Caffè Umbria is growing in 2017! Last week we celebrated  the grand opening of our first new location, a Training Lab in Portland.  This dedicated training facility will be home to our training team, and will be a a space to provide hands on coffee education. Our team will share three generations of coffee knowledge with new employees and wholesale customers. 

Students visiting the Training Lab will be given the knowledge and tools necessary to prepare espresso drinks and coffee using a variety of brew methods and meet our high standards for excellence in every cup. Training using our Accademia del Caffè curriculum also includes background information about Caffè Umbria, its coffees and roasting philosophy, troubleshooting and tips on cleaning and maintaining equipment. Training is curated to match each wholesale partner's individual needs and provided on an ongoing basis.

We celebrated last Thursday with local friends and customers, while snacking on delicious hors d'oeuvres, and sipping traditional Italian libations, like Prosecco, Espresso Corretto and Bodeo 1889. We also donated $1 per guest to Seeds of Progress, a nonprofit organization focused on improving living standards, through health and education services, of the coffee communities we partner with in Nicaragua, and gave away our beautiful new glass water bottles filled with Cold Brew Coffee (these are now available for purchase at the cafés).

A big thanks to Nick Brown from Daily Coffee News for the great article about our expansion plans, and to Lina De La Torre from L'Italo-Americano for this piece. Stay tuned for new locations coming soon in SW Portland and Chicago! Be sure to sign up for our newsletter for updates. 

Here are a few photos of the lab and the opening party.