Glen Lyon Coffee Roasters presents

The Coffee Academy

A fully immersive three-month mentoring programme that takes place in Aberfeldy for anyone between 16 and 24, designed to help young people into work in the coffee industry and beyond.

Coffee Skills in the Community

Although cafes offer great first time job opportunities for young people in rural Scotland, there are very limited training opportunities in speciality coffee and barista skills.

Set up in partnership with our sister charity Project Northern Lights and funded by The Basil Death Trust, the Coffee Academy seeks to mentor young people in rural Scotland through a three-month mentoring programme that includes learning about speciality coffee, barista skills and work placements in cafes.

This course is open to all and designed to encourage young people with no previous experience to develop their skills and employability in the coffee industry and beyond.

Support for the Coffee Academy comes from Lottery Funding, Griffin Windfarm, the Robertson Trust, and the Basil Death Trust.

In-depth Coffee Knowledge & Training

For 2024, the four-day training course will run from the 14th to the 17th of October and will cover all aspects of speciality coffee with a core practical focus on barista skills. All the training will be held at the Glen Lyon Coffee Roastery in Aberfeldy and topics covered will include:

  • An introduction to speciality coffee including origins, varietals, processing and shipping.
  • Meet a coffee producer and/or importer who will explain the challenges of growing and selling coffee.
  • A practical introduction to coffee roasting.
  • A journey into the world of sensory exploration in coffee. 
  • Understanding and experimenting with different coffee extractions.
  • Barista skills and getting to grips with espresso machinery. 
  • Customer service and team-working in a hospitality setting. 

Get involved

We are now looking to recruit eight students for the 2024 programme. No experience is required and we only ask that applicants are between 16 and 24 years old. There is an informal selection process and all prospective students will need to meet the project’s co-ordinator Paula Simpson.

Paula can be reached at academy[at]glenlyoncoffee.co.uk

Email Paula