We’re excited to learn that our independent sister company, London School of Coffee (LSC), is now offering two modules from the SCAE’s brand new Coffee Diploma. LSC trainer and coffee industry veteran, John Thompson, will be teaching Green Coffee and Sensory Cup Tasting at LSC from September.
About the Diploma
Launched in June 2011, the SCAE Coffee Diploma is a new certification system aimed at meeting the education needs of coffee professionals everywhere and maintaining controlled and certifiable standards. Only SCAE authorised trainers are qualified to teach the Diploma’s modules, ensuring a consistency of training and certifications.
The structure of the SCAE Coffee Diploma was designed to allow its pupils to juggle their professional responsibilities with their professional development. It allows the coffee professional to sit courses and certifications at locations and times of their choosing, amassing credits each time a certification is successfully passed. A diploma is issued once 100 credits have been attained by passing modules. These modules, which cover a range of subject areas from seed to cup, are split into level 1 (10 credits per module) and level 2 (25 credits per module) with certification based on both technical and practical examinations.
For more details of the course curriculum please visit https://scae.com/education/coffee-diploma-modules.html
Modules available at LSC
The London School of Coffee is now offering the following modules:
• Green Coffee Level 1
• Sensory Cup Tasting Level 1
1. Course Outlines
a. Green Coffee Level 1
The Green Coffee Level 1 module covers core knowledge of green coffee covering botany, agronomy, processing, storage, decaffeination, grading and trading systems. After completing the course you will be able to discuss how certain aspects of the coffee plant, agronomy, harvesting, processing, grading, storage, transport, and decaffeination can affect the cup.
The course also looks at the primary principles of the value chain of green coffee from farmer through to roaster, and the key mechanisms of finance and trade commonly experienced in speciality coffee.
This is a professional qualification that includes a practical and written examination, and counts as 10 credits towards the SCAE Coffee Diploma. LSC recommends it for the following people:
• Coffee Roasters.
• Roastery Green Coffee Buyers
• Green Coffee Importers and Traders.
• Technical Staff in Coffee Processing.
• Baristas
• Staff in Coffee Marketing & Sales
b. Sensory Cup Tasting Level 1
The Sensory / Cup Tasting Level 1 course covers the fundamentals of sensory evaluation of roasted coffee, a foundational skill for many job functions within the speciality coffee industry.
After completing the course you will be able to:
• understand how the human body perceives the sensory experience
• understand and use commonly used cupping terminology
• understand how to communicate the sensory experience
• set up a professional cupping table
• understand the rationale behind a cupping table set up
• describe the optimum conditions for a cupping lab
• understand the difference between qualitative and quantative cupping methodology
This is a professional qualification that includes a practical and written examination, and counts as 10 credits towards the SCAE Coffee Diploma. It is recommended for the following people:
• Coffee Roasters.
• Roastery Green Coffee Buyers
• Green Coffee Importers and Traders.
• Technical Staff in Coffee Processing.
• Baristas.
• Staff in Coffee Marketing & Sales
About John Thompson..
John Thompson has over 15 years of experience in speciality coffee, working on projects from fieldwork through to retail. His work at origin has spanned several continents, and he is fortunate to have worked closely with growers in several countries to develop long term relationships, sustainable buying programs, and quality improvement initiatives. His time spent as a Cup of Excellence international juror, and certification as a Q grader complement this work.
As part of the buying team at Taylors of Harrogate he carried out social audits on coffee estates and developed sustainable buying solutions with growers. John has extensive manufacturing experience including an extensive and working knowledge of roasting technology, profiling software, and the packing process in a food production environment.
John has recently worked with the SCAE in developing the Coffee Diploma system, leading the green coffee section of the program. As a certified SCAE trainer he runs our coffee diploma courses in cupping, sensory skills and green coffee.
For clients interested in on site training and consultancy, John now works with a range of clients across the globe on behalf of LSC – primarily on sourcing, sensory and coffee roasting related projects.
For more information about the modules at the LSC visit www.londonschoolofcoffee.com or email Gayle at [email protected]
The first Green Coffee Level 1 course will be held on the 9 September, and the first Sensory Cup Tasting Level 1 will be on 6 October. Both courses last one full day.
