Brewing our newest NASCafe baristas

Twelve lucky Northern Adelaide Senior College students were selected to be the new baristas for our soon-to-be renamed NASCafé on the HUB Rooftop last Friday.

In a two-day workshop held at Independent Institute – IIFP, our newest baristas were taught the skills on how to grind, dose, tamp and pull the delicious espresso that all coffee-addicts enjoy.

“It’s actually pretty cool that they teach these skills at school because it helps find transitioning pathways,” says Jayden C-F, a year 11 NASC student.

“First we learned how to make simple espresso and now we’ve moved up to making full milk drinks because they’re the basics,” says Lacie S., a 2021 SACE Completer.

The barista program required students to apply and go through an interview process with the Careers and Transitioning team at NASC.

“The point of this program is that we’re going to run a NASCafé on the HUB Rooftop and these guys are going to be our baristas,” says Rachael Savage,

“It is part of the employability program and so they were aware that when they applied, they were basically signing up and committing to run the café from 8-11 every day.

“It could also be beneficial if they want to find a part-time job.”

Clifford Medlin, IIFP barista trainer, says that our students were great at how quickly they managed to learn and make the array of coffees one can expect at a café.

“They listen well, they take to new ideas pretty quickly. They clean up fast which is a wicked change, and I’d be more than happy to teach them again, they’ve been good,” says Clifford.

“Coffee is everywhere. You can take these skills and you can go to America, Bali, Europe – a cappuccino is a cappuccino, a latte is a latte. It’s like cooking, it’s a skill that’s used everywhere.”

Rachael says that they hope to run a second round or create an opportunity for students to learn how to roast their own coffee beans in the future.

“NASCafé could expand to include snacks like muffins or perhaps incorporate work from the Food and Hospitality subject,” says Rachael.

“These are all things that we’re still looking at but these students will be driving the business as part of the deal.

“It’s new and we, I guess from the staff point-of-you, we don’t want to make all those decisions. We want these guys to come up with the ideas.”

NASCafé is open to staff and students of Northern Adelaide Senior College every morning from 8-11am.