Coffee Knowledge Hub’s Ask the Trainer is an Instagram Live series for viewers to ask questions about a variety of coffee subjects.
BY KATRINA YENTCH
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE
Graphics courtesy of Coffee Knowledge Hub
When you’re first starting to get into coffee—and I mean really into coffee, whether it be geeking out on gear or dedicating your free-reading to it—there are a lot of resources out there. It can be a little intimidating to know where to begin or who to look to for support. In which case, Coffee Knowledge Hub’s open-forum style Q&A series may be just the perfect place to start.
Introducing Ask the Trainer
Ask the Trainer is Coffee Knowledge Hub’s informal and approachable Instagram Live series that seeks to impact viewers with coffee learning skills beyond what they offer on their website. Coffee Knowledge Hub is a brand operated by the Simonelli Group. It functions as the “Skillshare“ and “Master Class“ of coffee, offering affordable courses about countless subtopics within coffee, taught by myriad well-respected coffee professionals.
Ask the Trainer will take place every remaining Friday of February and will continue into March on Coffee Knowledge Hub’s Instagram account, where viewers will get their questions answered by renowned experts on coffee subjects like coaching, sensory science, and business development. Previous speakers who have been featured included 2017 World Barista Champ Dale Harris and The Coffee Sensorium’s Fabiana Carvalho, both of whom provided insight on sensory skill improvement.
Who to Expect
During the series, you’ll see a varied lineup of experts, as future speakers include café entrepreneur Nick Tolley (February 18), coffee scientist Dr. Veronica Belchior (February 25), Cup of Excellence’s Scott Conary and Alex Pond, and more. Viewers are encouraged to either comment on each featured guest’s post with their questions, or send Coffee Knowledge Hub a direct message in advance.
The Fun is the Unexpected
So far, the series has proven to be fueled by spontaneous questions—something a true Q&A typically relies on for a memorable experience. Andrew Tolley at Coffee Knowledge Hub says, that for the session featuring Dale Harris, “The majority of questions related to competitions—adapting to new rules, choosing coffees, optimizing and prioritizing different aspects of training.“
“Part of the fun with Ask the Trainer is that they don’t get to choose the questions,“ Andrew explains. “When selecting questions though, we try to put them in categories and order the categories so that the topics flow during the IG Live. We saw that questions came in live during the session as well as people got warmed up on the different topics.“
An Extension of Learning
In hosting Ask the Trainer, Coffee Knowledge Hub hopes to provide an extension of the information they currently share on the platform in an even more accessible format for members of the community.
As Andrew emphasizes, “Common knowledge in some parts of the world is brand-new in others. … We realized that every time we have a call with the trainers on the Coffee Knowledge Hub or follow their course, we ask them questions and have really interesting conversations, so our aim is to give that opportunity to the community.“
Be sure to follow Coffee Knowledge Hub on Instagram for the finalized upcoming schedule every Friday, and submit your questions in advance when possible.
