McCafe goes Latte Art Crazy

The popularity of the third wave coffee movement must have caught the eyes of bigger and more established brands in the Lion City. Even McCafe is getting in on the action. Ok, we know what some coffee snobs and aficionados are prolly thinking right now... ...but this particular initiative has got us excited for two reasons.

Firstly, from September this year, McCafe will be launching a series of complimentary Coffee Appreciation Workshops - helmed by Hilmi Mohamed, McCafé’s Master Trainer - for youths (aged 16 to 35). This is essentially a beginner platform for young people to learn some java history and the basics of coffee. There is also an interactive element whereby participants will get to handle a coffee machine and try their hands at milk frothing. At the end of the three-hour workshop, they will get to free-pour their very own cup of latte art. Not too bad an achievement for a day!

We are predicting that these intimate (capped at 10 pax per session), entry-level sessions will prove to be quite a hit among the youthful school-goers as they are conducted in a fun and non-threatening environment, targeting a different set of demographic from the indie joints. And Singapore's probably the first to launch this community initiative by the brand!

Here are some shots of the media event where the lioness got a peek and a feel of how the workshops will be conducted:

 

 

Secondly (yup it hasn't slipped our minds), McCafe is offering internal certification and training classes for their baristas to encourage them on their on-going journey to learn, innovate and improve. Aspiring employees start off as a "beanie", followed by a promotion to "barista", and then the most passionate ones will be groomed as "barista leaders". Always heartening to hear about organisations putting in effort to grow and groom dedicated employees under their wings.

For interested young folks:
To participate in the McCafé Coffee Appreciation Workshops, community youths aged 16 to 35 simply have to drop an email to promotions@sg.mcd.com. Registration will take place from 18 August to 1 September 2014. The first two workshops will take place on 6 and 13 September, in conjunction with the school holidays and the next two sessions are slated to take place in December 2014.