Counter Culture Coffee is about to open a new training center in Union Square, and Eater spoke with Counter Culture's Jesse Kahn, who is helping to open the center, about what Bostonians can expect. The primary function of the center is to train people how to make coffee, including existing Counter Culture Coffee buyers like Picco, Pavement, Render, and the very nearby Journeyman and Bloc 11. And you can go, too. The center will feature a series of training programs and classes open to anyone with an interest in coffee, plus events like the upcoming open house and more food-focused events like the Fruit Bombs and Fermentation Tour, which explores the role of fermentation in coffee as well as in other food and drink like beer and pickles. But does Boston really need to know more about coffee?
Oh yes, says Kahn. "Imagine a craft food scene springing up but nobody knows how to cook. That's essentially what happened with specialty coffee over the last five years."
But it's not a cafe. On a typical day, you can't come in and get a cup of coffee. "These aren't technically retail shops, but they are designed to be used by the the existing coffee community as well as the new coffee community," says Kahn. However you can just come in. "If we're here and not in the middle of a class I would love people to poke their heads in and say hello and ask us questions. And if they want to look at brewing devices, that's sort of what we're here for."
Counter Culture Coffee recently opened similar centers in Chicago and Philadelphia. The open house for the new Union Square Counter Culture Coffee center is from 12pm to 4pm this Saturday, September 15. For more details, see here.
· All coverage of Counter Culture Coffee [~EBOS~]
· Counter Culture opens barista training center [Eater Philly]
· The ultimate guide to Boston's cold-brew coffee [~EBOS~]