Barista Training and Latte Art Workshops
Two days at our Queen Street bar with a working Linea, a trainer who has pulled shots through a nine o'clock rush, and enough milk to make your first rosetta look like you meant it.
Dialling in, milk texturing, and a bar shift that does not fall apart
The course runs on the machines we use for service, so the pressure behaves the way it will on a Monday morning. You start at the grinder, learning to read a shot by colour and flow instead of a clock, then move to the steam wand. By the second afternoon you are taking orders from a queue of staff and getting the milk textured while the shot finishes. Groups stay small because a barista is built by repetition, and six people is about as many as one trainer can correct without somebody standing around waiting.
- Grind adjustment by taste, not by the number printed on the dial
- Steam wand technique that works on dairy, barista oat and soy
- A two-person workflow that survives the morning peak
Who stands next to you while you learn
Three trainers share the teaching at Queen Street. All of them still work paid shifts, which means what they show you is what they did last Saturday, not what a manual said in 2016.
Twelve years of opening shifts
Our lead trainer has unlocked the same Brisbane bar five mornings a week since 2013. He can hear a grinder that needs new burrs from across the room and he will make you listen for it too.
Latte art with a judging clock on it
One of the team placed third at the Queensland latte art throwdown in 2023. She breaks the pour into stages, so your hand learns the drop before it attempts the pattern.
Plant milks that behave
Oat and soy split at different temperatures and customers notice the result. We spend a full hour on the temperature windows that keep barista oat glossy and the almond brands from turning grainy.
Hiring leads, not promises
Four cafes across West End and Fortitude Valley send us their vacancies. We pass them on to students who finish the intensive, and we say plainly if your pours are not there yet.
I walked in with eight years of home espresso and still could not texture milk for a flat white. Two days here sorted that, and the workflow drill is what got me the job at a Newstead cafe.
Pick the amount of bench time you need
Class sizes are capped, so the price covers machine time rather than a seat in a lecture room. Bring your own apron if you have one you like.
Half a day at the bar for people who want to find out whether the trade suits them before committing to more.
- Three hours of hands-on machine time
- Espresso and milk basics only
- One trainer to four students
- A bag of house blend to take home
Two full days that take a complete beginner to someone who can hold a bar on their own for a quiet shift.
- Fourteen hours across two days
- Grinder dialling and shot diagnosis
- Latte art from heart to rosetta
- Plant milk session included
- Printed recipe card and certificate
The foundation days plus a paid-style rush shift, a cleaning routine and a session on the till and opening checklist.
- Twenty-one hours across three days
- Everything in the two-day course
- Simulated rush with real orders
- Backflush and grinder cleaning routine
- Opening and closing checklist walkthrough
- One follow-up session within a month
Gift vouchers are sold at the counter. Cancellations inside 48 hours move to the next available date rather than refunding.
Six steps from nervous to pouring
Nothing here is improvised. The order below is the order we teach it in, and it is the same sequence every class.
Tell us where you are starting
A short call covers the machine you have at home, any shifts you have worked and what you want the training for.
Choose a date and a pace
Weekday sessions suit people between jobs. Weekend sessions run longer and include a proper lunch break.
Grind and dose before anything else
You taste an under-extracted and an over-extracted shot on purpose, so you recognise both later without help.
Steam until the milk looks like paint
Two full pitchers each of practice milk. Most of it gets tipped down the sink, and that is exactly the point.
Work a rush with a partner
Staff line up and order fast. You split the bar with another student and learn to keep the queue from stacking up.
Leave with notes and paper
You take home a laminated recipe card for our house blend and a certificate you can attach to a job application.
The bar you will be standing at
Photographed on our own service bar, using the machines, cups and tampers you will handle during the session.
Two students at the espresso machine
Microfoam in a stainless pitcher
Rosetta latte art close up
Shot pulling on the scale
Questions we get asked every week
If your question is not here, ring the bar during opening hours and someone will pick up between orders.
Tell us when you want to be behind a machine
Send the form and we reply within one business day with the next available dates and what to expect on the day.
- Monday to Friday 7:00 am to 5:00 pm
- Saturday 8:00 am to 3:00 pm
- Sunday Closed for training
Come and look at the bar first
171 Queen Street, Brisbane City QLD 4000, Australia
+61 7 3184 6729