I figured the best gift to get a minimalist is a unique experience! For JS’s birthday this year, I surprised him with a Barista Course by Common Man Coffee Roasters Academy. We both enjoy good coffee but have limited knowledge about it, so this seems like a good activity.
After researching about the different barista courses in Singapore, most of them came across as too technical and extensive. I was looking for an experiential yet insightful workshop, so I went with CMCR Academy.
Not mentioning, I enjoyed brunch and coffee at Common Man Coffee Roasters so I’m confident about the quality of the coffee and curriculum. Let’s dive right into our experience!
Experience
The Fundamental Barista Skills course is split into 4 different segments.
We first started off with a short introduction into the world of coffee and espresso. We learned about the different types of coffee beverages and the theory of espresso. It was very interesting as we never knew that a few seconds in the espresso process makes a world of difference in the taste of the coffee!
After the lesson, we headed over to the gigantic machine where we got a chance to try making our very own espresso! I am in love with the beautiful white and wood exterior of this machine.
As both JS and I are not espresso drinkers, we definitely need to learn to make some milk coffee beverages. I love a cup of Flat White, while he usually goes for Black or Americano. I worked part-time as a Barista during my university days, so this definitely brought back some memories.
JS was surprised that the milk steaming process actually requires so much technique! We got to practice the milk steaming process multiple times before moving on to the next and final step.
The finale of the class was free pouring. It is kinda a preview to the next course – latte art, which we are looking forward to attending down the road.
We practised with water initially and when we went on to hot espresso and milk, it was really nerve-wracking as we did not want to mess up (both the coffee and our hands).
That concluded our lovely Fundamental Barista Skills course at Common Man Coffee Roasters. We felt that our instructor, Keith from CMCR Academy provided us with ample practice, demonstration, and guidance for each of the processes. We each received a certificate and a pack of Common Man Coffee Roasters coffee blend.
Information about the Barista Course we took
Name of Course: Fundamental Barista Skills
Price: $170 per pax
Duration: 2.5 hours (but we spent about 3 hours there)
For more information about the class, you can visit Common Man Coffee Roaster’s official website here. They offer many other types of classes other than the Fundamental Barista Skills course which we took.
If you’re interested in finding more activities to do in Singapore during this period of time, you can consider visiting Pulau Ubin! We recently went and really enjoyed our time there.
Craving for travels like us and interested in obscure travel locations? Check out our interesting trip to North Korea here!
