I swung by the labs downstairs this afternoon to look in on the BGA barista assessment they were doing.
I spoke with both Heather Perry and Barry Jarrett about the course and its purpose – the idea is that in the future it will be a compulsory thing to have gone through in order to attend workshops. This is a goood thing, as a class always goes at the pace of the least experienced and often people sign up for workshops without realising that they need some level of understanding of espresso equipment.
written test
The baristas going through it looked a little nervous but it isn’t an aggressive or mean assessment. Judges just want to see that they can produce drinkable drink, though Barry does worry his concentration face looks a bit scowly.
I tried to stay out of the way, though I did quite fancy asking if I could drink one of the two capps each barista has to produce along with two espressos in a five minute period. (they also get 5 minutes to set the grinder)
I think these kind of compulsory things are a great idea, in order to really push the value of the educational classes as far as possible.
