We had the pleasure of teaching a “Home Brewing Fundamentals” course at the Fellow Playground in San Francisco. Between Fellow and Shae Stanley, one of our rockstar trainers, we put together a killer curriculum sure to launch even the freshest brewers into home-brewing success. The tutorial is too good to keep to ourselves. Download it for yourself and get ready to brew the best cup of coffee!
Need to up your brew gear game to keep stride with your new coffee knowledge? We’ve got you covered.
Read on to learn more about the class from our very own Shae Stanley.
Every day I approach my work with the understanding that my purpose is to use coffee as a catalyst for connection. As the Northern California Wholesale Trainer my main responsibility is to train people on all things coffee, but as a human, my main goal is to empower people through education. I spend most of my time teaching baristas, cashiers, business owners, and others who work in the hospitality industry. When Fellow asked Verve to teach a public brewing class I was excited and nervous to broaden my audience from industry workers to home brewing enthusiasts. As you can probably imagine I spent many nights staring at my computer screen wondering how I could make this class a unique and meaningful experience. I wanted to create a lesson plan that was accessible and worthwhile for all levels of home brewing experience. I named the class “Home Brewing Fundamentals” in the hopes that no one would feel too intimidated to sign-up.
The class started with introductions which covered the basic principles and tools for brewing a Fellow Stagg pour over. I spent the first portion of the training on a demonstration which was part explanation and part Q & A. My style of teaching is very interactive so I rely heavily on the input of the participants. The crowd was really into it and asked lots of questions, so they walked away with a lot more information than I had initially planned on providing. Once everyone was comfortable with working hands-on we jumped straight into a group brewing exercise. I had everyone repeat the demonstrated steps as I verbally guided them through the process. After a few minutes, we were all ready to take our coffee over to the Coffee Taster’s Flavor Wheel, which we referred to many times to help direct our pallets in the right direction. The Fellow classroom (known as the Playground) has the Flavor Wheel painted on the wall which makes troubleshooting both easy and interactive. After we discussed the flavors we were tasting I ended the class with a final demonstration and pro-tips for better home brewing. Participants walked away with a sweet swag bag full of coffee and other goodies along with the experience needed to brew a killer cup of coffee from the comfort of their home.
Overall the class was a wonderful success! Tickets sold out and I even had a few spectators watching the class from nearby benches. I am so fortunate to have had the opportunity to partner with the dream team at Fellow. They genuinely care about making quality, home-brewed coffee accessible and easy to understand. Keep your eyes open for more classes in the near future!
