About Us

The Espresso Coffee School is one of Auckland's longest running independent barista training facilities.

Our vision is to produce exceptional baristas, espresso making specialists. Exceptional Baristas are needed to continuously increase the quality of coffee being served to New Zealands discerning coffee drinkers.

The Espresso Coffee School was established in 2004 with the aim of setting a standard of excellence. It was observed that the quality of espresso coffees being served weren't meeting expectations consistently.

The school was set up by cafe owners passionate about teaching others how to master the product which affects so many lives every day! Over the last 6 years we have helped hundreds of students to build their coffee knowledge and passion to become specialists in this competitive field.

Coffee is the world's second largest traded commodity!

Coffee is enjoyed by most cultures around the globe. The word espresso invokes passionate thoughts by the millions affected by the seeds of this amazing fruit.

It is present in increasingly more aspects of daily life. One of the first things we do when waking up in the morning is have a coffee, and then again on the way to or on arrival at work. Even stopping to get petrol now involves being offered barista made espresso coffee!

As the coffee culture grows and matures, so does the demand for quality! People are often disappointed with the quality of the coffee they buy. The Espresso Coffee School is responding to this by offering you the opportunity to master the espresso making techniques used by successful career baristas. We can help you regardless of whether you want to make coffee as a career or for yourself at home.

We believe in teaching small classes, through practical and theory lessons in a real cafe environment for our Professional Barista Course. Our courses and training sessions are run by multi-skilled professional tutors sharing an attitude of passion for excellence! If you have a home machine, we can help you learn in a home environment where you'll be putting your skills to use.

In Italy they say the quality of an espresso beverage is dependent on the "4 M's"

"Miscela"is the coffee blend (degree of roast used; light/medium/dark)
"Macinazione" is the grinder setting, to ensure optimum extraction.
"Macchina" is the machine and its condition, settings and position.
"Mano" is the hand of the barista.

Mastering each one takes your coffee making to a higher level. These 4 components are what we have built their courses around.

The Espresso Coffee School can help you build the passion and demand for excellence which will see you produce delicious espresso.

As there is such a wide range of coffee roasters offering different coffee blends, flavours and qualities, we have chosen to not be associated with any one particular roaster.

This means:

You are learning unbiased information on the quality of coffee we use.
You will be able to identify characteristics in the espresso extraction from different coffee beans we use during courses.
If you are looking to start or purchase your own cafe, you can confidently analyse the quality of the beans different roasters will be showing you in their efforts to attract your business. The quality (or lack of it) will be obvious after one of our courses!

The Espresso Coffee School prides itself on the quality of its tutors. We believe all tutors should have several years of hands on experience in their field of expertise in the coffee world. Whatever your goals are, we can make sure your tutor will have the relevant knowledge you need in order to succeed.

Our tutors include cafe owners, career baristas and coffee machine technicians, we also have contacts with respected Auckland coffee roasters.

You can click on one of the links below to learn more about what The Espresso Coffee School can offer you:

Do you want to find out how The Espresso Coffee School can help you successfully start down the path of becoming a Barista? Learn more about The Professional Barista Course.

Have you invested in a home coffee machine and want to get the top cafe quality espresso possible from your setup? Learn more about our Home Barista Courses

Would you like to contact us directly to discuss your situation and the solutions we have to help you reach your goals? Contact us.