# From the gym to the café

The favorite drinks of five baristas who trained at the CCC Barista Academy by Delta Cafés.

## 10 years of Centro de Ciência do Café

The chosen drinks of five baristas who trained at the CCC Barista Academy by Delta Cafés.

Among the five baristas we met in Lisbon and Porto, some draw hearts on cappuccinos, some pull espressos, and others turn them into cocktails. They learned this at CCC Barista Academy by Delta Cafés, a project created by Grupo Nabeiro to spread coffee culture, raise the quality of beverages, and support those who work with the brand. We challenged these professionals to prepare a coffee drink of their choice. The result is five stories, five counters, and five different ways of looking at coffee, from the most classic to the most unexpected.

## Iced Nutella Expresso

The Café Kiosk, in the centre of the busy Time Out Market, is the starting point for many visits and the perfect closing stop for many others: it serves thousands of coffees every week. Tiago Costa leads the operations. “We have always been partners of Delta Cafés,” he states. The relationship is long-standing and close, supported by regular training sessions.

Tiago recalls the first ones: “They were the Expresso Perfeito trainings, shorter sessions to ensure consistency. I did several over the years and they were very useful. I always learned something new and they inspired me to be creative and to discover new possibilities.” In 2019, he completed a six-day Master Café, an intensive programme combining theory, practice, and technical visits, where he learned about emulsions, milks, and syrups, but also about business, team, and supplier management. “It broadened my horizons,” he says.

Tiago develops most of the kiosk’s seasonal drinks, often in collaboration with the rest of the team. Some become so popular that they join the permanent menu. “It is the opportunity we have to play a little.” A good example of experiments that worked well is the Iced Nutella Expresso. It is made with a double shot of espresso, a generous spoonful of Nutella, three or four ice cubes, and a final touch of nutmeg—all blended until smooth and creamy. Before serving, there is a final touch: Nutella spread on the inside of the glass. “So the customer first feels the taste of the chocolate in the mouth.”

In summer, the cold drink has proved a success. The hot version, served only in the colder months, is close to a mocha with Nutella, with pronounced hazelnut notes. More than recipes, what Tiago takes from the training sessions is the technical confidence to progress. “There is this ongoing support, over the years, that makes the difference.”

## Pistachio latte

The iconic pastry shop Suíça, open since 1922, had closed in 2018—but it has now returned, in a smaller format, to continue the brand a few metres from its original location. The display case that runs along the length of the space, on the left as you enter, presents the stars of the in-house pastry production: jesuítas, duchesses, russos, esquimós, babás, as well as miniatures and chocolates and, of course, a wide variety of savoury items. To go with them, the drinks menu had to be up to standard. This is where Keth Miguel Glória comes in, head bartender at Primefood, the group responsible for reopening Suíça. He is the one who introduces the new drinks that appear on the menu, trains the team, and ensures quality across the entire café.

In 2025, he received training with the ccc Barista Academy by Delta Cafés. “It was a day with a lot of information, with both a theoretical and a practical part,” he recalls. They broke down coffee drinks, from the simplest to the most complex. “It was very useful. There were some things I was doing incorrectly, without knowing it, and I learned to do them in the best possible way. There was also theoretical knowledge I did not have and that makes a difference in preparing the drinks. I noticed that difference in myself a lot after the training.”

On the Switzerland menu, made up of 17 coffee drinks, a few more elaborate examples stand out: the cookie cappuccino, the ice vanilla latte and the pistachio latte, one of the most popular at the moment. “It sells a lot,” says Keth Miguel, while expertly preparing the drink for the photograph. Layers of hazelnut syrup, emulsified milk and coffee are finished with a topping of crushed pistachio. The level of sweetness is in the customer’s hands: if you stir a lot, the syrup at the base of the drink spreads completely and evenly; if you move the spoon more gently, the sweetness intensifies with each sip.

## Mocha

In the Chocolate Museum building, Vinte Vinte Café is a welcoming refuge for days that call for comfort. Open to everyone—even to those who do not visit the museum—the space invites you into a universe driven by chocolate: there are bonbons, truffles, biscuits, creamy hot chocolate, cookies, brownies and a wide variety of sweets, cakes and desserts. To complete the offer, it is easy to guess: where there is good chocolate, there must be good coffee.

Vinte Vinte is where Aleida Coelho works. The café is not unfamiliar to her: she has been connected to hospitality for some years and has already completed a training course with Delta. It was a morning dedicated to espresso, cappuccinos, and the mysteries of milk foam and the drawings made on it. Even so, she feels there is still much to explore. “Now that I am fully dedicated to this field, I would like to have more training with Delta, to learn how to prepare more types of drinks and more elaborate designs.”

The drink chosen to represent Vinte Vinte Café is the mocha. “I chose the mocha because it is one of the most eye-catching and, also for that reason, one of my favourites,” explains Aleida. The preparation is careful: a chocolate base, followed by coffee, milk foam, and whipped cream on top. “The coffee must be poured very slowly, with attention, so it does not mix with the milk,” she explains, while she moves almost in slow motion. The whipped cream is applied from the rim of the glass, in circular movements, until it closes the drink. It is served with a long spoon, ideal for mixing the layers. Intense and comforting, it is not the drink that sells the most every day, but it has its public. “Those with a sweet tooth enjoy it a lot,” laughs Aleida, who admits she belongs to the club.

## Coffee cocktail with apple tree

Catarina Drumond is one of the barmaids on the team of the gastronomic bar created by José Avillez, Mini Bar. She divides her attention between cocktails, cafeteria work, and beverage service. Despite her bar experience, until recently she had never had specific training in coffee. “I did a training course in 2025 with Delta, held at Mini Bar, for several of our teams, including from Belcanto and Encanto” (other restaurants in the group). The workshop covered the origins of coffee, the different extraction methods, machine cleaning, bean intensity, and general concepts about coffee. “I found it incredible. There were many things I did not even know I did not know,” she jokes.

There were aroma identification exercises, olfactory tastings with beans before and after roasting, and a strong focus on routine and maintenance. “I learned more than I expected. I had never thought that roasting time could change coffee flavours so much, for example.” The practical and accessible approach shaped the experience, but more than technique, the training sparked curiosity. “After that day, we went around tasting different types of coffee as a team, so that we could understand the differences together.”

Although the coffee menu at Mini Bar is essential, there is room for crossings with the world of mixology. One example is the coffee cocktail with Macieira, created from the popular Expressotini, the house espresso martini. The idea was to add a Portuguese element and turn the coffee into a digestif. “It is almost like a dessert,” says Catarina, while she shakes the shaker vigorously. The recipe combines a double espresso, Macieira Cream, a touch of cognac, agave, and a pinch of salt, all well blended. The result is a balanced, creamy drink, with a sweet note but not cloying, ideal to drink after dinner, perhaps instead of an espresso.

## Latte

Among eye-catching desserts, signature pastry and reinvented classics, Suspiro, in the historic centre of Vila Nova de Gaia, has become known for its elaborate desserts. “It is a café with French pastry and also Portuguese gastronomy,” sums up Eveline Tavares. “The French desserts are what we sell most, but the pastéis de nata and bolo de arroz are also very popular.”

Eveline has been working at Suspiro for two and a half years and divides her time between the pastry counter and preparing the mise en place for the desserts. She is also one of the hands behind the coffee drinks served every day. In the summer of 2025, she received her first training with Delta Cafés. “We learned how to make cappuccino, latte art, affogato and flavoured lattes, such as caramel, chocolate and strawberry,” she says. The barista from ccc Barista Academy by Delta Cafés made a strong impression. “What surprised me most was the drawing on the cappuccinos. We really could not make those hearts or those designs like he did.” With practice, her technique became more precise. “It took a few attempts to understand how to work the milk. After that, it becomes easy. I started making those designs every day.”

The choice of latte was not random. “It is beautiful and involves some technique,” she explains. For Eveline, a good latte starts with the milk, well textured and marked in the cup, continues with the coffee in the right proportion, and ends with the foam, which allows the final drawing. Curiously, she is not a fan of plain coffee. “I do not like coffee,” she admits, laughing. “I only like flavoured coffees. Those, yes!”

Just like the desserts that bring colour to Suspiro, the latte that Eveline prepares is also designed to be seen before it is tasted. Technique and precision fit the philosophy of the space: sigh first, taste after.