The SCA Coffee Skills Program allows you to choose the education path that suits your interests and needs. The program consists of 6 different modules: the one-day Introduction to Coffee and 5 multi-day specialist modules; Barista Skills, Brewing, Green Coffee, Roasting and Sensory Skills. Each of the specialist modules is available at 3 different levels – Foundations, Intermediate, and Professional. You earn points for completing each stage. You choose the modules that fit your interests and needs. Once you have earned 100 points, you will be awarded the SCA Coffee Skills Diploma
In this one-day course you will learn about coffee’s journey from its origins in Ethiopia to commercial farming in Yemen to it becoming the global commodity it is today. From growing the cherries through grading, roasting, and brewing, Introduction to Coffee provides an overview of the entire coffee value chain. Students earn 10 credits towards their SCA Coffee Skills Diploma.
SCA Coffee Skills Program Roasting courses provide hands-on experience with the roasting process, roast levels, physical and chemical changes of coffee while roasting, and identifying defects. The module levels cover essential topics like workplace safety, production techniques, and roasting operations at Foundations, Intermediate, and Professional Levels – earning you credits towards your SCA Coffee Skills Diploma.
Gain practical experience in the key elements of sensory evaluation in the SCA Sensory Skills classes. Investigate taste and flavor perception, evaluate myriad characteristics of coffee, and develop cupping skills, scoring, and calibration. Offered at Foundations, Intermediate, and Professional Levels – students earn credits towards the SCA Coffee Skills Diploma.
A perfect module for working baristas, entrepreneurs, or home enthusiasts. The SCA Barista Skills Module provides world-recognized instruction in espresso and milk techniques and latte art. Learn the practical skills you need behind the espresso bar: how to set your grinder, milk techniques, health and safety, customer service, basic business practices, and more.
In the SCA Brewing Module gain hands-on skills with the variables that impact quality: Grind profiles, a variety of brewing methods, and the tools to measure and chart coffee extraction.
Taught by instructors with experience as coffee importers and traders, and at origin operating farms and working with cooperatives, students in the Green Coffee Module learn the key elements of green coffee contracting, portfolio management, production, processing, grading, shipping, storage, and warehousing.
SCA Sustainability provides students with a core understanding of sustainability generally, and more specifically what sustainability to the coffee value chain. Students will develop a common vocabulary and understanding of sustainability, with a focus on economics, the environment, social issues, and the connections between them.
Coffee Quality Institute’s mission, to improve the quality of coffee and the lives of people who produce it, is achieved through our education programs. That education may be certification level or participatory, but it always supports producers and the potential for improved income and better standards of living.
The CQI Q Processing Program seeks to create protocols in process that can be trusted throughout the supply chain. Through certification, students gain competencies in coffee processing through a scientific and technical approach with the goal of improved quality, standardized procedures, and reduced. As students complete the program, they are able to add value through differentiating coffee through processing techniques.
Teaches students the cupping skills they need to properly evaluate specialty-coffee quality. This course can be completed either as a stand-alone Q Cupping Essentials certification or as preparation to take the Q Grader certification.
This course is ideal for a broad range of people who are interested in evaluating coffee quality but aren’t involved in or are newer to everyday quality control. This could range from baristas to coffee executive to home enthusiasts and others.
Taught by instructors with experience as coffee importers and traders, and at origin operating farms and working with cooperatives, students in the Green Coffee Module learn the key elements of green coffee contracting, portfolio management, production, processing, grading, shipping, storage, and warehousing.
Coffee Quality Institute’s mission, to improve the quality of coffee and the lives of people who produce it, is achieved through our education programs. That education may be certification level or participatory, but it always supports producers and the potential for improved income and better standards of living.
This is the most hands-on and in-depth coffee roasting course in the industry. It is designed for roasters seeking a springboard to the next level. After building a basic knowledge of the science of coffee roasting, you will explore the myriad of alternatives in the craft of roasting unique coffees. Our seven on-site roasting machines are the perfect tools for roasters to become master roasters.
This course will take you to Panama to learn about farm management, Geisha cultivation, processing techniques, and sustainability. The course includes explorations of our own farms: Finca La Mula and Finca Sophia.
Welcome to Ethiopia and the pristine and relatively undiscovered land of Gesha Village Estate, the 400+ hectare estate farm planted by Adam Overton and Rachel Samuel with the participation of Willem Boot. This is where we host the annual Gesha Village Harvest Expedition.
There is no place to learn about coffee production like Rwanda which is small in size, but produces coffee in nearly every sector. We visit and work with smallholder farmers, cooperative washing stations, private estates, cupping fresh coffees, and learning from local experts about processing, milling, and exporting.
