ABOUT US

Ask me 4 coffee Ltd was established by, Nadin Rathgeber, in June 2007 from her pure love for training and passion for espresso coffee. "Despite all of my friends and work collegues within the Industry at that time, advsising me against the opening of 100% pure training establishment, I followed my gut feeling and went with it. No other coffee school or training place was established back then and it was a gamble, a gamble I am glad I took." says Nadin.
I still, to this day, deliver with the same passion and enthusiasm to give my clients the best possible outcome and time. My knowledge and skills were established near to 9 years ago in London with the help of Lavazza, who trained me to become a trainer and I have been in this role ever since.

I am an independent barista trainer and I have made it my aim to help the industry with high class barista training to eliminate "bad" coffee which can still be found in many places. I am the Master trainer at Ask me 4 coffee with support by team members Junior barista trainer Michelle Stairmand and assistant Wendy Chen.

"Our poison is quality espresso coffee and my passion is training and equipped with these, together with large doses of patience, knowledge and fun, we have made it our goal to help employers and employees to understand what makes and what breaks a quality cup of coffee."

Having been trained by Lavazza in London and being involved ever since in barista training, one thing has become clear: "It is essential that staff are trained on the equipment they will be working with and they have been given in-depth information on coffee science and ample training time." A confident barista has the power to get customers into your cafe". Cafe's are often judged on their coffee more so than food. Return custom is what everyone's goal for a successful business venture should be.

Training is still seen, more often than not, as a costly expense but what many owners or employers are unaware of, are: highly skilled staff are your best asset and training them could possibly turn out to be the best investment ever made.

A quality cup of espresso coffee is around 60% barista skills, 20% well maintained espresso equipment and 20% roast and blend.

Nadin is a contract assessor for HSI and also uses her skills and knowledge by judging barista competitions at regional and national level since 2004. Nadin holds the Craft trainer award (UK qualification) as well as the Level 5 National Certificate in Adult Education. Nadin's background is in Hospitality Managment, a profession she loves and has been working in now for 20 years in Germany, the UK and New Zealand. Teaching is something I truly enjoy and have done while living in China for 6months as well as I do here in my now home NZ.

Students trained by Nadin have won competitions at the Culinary Fare in four consecutive years in classes Junior Barista and Cafe beverage. 

Achievements of our trainees:
Regional Culinary Fare 2006 Class Cafe Beverage Result:    1st/2nd/3rd and 5th place
National Culinary Fare 2006 Class Barista Junior Result:      1st/2nd and 3rd place
National Culinary Fare 2007 Class Barista Junior Result:     1st and 5th
National Culinary Fare 2007 Class Cafe Beverage Result:      1st/2nd and 5th
Regional Culinary Fare 2008 Class Barista Junior Result:     1st/2nd/3rd and 7th
NZ Latte Art Championship 2008 Result:                              7th
National Culinary Fare 2008 Class Barista Junior Result:      1st/2nd and 5th
National Culinary Fare 2008 Class Cafe Beverage Result:      1st/2nd and 7th
Regional Culinary Fare 2009 Class Barista Junior Result:     1st and 4th
National Culinary Fare 2009 Class Barista Junior Result:      1st/2nd and 3rd
National Culinary Fare 2009 Class Cafe Beverage Result:      1st/2nd/5th and 8th
National Culinary Fare 2010 Class Barista Training Result: 1st and 4th
National Culinary Fare 2010 Class Cafe Beverage Result:         2nd and 3rd   

Besides these great results we have placed many junior baristi into work places. We have created a work shop based qualificaton ladder  to offer and cover all aspects of skills required in today's NZ hospitality establishments.

Our mission is training others and passing on skills which will enable them to achieve their goals or even greater things.

"I thrive from their successes and I grow with their questions and determination. I have found my dream job by choosing to be a trainer full time. I am working close with Coffee rosters, Espresso equipment importers/suppliers, Cafe's and other schools to help you with whatever it is you are after."