# Coffee Education



## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

Just thought I'd post this on here... a blog post I've been wanting to write for months about how crap we seem to be in Europe at providing coffee training to people who want to learn. The US is lightyears ahead of us.

http://haggieslab.blogspot.com/2012/02/coffee-education.html


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## coffeebean (Jan 26, 2010)

Absolutely agree with everything you say there Mike! Something needs to be done - if you can get decent training in other countries, why not here?!


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## CoffeeMagic (Aug 7, 2011)

I'll 15-2 that sentiment. As a great believer in training, I totally agree with what you're saying







. The Roasters Guild in US do certification and I don't see why it couldn't be done here. To tell you the truth I very rarely check the SCAE (UK) site except for details of events, as that's all it appears to convey (even then its sketchy - anyone know when the Midland heats open their doors?).


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

The SCAE-UK has a new National Coordinator, Lynsey Harley. She's planning to shake things up the UK and we've spoken informally in the past about this. She's a big believer in education. I think it's important to distinguish between the SCAE and the SCAE-UK. It's the SCAE that has introduced this Coffee Diploma, and so far have not provided me with any means to undertake the relevant courses. It's the SCAE that take membership fees, and I struggle to see any tangible benefits in paying those fees. Training courses would be one thing that would make me join. That seems to be how the SCAA funds its activities. What I'm not clear on is the role the SCAE-UK plays at the moment, other than competitions. I would have hoped they would be implementing SCAE policies, education, events etc, but all they are is a competition and sponsorship vehicle. It must be tough for the volunteers involved in running the SCAE-UK. Funding options to support a better service in the UK is desperately needed, in my view.

But maybe we rely on them too much. This is why I'll start up my own training programme if need be.


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Having more courses available is only a good thing. Damn, some of us have really had to learn the hard way...all that amazing wasted coffee down the sink! I think Id benefit from a course even now after over 12 months of ''fun''.

Still its all about the journey not the destination, eh?


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

garydyke1 said:


> Still its all about the journey not the destination, eh?


Perhaps, but if someone has already built the pyramids I'm disinclined to do it again just to learn how to.


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## vintagecigarman (Aug 10, 2009)

I'm totally in favour of the concept of education, but I take a slightly less enthusiastic view of qualifications/diplomas.

Now I can accept the value of being able to demonstrate a specific level of knowledge is important to anyone seeking employment, but I find that in personal interests the qualification route can be an actual dis-incentive. It's one of the reasons that I fell out with a part-time night classes in hobby subjects. If I spend my hard-earned money on a pottery class, then I want to know how to throw on a wheel, hand build and fire a kiln up etc. I want to learn, but I want to do it for the sheer joy of learning a new skill. I want to improve my techniques, and I want to spend my time doing that, not completing some lesson notes to a standard prescribed by some Ofsted junkie. All that matters to me is that I've learned what I wanted to learn, and that I've saftisfied myself by getting some in-depth knowledge of about something that I once knew nothing about - and I don't need to prove that to anyone other than me!

Mike, this is in no way directed against you as I totally admire your energy and enthusiasm to get this off the ground. I see you as having the dual motives of both helping would-be baristas, and promoting quality coffee preparation. I don't knock that for one second. But is there anything in there for the 'gentleman-amateur' who just wants to improve his own skills. That can be done (I know from a day with Stuart Lee Archer) with good instruction and hands-on experience - doesn't need a certificate at the end of the day if you've got what you want!

When I was a lad, one of my father's workmates was the only in the lab where they worked without a formal qualification. He had cards made up with the letters QBLP after his name. Stood for Qualified by Lots of Practice. I always admired that.


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

Absolutely, Geoff. I hate qualifications for qualification's sake. My teenage academia was exactly that. All my adult learning has been much more successful because it has been about learning, not dips. But some of the stuff on the diploma course needs to be formally taught otherwise the road to learning is much longer and much less effective. It's not just barista skills. It's Sensory. Greens. Roasting. Advanced brewing techniques. I'm sure we could cover a lot of this on a forum, and I certainly wouldn't want to push people into courses if they didn't want it. But for those who do, be they individuals, employees or managers looking for staff career plans, there's nothing in the UK. It's a closed shop. Accidental or by design? There are so many coffeeshops in London seeking good staff but not enough skilled coffee workers coming through. Lack of training courses. Grrr.


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## jimbow (Oct 13, 2011)

In the IT industry certification has got quite a bad reputation. I believe this is because swathes of people and professional services companies sought to use certifications as a substitute for experience and knowledge during employment selection processes. I remember personally attending a "Certified Scrum Master" training course, at considerable cost to my company, where I was automatically awarded the certification at the end of the course. One of the biggest problems with certifications has been that, generally speaking, it is really hard to quantatatively measure competency.

I think this is a real shame because certification has so much to offer - not necessarily as a means of assessing or selecting professionals - but as a means of standardising syllabuses, course materials and competency frameworks across an industry and the discussions around what skilled, trained professionals should look like. I really welcome standardised training programmes in the coffee industry.


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## jimbow (Oct 13, 2011)

This is a great topic and one that has really got me thinking about how people learn about coffee. In my day job I do a lot of coaching and training and have always been fascinated by the psychology of learning and how we can use this to coach and train people more effectively. I thought I would share some of my thoughts in case they help the discussion and to get other's views.

I believe there is much more to mastering a skill than simply being better or acquiring more knowledge. As we develop skill within a particular discipline our perspective changes which in turn affects how we apply the skill and how we develop further. The Dreyfus model of skill acquisition describes these changes in our perspective and ability based upon five discrete skill levels: Novice, Advanced Beginner, Competent, Proficient and Expert.

These five skill levels could be applied to espresso preparation as follows:

1. Novice

- Rigidly follows context-free instructions/recipes e.g. 14g producing 2 Fl. Oz. in 25-30 seconds using exactly 30lbs tamp pressure. These instructions are context-free and so applied universally.

- Wants clear, unambigiuous rules that allow them to successfully produce decent espresso.

- Would benefit from checklists, instructions, focussed training on specific actions, access to help and mentorship

2. Advanced Beginner

- Still follows rules but starts to identify conditional rules. E.g. stop pour before 25 seconds if blonding, temperature surfing to get "correct" temperature and might also understand to grind finer if tasting sour and coarser if tasting bitter.

- Tries on their own but has difficulty troubleshooting

- Wants answers fast - no holistic understanding and don't really want it yet.

- Would benefit from troubleshooting guides, Q&A and online communities/forums to ask questions and find solutions to common problems. Exercises/assignments to practice new found skills and gain experience

3. Competent

- Develops conceptual models and routines

- Rules become guidelines e.g. treats the 25-30 second rule as a guideline and starts experimenting with different doses and brew ratios.

- Troubleshoots problems on their own and starts to solve problems they have not encountered before but without further experience still have difficulty determining which details to focus on when problem solving

- Do not yet have the ability for reflection and self-correction

- Would benefit from case studies to understand various real world scenarios, access to peer's blogs, and participating on forums to observe problems and solutions. Videos and observation of work patterns and coaching.

4. Proficient

- Sees coffee preparation as a system and understands the relative importance and applicability of aspects of the system when troubleshooting. E.g. the impact of grind, dose, temperature, time, the bean and the relationships between these.

- Incorporates reflective practice and can correct flaws in technique

- Ability to understand and apply maxims (proverbial, fundamental truths that can be applied to the situation at hand - not recipes; they have to be applied within a certain context) e.g. "Denser coffee beans yield their solids more slowly" - proficient Barista would understand when the bean might be denser (lighter roasts, higher altitude, etc.) and know this could require higher temperature, longer extraction time and/or finer grind to properly extract the coffee and that other variables might need to be adjusted to compensate.

- Wants to understand larger conceptual framework

- Frustrated by simplified information

- Would benefit from active involvement in communities and forums and mentoring others.

5. Expert

- Primary sources of knowledge and information - writes the books and articles

- Their understanding is internalised and they have no need for rules, guidelines or maxims - everything is intuitive.

- Continually searching for better approaches.

- Often struggle to articulate what they do.

- Would benefit from interviews, writing papers and books

In other fields this model has been used for recruitment, career development, training and certification. Whilst all these applications have their place, I find it most useful to help develop training using appropriate mediums for different levels of ability. I would be very interested in understanding how other's views and experiences of learning about coffee relate to this model.


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

I'll let you know... I'm doing the SCAA Instructor Development Course on Friday


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## RolandG (Jul 25, 2010)

As well as being interested in coffee (and tea and many other tangental things







) I've been involved in various teaching and training activities. So, my 2 pence worth (all personal opinions) -

I think you need to separate out the development of amateur appreciation/skills (as Vintage mentions) from Professional Development.

On the Amateur skills/appreciation/knowledge front, I'd like to see more coffee courses being run in community settings - evening courses, brew classes, etc. That happens at a number of coffee shops already, and I hope we'll see more of this. I think this is the area where we could be doing much better and are letting the community down.

On the Professional Development front, I think it's a tough balance. I don't think it's practical to do distance learning on many of the areas, because the skills should be predominantly physical/tactile. Learning needs to link theory and sensory experience intimately. Some areas might be more suited to distance learning, and those would obviously be good to see being done like that.

I believe Professional Development is something that we'll see improving with time. I think that everyone in the speciality community sees the value in training and development and doing a better job of this - but getting consensus on the how is tough. It's hard to be patient, but bear in mind how new the speciality coffee community is and how small it is.

I think you also need to consider that there is no firm consensus on a lot of the information that may be taught. As an obvious example, what is a "too dark" or "too light" roast? That uncertainty also applies to the curriculum - for example, I've just been looking at the Barista Lv1 course syllabus online, and it seems that the main trust of that is not on skills that I would consider vital for a barista (In my opinion).

Don't see all that as being negative about training (or certification) - I still like the idea and thoughts behind it - but I think we need to be honest with ourselves as to our reasons for wanting the certification/training. Is it to make our professional more confident/happy/feel valued? Is it to make tastier coffee? is it to be better at our job? is it to make us more employable? I've been on a number of (non-coffee) training courses in my life, and I think an honest assessment of why I wanted to be there balanced against the cost has always been important.


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

Great stuff Roland. Nothing there I'd struggle to agree with, I think, but even sensory/tactile skills can be taught remotely to a degree. AV Media alongside packages sent by post can emmulate classroom settings. Bear in mind I'm not advocating we learn everything remotely. I just want the coffee training and qualifications that supposedly exist already to be more accessible. To answer your question concerning what we are trying to achieve, to me it's the same as any profession or activity that is underpinned by a nationally recognised training programme and certification, be it a driving test, hairdressing or a degree in medicine. The REAL training begins AFTER gaining the qualification, but that doesn't make the qualification worthless. Its purpose is to provide a larger pool of resource with a higher level of profficiency, so that the standards and quality across the board rise (and it is therefore easier to recruit better staff). I know some people argue that all people need is passion and a desire to learn, and I agree those are vital, but that approach keeps the resource pool small... and it therefore doesn't help speciality coffee climb out of its 'niche' status.

Remember that I'm not just talking about how to brew a cup of coffee. I'm talking multi-disciplinary coffee training, which the Diploma syllabus already covers very well, on paper at least. If only it was more accessible.


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## jimbow (Oct 13, 2011)

I think all mediums of teaching have a place and actually support one another from training courses, online and posted support materials, e-learning and other resources to mentoring and coaching.

I think we have to ask ourselves what we are looking to certify; is it the individual or the training programme itself?


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## ducatikid (Mar 26, 2012)

MikeHag, coffeebean, coffeemagic and garydyke1,

I have spent the last week looking into the coffee education in the US vs UK and the differences are frustrating indeed.

Looking to open a Roastery/Cafe myself I have looked into some schools in the UK offering various coffee courses, however, when comparing the cost of the courses, and length of the courses, the value for money is just not apparent. Combine that with the lack of certification and the choice in non-existent when compared to the US.

Now when looking into the US is it next to impossible to find a institution that offers on their schedule a Roasting Courses and Cupping course of any value back to back to make it more desirable for those of us willing to travel. 4 days into my research I gave up looking and made a contact in the US on the Eastern Coast and pleaded my case. Traveling from overseas is an ordeal - Doing it twice to take two courses months apart is too costly.

In the end my appeals did not go unanswered. I found out this evening, that this institution is willing to offer their 5 Day Roasting Course Back-to-Back with a SCAA Advance Cupping and Q Exam certification Course (regularly 5 days, but for us over 6).

5 Day Roasting Course - July 9-July 13, 2012. Daily Lunch will be included.

6 Day SCAA Advance Cupping and Q Exam Certification Course - July 16-21. Again, course is regularly 5 intense days, we get the info and exam over 6 days).

The Proprietor of this Institution where the training takes place mentioned he would contact the local hotels in the community and negotiate a special accommodation rate for the 2 week stay for the people interested in taking these two back-to-back courses.

These courses will only be offered in July back to back, if we are able to reach a class size of 6 people or more. At this point, I am in. Obviously. All that is required for this opportunity to go forward is 5 more interested people.

If anyone following this post is interested in finding out more information on this opportunity regarding costs, accommodations, location of Institution etc, please feel free to message me at [email protected] or PM on the forum and I will get back to you within 24 hours.

Here are the course descriptions:

Five Day Roaster's Course

Intense 5 Day, hands on workshop learning about green coffees and their unique characteristics form a multitude of source regions. Learn roasting profiles on several roasters from sample roaster to 60 kilo drum roaster. Hands-on roasting and cupping exercises take place daily in a small class setting.

SCAA- Advance Cupping and ''Q'' Standards Exam

This is a five day (6 days for this opportunity) learning course based on sensory aptitude, taste tests and aroma exercises that give you the language and context for grading and tasting specialty coffee. This extended course offers training for the 20+ exams that are administered during week. A passing score for the week certifies you as a SCAA / "Q" Grader. At the end of each session a SCAA / "Q" Grader will be tested and a sanctioned exam will be given.


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

The more I learn about coffee, and, from what I have seen of the people working in the industry itself, I think its something I want to move into.

Thus i am very interested in these courses!


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## ducatikid (Mar 26, 2012)

Garydyke1,

Great to hear that you have some interest in these classes!

I'm am looking to open up my own cafe/Roastery myself and have a strong desire to control the product quality all the way through the process of green bean selection, coffee roasting and signature blends, so these classes are just what I need to build up some confidence and skill.

I spent weeks mixing and matching courses online, trying to figure out which ones I can get the best bang for my buck on. East Coast to West Coast I was all over the map looking into Roasting and Cupping classes.

Cupping class are a hit and miss...you can find everything from a casual Sunday afternoon cupping class for 50$, or you can find a 3 day Cupping class for $950. What it came down to for me was certification. I wanted the standards of my coffee and the grading to be equivalent to what the rest of the coffee in the world is measured to - Hense the SCAA 'Q' Grader Course.

The Roasting Course, for me, is about gaining experience on 1)as many roasters as possible 2) roasters of various sizes 3) Spread that experience over as many days as possible to ensure as much info can be soaked in. For example: I came across one roasting school that provides a 3 day course for a similar price as this 5 day course. In the end, the 3 day course's experience on roasters fell short due to a 5kg drum roaster being the largest we would be introduced to. For some, 3 days and 5kg might be well suited. For me, the extra 2 days, is 2 more days of practice, questions, feedback and immersion in the roasting process and being surrounded with professionals.

For me, wanting to roast my own coffee in my cafe, I have plan to grow into multiple locations, online sales etc. That means more coffee to be roasted. Down the road, if that means moving up into a larger roaster, I know that when I had the chance, I went with the course that introduced me to a large roasting experience. It saves on the intimidation factor down the road when moving into something bigger beyond a 1 store 5-10kg roaster.

My fingers are crossed that there is enough response that we can make this all work. It is a great opportunity for us overseas to bring back a world of knowledge in a short period of time. It is definitely what I need to jump start my cafe and Roastery without job shadowing or learning in someone else's cafe.


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