The coffee-training curriculum from Royal Coffee New York takes its educational offerings out of town on its first traveling event with New Harvest Coffee Roasters in Providence, R.I., in May.
BY CHRIS RYAN
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE
Photos courtesy of Royal Coffee New York
Since 2015, Royal Coffee New York has been hosting a range of coffee-minded educational courses at The Lab, its South Plainfield, N.J.-based coffee-training center. This spring, however, The Lab will depart from its classroom and take its coffee curriculum on the road with a Road Trip event to New Harvest Coffee Roasters in Providence, R.I.
Ana Mallozzi, education director at The Lab, says the idea to collaborate on a small event came up while both parties were on a call together, and it seemed like a natural fit given the long history between the two companies. “Royal NY and New Harvest go way back, in addition to me getting my start in coffee working for New Harvest, so it was a really exciting idea to make into a reality,” Ana says.
The event is designed for a range of skill levels, including baristas, managers, and barista trainers; those new to the coffee industry; and people thinking about entering the industry. There will be four workshops offered throughout the day that attendees will rotate through in what Ana compares to “coffee circuit training.” The four workshops are:
- Extraction Science, taught by Sophie Short, head trainer at New Harvest Coffee Roasters
- Basic Roasting Theory, taught by Ana Mallozzi
- Tea Cupping for Coffee Drinkers, taught by Maxwell Pollock, Royal Tea NY
- Machine Whisperers (Understanding your Espresso Machine), taught by Chris Adams, Mike Anderson, and Drew Eaton of Northeastern Coffee Equipment
Ana says the Road Trip event is designed for a small group, with a maximum of 40 attendees. “That means 10 people per class, so no overcrowding, and plenty of room for discussions and Q&As in each class. We wanted to keep it intimate and make sure attendees got the most out of each workshop,” Ana says. The event is also affordable—registration is $75 and includes lunch—in keeping with The Lab’s mandate to keep its coffee-education offerings low-cost.
While the first Road Trip event will go to New Harvest, Ana says The Lab hopes to bring the event to other locations in the future. “We realized we could easily make this a semi-regular thing, at New Harvest and other locations, almost like pop-up coffee education,” she says. While the location for the next Road Trip event has not yet been scheduled, Ana says that anyone interested in partnering with The Lab to host courses at their facilities can contact her at education@royalny.com.
In the meantime, she says planning the first Road Trip has been a blast, and she’s excited to launch it for the first group of students. “It’s been fun collaborating with the New Harvest team, figuring out what we can each offer to make sure it’s a well-rounded curriculum for attendees,” she says.
The Lab’s Road Trip to New Harvest Coffee Roasters takes place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 12—go here for more details and to register for the event. To see a full list of the upcoming course offerings at The Lab, check out their calendar here.
