"Training included" is on every roaster's wholesale page and means something different on each one. For some it is a video link. For some it is one session for the owner on opening week. For a cafe, the only version that matters is the one that stops Saturday's casual pouring a sour shot to a regular. Here is what barista training from a coffee supplier should actually include, how to tell a real program from a line on a brochure, and what King Carlos Coffee does at the 80+ venues we supply.
Run a venue? See our wholesale coffee supply: 5 kg minimum, on-loan machines, $40 sample pack.
What a cafe actually needs from training
Not latte art. Consistency. A cafe loses customers on the bad cup, not the average one, and the bad cup comes from three things: the wrong dose, the wrong grind for the day's weather and beans, and milk stretched by someone who was never shown how. Training that fixes those three is worth paying for. Training that does not is a brochure line.
The six things a supplier's training should include
| What | Why it matters | At King Carlos |
|---|---|---|
| On your machine, on your bench | A different machine teaches different habits. Your grinder, your group heads, your water. | Yes, at your venue, or at the Hurstville roastery if you prefer |
| Before the first delivery, not after | The first week on a new coffee is where the bad cups happen. | Yes, dial-in and training happen before go-live |
| Everyone who pours, casuals included | The weekend shift is where switches fail. | Yes, the whole team |
| A written recipe left on the bench | Dose, yield, time. 22 g in, the yield and seconds agreed, so anyone can check a shot. | Yes, recipe card on the wall and in the sample pack |
| Dial-in by the roaster, not the owner | Grinders drift. Someone who sets them for a living sets the baseline. | Yes, we set the grinder on the day |
| A number to ring when a shot goes wrong | Training ends; service goes on. | Yes, same number as for breakdowns and emergency supply |
What it looks like on the day
We come to the venue with the coffee that is going on the bar. The grinder is set to the agreed dose, 22 g for our blends, and the shot is timed and tasted until it is right on your water. Then the team pours: dose, tamp, time, taste, repeat, with the recipe written where the next shift can see it. Milk is stretched and poured until it is consistent, not pretty. The session ends when the owner can taste a shot and say why it is right. That is the standard Carlos ran in his own cafes for 15 years before the roastery, and it is the standard the roastery trains to.
How to tell a real program from a brochure line
- Ask who does it. A name. If the answer is "our team" with no name, push.
- Ask where. Your bench, or theirs. Theirs is fine for a second session; the first must be yours.
- Ask when. Before the first delivery, or after. After is a repair, not training.
- Ask who gets it. Owner only, or everyone who pours. Everyone.
- Ask what you keep. A written recipe on the bench, or a memory of a nice morning.
- Ask what happens at month four. Staff change. Does the training come back, and what does it cost.
The same questions, alongside delivery, equipment and contract terms, are in the eight-question table on the wholesale coffee for cafes page.
Why the dose is the whole game
A 22 g dose that drifts to 24 g because nobody re-checked the grinder is a 9% rise in your coffee cost per cup, and a kilo that pours 60 cups instead of 70 is a price rise nobody invoiced. Training is how you hold the dose. How much coffee a cafe uses per week has the method for checking it against your invoice.
Common questions
Is barista training free with a wholesale coffee supplier?
It should be part of the supply deal, not an extra. At King Carlos the on-site dial-in and team training come with the account, before your first delivery.
Where does the training happen?
At your venue, on your machine. The Hurstville roastery is available if you would rather train there or want a second session away from service.
Who gets trained?
Everyone who pours, casuals included. The weekend shift is where consistency breaks.
Do you train on my existing machine or only on yours?
Whatever is on the bench. Loan machine or your own, we dial it in and train on it.
What dose do you train to?
22 g for Re Firma, Gran Mezcla and Killer Ninja, with the yield and time agreed on your water and written on the bench.
See the training before you sign
The $40 sample pack comes with the dose card and recipe sheet we train from, so you can run it on your own machine first. Then build your wholesale plan in 60 seconds and we book the dial-in. Interstate venues: see where we deliver.
