Coffee roasting seminar at the OSZ Johanna Just from TenfarmersandBananas
O what a day, 30 young chefs cracked the coffee beans yesterday.
On Tuesday, March 14th, 2023, freshly roasted coffee beans could be smelled at the Johanna Just Oberstufenzentrum in Potsdam. For the second time there is an exchange between the local and the French hotel management school (CFA Mederic). For two weeks, cooking students from both countries look over each other's shoulders during various skill exercises. Coffee bean roasting was now part of the exchange program.
We at TenfarmersandBananas were invited to introduce the students to coffee roasting. Wow what a challenge! Gerald, the head of department at the Oberstufenzentrum, spoke to us at our stand at the International Green Week in Berlin. Although we didn't know exactly what to expect, we looked forward to the invitation with a mix of excitement and anticipation. Would we be able to offer the 30 students an exciting program? How interested are they in the topic, because at 16 or 17 years of age, coffee enjoyment is limited. As the day approached, we developed more ideas in our heads and how we will shape this event.
Roasting in Imperial Potsdam
On Tuesday the time had finally come and we drove from Berlin to beautiful Potsdam. For me, as a person interested in history, it was also a good opportunity to get an impression of the imperial city.
We found the school fairly quickly, except for the parking lot. It is on the broad Berliner Strasse. In the yard, we accidentally parked our car in the headmaster's pre-reserved parking space.
Gerald appeared quite quickly and pointed it out to us with a smile. But when we arrived we felt right at home (we encountered the sign "No racism"). We have enough time to set things up comfortably, have our laptop Devise and Big Screen with us and lug the coffee grinder and other utensils into the kitchen in a box.
The roasting begins
Hey, now it's almost time and the cooking students are arriving.
What does roasting mean in French, I ask Linda, co-owner of TenfarmersandBananas. Moudre no, that means grinding. We were only in France last year and of course our conversations there also revolved around coffee. Hm, we can't think of it at the moment. Anyway, during the duration of the coffee roasting seminar, it became apparent that les Mots hid very far in the back of their minds, despite the 7 years of French lessons.
Those who are no longer hiding are the students, who are now fully present.
It's a little tight with such a large number of students. They still seem a little fatigue Mesdames et Messieurs. As already mentioned, we found it difficult to estimate how much coffee 15-18 year olds have drunk in their lives and how much they can identify with and be enthusiastic about the product.
We had planned to broadcast the event live on IGTV and are now doing it. Let's start roasting coffee! Everyone gathered around the holy hotplate grail in the center of the large kitchen. I will now give a short speech and the interpreter will translate.
Let's roast, let's get active! An immediate change can be felt and to our delight the young adults are totally interested and show immediately that a good roasting result is very important to them.
I constantly give instructions on what to consider when roasting coffee. Roughly, overall, in detail and also with the progress of the roasting. There is a hustle and bustle and increasingly also a jubilation. You can feel it in the enthusiasm that wafts over the stovetops, in the questions that are constantly being asked, and in the general lightening of eyes as they compare their results to one another.
Although we provide the instructions, many of the students develop their own methods of changing the heat level of the beans as they go from green to yellowish to light to dark brown. This is where the cooking skills of experienced chefs come to the fore.
We brought two types of coffee. An AA Arabica from Kenya and an Ethiopian coffee. Alexandre from France approaches me even before the roasting and claims that in his opinion the Ethiopian is better, or at least suits his taste. It seems to him, and he has tested this by professionally cracking open both types of coffee beans with his teeth before roasting, that it is more sweet and this coffee also exudes more freshness overall.
I think it's good that he articulates his opinion and taste is known to be a subjective thing. Alexandre sticks to his opinion even after the roasting.
The grand finale of the coffee roasting seminar
It's good that we brought a coffee grinder with us. In this way, everyone in the team can grind their coffee beans and pack them in a species-appropriate manner using the school's vacuum packaging machine.
We are very touched that almost all participants want to take their coffee for their relatives, in the case of Alexandre for his mother in France.
After the events, we will end the IGTV live broadcast of TenfarmersandBananas. We are invited by Gerald to a lunchtime meal and end the morning relaxed and inspired.
That was our coffee day in Potsdam
After we get in the car, Linda drives off behind the wheel. Her short study time in Potsdam and her knowledge of the Potsdam Castle and the wide streets of this place let me delve deeper into the place. In the evening I happily watch a documentary about the emergence of Prussia.
Coffee roasting in the team under this link.