Our “Orchestra”

Davide Cobelli

Owner of Coffee Training Academy

From a young age, Davide was a curious person. Over the years his passion for coffee was always expanding, leading him to study and gain experience. Now he desires to communicate and share his passion with others. Since 2012 he has dedicated his life to training in Italy and abroad (Asia, Medio East, Northern Europe, are some of the areas where he is called).

Since 2016 he has been a part of the “DREAM TEAM” of World SCA Education of Education Advisory Council and International Sensory Judge. And, since 2017, he holds a position at the Working Group of Barista Guild of Europe (BGE).

He is an ambitious and determined person, but also very creative. This always makes him look for something different, always ready to accept new challenges.

In the Coffee Training Academy he is the “Orchestra Conductor” and the Official SCA Trainer for Barista Skills, Brewing, Sensory Skills and Green Coffee courses. He has been the SCA Education National Coordinator since 2015.

Simone Cattani

20 years experience in the Ho.Re.Ca. sector and a Barista for 15 years. Over 6 years as a teacher sharing his passion about the world of coffee and 2 years as a Trainer at Coffee Training Academy. He began to deepen his knowledge of coffee since 2012 through professional courses, participating in events, and exhibiting at the coffee sector. Since 2014 he has participated in national and international SCA competitions including Latte Art, Brewers Cup, Ibrik, Cup Tasting and Aeropress. In 2017 and 2018 he won the Ibrik Italian Champion (4th World Champion Ibrik 2017 and 5th World Classification Ibrik 2018).

In Coffee Training Academy he is undoubtedly the King of “Percussion”, he is the one who gives the time with the Introduction to Coffee courses, Latte Art and Barista Skills (Latte Art Grading System – Black Milk Jug).

Chiara Bergonzi

She has deep love for this profession that allows her to share her knowledge with anyone who shares her commitment to create quality products. The positive feedback and the excitement during her courses give us great satisfaction.

She took second place at the 2014 World Latte Art Champion and she is a three times Italian Champion.

Passionate SCA Educator in 2016. Today she is a certified International Judge for Latte Art. In Coffee Training Academy she is “First Violin and Electronic Guitar” (yes, she can play them together!) and Trainer of Intensive Latte Art, SCA Barista Skills and SCA Brewing.

Mariuccia Zanni

Mariuccia embraces all the macro-nuances of tasting in all categories from wines to oil, and from beer to water. Her passion for coffee is both inspiring and infectious. Since 2000 she has researched and studied all raw materials related to coffee and continues to develop various techniques to refine them.

Mariuccia has achieved the AST SCAE certificate for all modules and has been a professional trainer since 2012. She has transformed her passion into her job and her life philosophy can be summarized as follows: “knowing is a duty, teaching is leaving a trace of yourself on others, tasting is an art!”.

In Coffee Training Academy she is the “Grand Piano”, the notes are her daily bread. In Academy in Verona, she is the trainer in Sensory Skills module.

Angelo Sportelli

Electronic engineer for training

In 2015 Angelo gave up everything to follow his passion for coffee, becoming Head Barista at Artigiano in Cardiff (United Kingdom), the city’s first specialty coffee shop.

In 2016-18 he became a trainer at Martin Carwardine & Co. Coffee Roasters, a local coffee roaster in Bristol (United Kingdom). During that time, he continued his career as Freelance Barista for events and specialty coffee shops in the south of England. Angelo is an Authorized SCA Trainer (AST) in Barista Skills.

In Academy in Verona he teaches Barista Courses in English (how could it be otherwise!). He is our “Electric Bass”, to bring a bit of “British Groove”.

Alberto Polojac

He is the owner of Imperator s.r.l., a company that has been importing from his hometown Trieste, the best raw coffee from around the world for three generations. He was born with a passion for tasting, and found himself taking care of purchasing and quality control within the company; visiting different production countries and participating as a Sensory Judge in numerous international competitions.

In 2009 Alberto won the Italian Cup Tasting Championship and in 2010 he was the first Italian Qgrader (CQI).

Since 2013 he has been an Authorized Trainer by Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), became a board member in 2014, and is today on the Advisory Board for Sustainability.

In Coffee Training Academy, he plays “Trumpet and Saxophone”, he deals with advanced courses on Green Coffee and Sensory Skills.