BLIND BARISTA
SOUTH AFRICA'S FIRST TRAINED BLIND BARISTA
Joseph started his studies at the beginning of 2014 at Innovation for the Blind’s Career Development Department, now known as The Hein Wagner Academy
Innovation for the Blind was looking for a student to be trained as a barista and they saw a determined blind young man with a million dollar smile that can light up the world of the blind. Together with Truth Coffee Roasters they started the journey of training the first blind barista in South Africa.
It was the first time that Truth Coffee Roasters trained a blind person - it was a learning process for both parties.
The first part of the course was theory – where coffee originates and so on. “It wasn’t that difficult – I just had to listen very carefully, because I couldn’t read up on it afterwards. They asked questions on the theory and I passed the test.”
The first part of the course was theory – where coffee originates and so on. “It wasn’t that difficult – I just had to listen very carefully, because I couldn’t read up on it afterwards. They asked questions on the theory and I passed the test.”
“Then the practical part started. They orientated me at the machine, showed me all the parts of the machine and the coffee beans. I had a few challenges because I had to use my hands to navigate, which meant I ended up burning myself a few times. The frothing knob gets very hot. I was trained on a manual machine, so I had to count to 20 to get the perfect espresso.”
After many challenges, burnt fingers and blisters, Joseph became a master of the craft and today makes all the drinks on the menu: espressos, cappuccinos, lattes… you name it.
"It's never easy to be a blind barista as I rely on my senses, smell, hearing, touching and I visualize to complete my project."
