About Jowam
About Jowam Coffee Training Centre
Our story
Born from a love of the bean
Jowam Coffee Training Centre opened its doors in Nairobi with one clear conviction: great baristas are made on the machine, not in the classroom. Too many training programmes filled notebooks and left students unsure how to pull a consistent espresso under real café pressure. We built Jowam to close that gap — a dedicated school in the heart of the city where every session ends with your hands on equipment.
Our facility at Pension Towers on Loita Street runs monthly intakes, capped small so every student gets individual coaching time. Whether you are eyeing your first barista role, upgrading your latte-art game, or learning to roast green beans from scratch, the curriculum moves at the pace of your ambition. Theory is brief and purposeful; practical time is generous.
We believe specificity builds confidence. You will know why a 22-second extraction tastes different from a 28-second one, what grind adjustment to make in Nairobi's morning humidity, and how to calibrate a commercial grinder cold. That kind of depth is what employers notice — and what makes the difference between a graduate who survives a busy Saturday and one who owns it.
What we Believe
Coffee is a hands-on craft.
We believe learning should be practical
Coffee is a hands-on craft. The best way to understand it is by preparing it, tasting it, refining it and practising again.
We believe every student deserves personal attention.
Learning happens best when questions are welcomed and progress is celebrated. That's why we value supportive trainers and manageable class sizes.
We believe skills create opportunities.
Whether your goal is employment, entrepreneurship or personal growth, practical skills have the power to open new doors.
Hands-on first
We teach on real professional equipment from day one. Theory only goes as far as it takes to get your hands moving.
Honest standards
Transparent pricing, realistic timelines, and a certificate that actually reflects what a graduate can do.
Community over competition
Our instructors and graduates support each other. We'd rather grow the industry than gatekeep it.
- Graduates trained
- 500+Graduates trained
- Completion rate
- 94%Completion rate
- Industry partners
- 30+Industry partners
Why choose us
What sets Jowam apart
Industry Certification
Graduate with a certificate recognised by cafés and roasteries across Kenya — proof you can back up on day one of the job.
Curriculum with international recognition
Our syllabus is benchmarked against international barista and roasting standards, not just local shop practice.
Professional equipment
Train on the same commercial espresso machines, grinders, and drum roasters used in working cafés and roasteries.
Learn from Professionals
Train with instructors who've worked in cafés, coffee businesses and the specialty coffee industry.
Flexible schedules and short courses
Weekly intakes and both full and short-course formats mean you can start training around work or family commitments.
The training lab
More Than a Classroom.
Walk into Jowam on any training day and you'll hear conversations around espresso extraction, steaming milk, tasting coffee and encouraging one another.
Espresso Lab
Commercial La Marzocco group heads, calibrated daily. Students rotate through every position — barista, grinder tech, and trainer — across each session.
Brewing Studio
Aeropress, Chemex, V60, and batch-brew rigs alongside refractometers and calibrated scales. Manual brewing sessions run parallel to espresso so students understand the full extraction spectrum.
Hands-on Practical session
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What are the entry requirements?
No prior experience is required for the Professional Barista or Roasting courses — we start from the fundamentals. The Basic Refresher Training is designed for people who already have some barista experience.
Will this help me get a job?
Our training is built around what employers actually need on the bar and in the roastery. Graduates go on to barista, senior barista, and production roasting roles, and many use the skills to start their own coffee businesses.
Where are you located?
Jowam Coffee Training Centre is at Pension Towers, 4th Floor, Loita Street, in Nairobi — easy to reach by matatu or on foot from the city centre.
Ready when you are
We'd Love to Meet You
The best way to understand Jowam isn't by reading about us. It's by walking through our doors, meeting our trainers and experiencing the learning environment for yourself.