beve farewell,
Sean
P.S. We teach classes on home brew methods every 3rd Sunday @ CREMA from 2-4pm. Sometimes things like this happen:
Crema // Beve Aeropress Brew Method Class from Chad McClarnon on Vimeo.
And once again thanks to my awesome wife, Julie, for the photos seen in this blog!
