The Brew School: Pioneering Kerala’s coffee revolution

The cup of hot latte on the table before me, with a milky heart design made from the silkiest milk froth, was bitter. Yet, it did not irk my sweet tooth. It was yum!

No, this isn’t about yet another fancy café among the sea of others in Kochi, but rather an institute that vows to produce the finest baristas and bartenders – The Brew School, which claims to be the first professional barista training institute in Kerala.

After taking a sip, I was briefed on how subtle changes in the brewing method, coffee bean grind size and roast types can profoundly alter the taste of coffee. These coffee terms were quite baffling. However, the main point was clear: anyone can make coffee, but not everyone can make the perfect cup.

Nestled in the heart of Kochi, the school adds to the city’s love for unconventionality with its tenet, “Coffee education for all.” Its aspires to democratise and transform the way coffee is approached.

“We are not just about coffee... we are agents of change in the coffee and hospitality industry,” says Manoj K P, the principal and co-founder of the school located in Girinagar, Kadavanthra.

Being a loyal tea enthusiast and not very acclimatised to coffee culture, indulging in a discussion about coffee and its business felt like a betrayal. To ease my conscience, I hinted at the goodness of Kerala’s staple drink, tea. However, Manoj was unperturbed. He was quite certain about the future of the coffee industry in Kerala.

A professionally trained barista or bartender is still an alien concept to the Keralites. However, the team behind the school aims to formalise the art and science of coffee and spark a change in how it is served and enjoyed.

“The coffee market and consumers’ knowledge in Kerala is at an early stage. Imparting knowledge would mean people coming to cafés here and ordering ‘a coffee with a light roast bean’ rather than ‘just a coffee,’” says Manoj.

Although there has been a surge in cafés in the state’s urban areas, he observes that the skill set still does not meet industry standards. The school aims to bridge this gap.

Speaking about how their shared enthusiasm led to the creation of the school, Manoj says, “When we were working as consultants at a company here, we observed small cafés being forced to shut down after a few years of opening. The problem is not just with the investors, but the lack of manpower. There aren’t sufficient skilled professionals here to work in the coffee sector.”

“Most cafés provide in-house training for employees, but there aren’t places here that offer proper certification courses and training according to industry standards. This is what led us to start the school.”

Before this, aspirants had to travel to Bengaluru or Chennai to receive training. However, the schools there offer shorter, on-demand courses that do not necessarily cover all aspects of coffee education. Moreover, these courses are expensive, leaving coffee education accessible only to the privileged.

The institute, which is also a member of the reputed Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), offers affordable courses without compromising on quality. It provides two courses: Certification in Barista Skills and Diploma in Mixology and Bartending. (We will talk about the latter on another day.)

These three-month and six-month programmes engage students with intensive classroom training and hands-on experience through internships. They offer a standardised form of learning for baristas and bartenders and a globally recognised certificate issued by the STED Council upon completion, enabling students to secure positions in top establishments.

The school also boasts state-of-the-art facilities and premium machines, giving students exposure to world-class technology and the global coffee industry.

The school is run by a trio of experts: Vipin Sarin, a sommelier and internationally certified barista with over two decades of experience; Manoj, an experienced operations expert in the food and beverages industry; and entrepreneur Aravind Haridas, founder of Delicious Kerala, a popular food critic platform.

More than baristas

Unique in its ethos and mission, the school focuses on producing “smarter baristas” who can not only distinguish the subtle differences that make each coffee unique but also communicate this to customers, thereby creating a holistic experience.

Manoj explains, “More than just serving a great cup of coffee, we want them to gain enough knowledge to explain what they are serving. This increases consumer knowledge, which in turn benefits the overall market. Therefore, a barista handles more than coffee.”

To facilitate this, the school trains its students on soft skills, product pricing, and other technical aspects of running a café business.

As beverage experts, the school is not limited to coffee. “Mixology has significant value in terms of employability, as there is a huge demand for skilled bartenders globally. However, there are only a few places in India where one can learn it. Our course delves into the art and science of mixing and the world of wine, rather than just flair and showmanship,” Manoj adds.

Many students at the school are aspiring café owners. One such student, Amal Jagath, had attended several coffee workshops in Bengaluru but sought a comprehensive learning experience.

“I wanted to get actual hands-on experience before investing a lot of money into something I didn’t have proper knowledge of,” he says.

Another student, Akshay Raj M K, is preparing to pursue an MBA abroad and took the course to master basic barista skills to work in cafés while studying.

“Having professional training will help me land better-paid part-time jobs,” he hopes.

The school also conducts weekend workshops to build a community of coffee lovers, initiate discussions on coffee trends, and help people understand the journey, i.e. from bean to cup.

Hopefully, the intimidating variety of coffees and their specifications that often overwhelm people at high-end cafés will seem less daunting after these workshops. Those interested can book their seats in advance. The course fee for the Certification in Barista Skills is Rs 40,000, and the Diploma in Mixology and Bartending costs Rs 50,000.

There are two batches for the former, with class timings from 10am to 1pm for the first batch and from 3pm to 6pm for the second. For the latter, class timings are from 3pm to 6pm. The next batch begins on October 7.

Brownie bits

• Coffee is the second most consumed beverage in the world

• Brazil is the world’s largest coffee producer; India ranks six on the list 40% of the world’s coffee is produced by Brazil

• The US is the world’s largest consumer of coffee. Finland leads in terms of per capita consumption

• Karnataka is the leading coffee producer in India, accounting for about 70% of the total output

• Kopi Luwak, the world’s most expensive coffee, is made from beans digested by the Sumatran wild cat

• The coffee bean type ‘java’ is named after an island in Southeast Asia, and ‘mocha’ originates from Mocha in Yemen

• Instant coffee is about 250 years old

(Written by Meera James)