Coffee College

To help you succeed, we’ve designed our Coffee College courses to give you and your staff the knowledge needed to provide top-shelf service. These courses cover key areas of your coffee & specialty beverage program. Our staff of coffee industry professionals designed each course, to present their collective experience in comprehensive, hands-on lessons. Coffee College will help you support your great drinks with the know-how to set you apart from your competition!

Coffee & Espresso Basics
At its root, specialty coffee is based on quality. Creating quality drinks and explaining their merits to your customers takes a lot of knowledge and practice. This class is designed to provide you with a broad range of theory and practical experience to give you a solid base on which to build your specialty coffee education.

Objectives
– Learn about the cultivation and processing of coffee.
– Evaluate the sensory characteristics of coffee.
– Perform basic drink preparation (espresso extraction, steaming & frothing milk, etc.).

Brewing Fundamentals
In the long journey from seed to cup, the brewing process is the most crucial step. Your beans may be grown with the greatest care and roasted to the peak of flavor, but improper brewing can make even the best coffees undrinkable. This class will train you to consistently brew excellent coffee.

Objectives
– Understand the underlying principles of extraction common to all brewing methods.
– Learn to manipulate the factors that affect taste.
– Measure and taste the balance of extraction in brewed coffee.

Cupping For Coffee Shop Owners
Sampling your coffees regularly is a great way to maintain quality, train your staff and educate your customers. This class will teach you how to run a cupping event in your own shop.

Objectives
– Review coffee’s sensory characteristics and calibrate your senses.
– Learn the tools, procedure and etiquette of the cupping ritual.
– Discover variations of cuppings to suit your shop’s offerings and clientele.

Cafe Equipment Cleaning & Maintenance
The quality of your drinks depend on the cleanliness and proper operation of your equipment, whether you serve 200 cappuccinos a day or brew one pot of drip coffee in the morning. This class will teach you how to perform basic preventative maintenance and regular cleaning on common brewing equipment.

Objectives
– Learn the basic components and functions of modern brewing equipment.
– Analyze the importance of water softening and filtration.
– Perform practical, hands-on maintenance procedures on an espresso machine, grinder, etc.

Exploring Blends
Ever wonder why coffees are blended and how they interact with each other? This class will answer those questions, providing you with a more advanced understanding of this facet of specialty coffee.

Objectives
– Discuss reasons for and methods of blending coffees.
– Cup several blends to taste how coffees affect each other.
– Design and cup your own blend using the principles you’ve learned.