Andy has always wanted to learn how to make coffee properly but short of getting a second job at Costa I never managed to find anywhere for him to learn. And then by accident I discovered that The Bowery in Headingley does Coffee School classes so that’s what he got for Christmas.
In the end he didn’t fancy doing it by himself so we went together and it was so much fun and so interesting. I had no idea that making coffee was such a science and so complicated.
The Bowery is a coffee shop and creative space in Headingley, Leeds. You can visit for a coffee and cake or try one of their many creative classes and workshops, one of which is coffee school. I have also visited for a team building event and they do private events and parties.
How it works
Coffee school runs once or twice a month and is run by Head Barista Ged. The session runs for a couple of hours starting at 6pm and has a maximum of 4 students. This means you are learning on the actual coffee machine in the cafe after hours and getting lots of hands on experience.
We started with the science behind a shot of coffee from grinding to brewing, there’s way more to getting it right than you can imagine. Then we learned how to steam and froth milk and finally had a go at latte art. It’s safe to say I will not be getting a job as a barista anytime soon despite the fact that we must have made about 20 coffees each during the evening.
Our thoughts
We thoroughly enjoyed the session and would highly recommend it. Our group of 4 had the two of us and then there was one person who was a regular customer who wanted to know more about making coffee and another who was hoping to get a job as a barista. It would be a great activity with friends but also equally something that you can do solo. Ged keeps the evening running smoothly and involves everyone.
I loved Ged’s humour and the way he runs the session, we had lots of opportunity for practicing and there was just the right balance between the technical stuff and having fun.
We did coffee school in September 2025.
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