Our session kicked off with an introduction into the African coffee industry and the Cafe Neo brand by their founder Ngozi. I won’t bore you with too much information here but here are some things I found interesting:- Cafe Neo’s opened 11 locations in just 3 years of operation- which is absolutely incredible! The cafe’s named after the word ‘neo‘ which means ‘gift’ in Botswana. Ngozi explained to us that coffee is a major resource that is under-utilised in Africa, and even here in Nigeria. I didn’t even know we could grow coffee in Nigeria but apparently there’s a region in Taraba State called the Mambila Plateau that used to but for some reason doesn’t anymore. Presently, Cafe Neo flies in their coffee beans from Rwanda but they’re hoping to be able to convince the farmers to start growing coffee beans here again. After our introduction, we were shown how to make an espresso and how to build on to that to make other drinks like lattes, cappuccinos or a mocha.
And then it was our turn…
So it turns out there are A LOT of steps to this coffee game! Between all the new terminologies being flown around like ‘sweet spots’, ‘flushing’ and ‘tamping’ I was pretty flustered and forgot the order I needed to do everything in. I decided to make a mocha (which is basically an espresso with chocolate syrup) with soy milk, but soy milk is harder to froth than regular milk -damn you lactose intolerance, which also didn’t help my matter AND then there’s the whole ‘having a crowd of people watch you’ thing – awkward! Still I had so much fun and my drink turned out pretty good if you ask me. Well except I managed to burn my milk and still somehow end up with a lukewarm drink – don’t ask!
Let’s just say I think I’ll hold on to my day job.
Credits & Info
- Shout out to the sweet expat man for offering to take photos of me and his 10-year old daughter whose coffee-making skills completely annihilated mine. Well I’m guessing she was 10, I can’t say for sure lol.
- Hair – Nazuri Curls Afro Clip Ins 18″, just one bundle
- Dress – Forever 21 from a few years ago, not the most flattering, but it’s comfortable and I like the colour
What’s your favourite coffee drink? And are you any good at making it?
PS: Still a little rough around the edges but I’m happy to be blogging again:) I’ll see you again on Sunday!
Love this post. You look pretty as always. Aww, I want to have a barista lesson too!
A cafe mocha is my favorite coffee drink too 🙂
Berry Dakara Blog
Awww thanks hun! I wish you were here, none of my friends wanted to do it with me lol
Give me a cappuccino any day!