A barista academy that doesn't come from the workshop business but from two working cafés. With all the advantages and disadvantages that closeness to practice brings.
2M Barista came together in 2024 from one observation: Berlin has plenty of barista courses, but most are one-day events run by workshop providers who don't operate cafés themselves. Anyone who really wants to learn what it means to stand behind a bar will not learn it in a workshop.
Nicola Maisto and Rami Ezzi knew each other from the Berlin specialty-coffee scene. Both come from café practice: Nicola for decades as a roastery operator in Oranienburg and Naples, Rami as a café barista in Berlin-Mitte. The idea was simple: a school that passes on the craft the way daily service actually demands.
The 'M' stands twice: Maisto + Modo. Both cafés are baked into the curriculum — the espresso depth comes out of Oranienburg, the Latte Art practice from the Modo bar. Anyone who knows both worlds is more broadly grounded than someone who has only learned one side.
The school is deliberately small: six participants per course maximum, four on the Professional Training. It's not about scale, it's about depth. Whoever wants more class size goes to bigger providers. Whoever wants more substance comes to us.
Our mission, stated plainly: connect Italian espresso tradition with honest Berlin craft — and never promise anyone they'll be a barista in three hours. Three hours is enough for a rosetta. But not for a café.
The first Maisto generation takes over a small roastery in Naples-Vomero. Four generations later it's still going — today with Nicola as the bridge between Italy and Germany.
The family opens a second location in Brandenburg — the first Italian roastery north of Berlin. It quickly becomes a meeting point for specialty-coffee seekers.
Rami begins his café career in Berlin-Mitte. Over more than ten years he builds a reputation for clean Latte Art and bar efficiency.
First workshops in the spring. By summer, regular scheduling across all six programmes. First café openings by our graduates from autumn onwards.
The website launches in five languages: DE, EN, IT, FR, ES. First private lessons in English and Italian are already running.
Six courses, two trainers, five years of teaching — the shortest answer: write to us or pick up the phone.