Through the kind invitation from Neofundi I was treated to Barista training at the Università del Caffè del Sud Africa situated in the Illy Head office.

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Illy is staffed by some of the friendliest people I have had the pleasure to meet in a business environment. The Barista tasked with our education was Michelangelo, how brilliant is that! He was referred to as Mike or Mick but dammit I wanted to call him Michelangelo every time I addressed him. I was greeted (by name!) offered a coffee and Director Emmanuel brought a selection of pastries. The entrance is enchanting, a plethora of gorgeous coffee machines and Artist Designed Illy coffee cups adorn the left side of the room and on the right there a 3 massive beautiful industrial Machines.

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Joining me on this little adventure were some lovely Jozi based bloggers, go check out their work here:

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For mad shoe beauty and madness go to Shoelosophy

For Fashion go check out Marina's articles here

For interest pieces, fashion and the peculiar go look at the spectacularly named Socratis Avgitidis

The living legend behind Dossier Mia Ziervogel 

The Beautiful things can be found here at Everything She Loves

finally for the soul, Melpo's words are here

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I was only able to attend a half day which was the lecture portion of the day. The very thought of sitting for a few hours being lectured puts me into a cold sweat, but I cannot begin to describe what an interesting day I had. From learning about shocking statistics like; of all the coffee drunk in South Africa on 9% is real coffee, the rest is all instant and that those Scandinavians dig their coffee clocking in a cool 11kg per capita, that statistic includes children and (say it softly) tea drinkers.

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The most enjoyable part of the day was the casual and friendly manner in which it was handled. Conversation is encouraged, questions are answered knowledgeably and laughter is standard practice. 

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An interesting point for those who are not fans of caffeine is that if you stick to Arabica beans, not only will you have a better chance of having a superior coffee, but the caffeine is much lower in Arabica. So look at those packs of Illy you buy to ensure you are sticking to Arabica. 

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When I go back for the second half of the course I will be sure to update you all.