THIS COURSE OVERVIEW
EXPECTATIONS & RESOURCES

How this course works

If you like to have all the details before diving into your study, then you can jump over to our Free HowToCoffeePro Introduction Course. Perhaps you have seen it, or you are a learner who likes to dive in head first. There is always time to go back and get it for free.

Course workflow

This course is both on-demand (self-paced) and cohort driven with class calls. You may complete the course in days, weeks or months. Enrollment may close, but your access to the content will always be open. The first 7 steps are required for SCA certification.

1. Study the course lectures and materials
2. Work through the practical skills outlined in this course
3. Test yourself with quizzes to prepare for the SCA online exam
4. Join our social media LIVE sessions highlighting lectures and answering questions
5. Contribute to Google Meetings with current learners and graduated alumni
6. Schedule your one on one (1-1) instructor call
7. Take and pass your SCA exam for certification
8. Join future calls as an alumni (optional)
   

One more time, be sure to get LIVE and cohort call announcements by email (link) here.

Course description from the SCA Handbook

The Sensory Skills Foundation course explores the essentials of sensory evaluation in a practical and interactive manner. It investigates the way we perceive what we taste and how to apply this knowledge when evaluating coffee’s natural characteristics. It also offers insight into identifying specialty coffee qualities, as well as an overview of how to implement this in business. (AST course handbook)

SCA Sensory Skills Foundation

In this course you will be provided with resources, tools and self-guided learning activities. As you complete these lectures and advance onto new sections, you may come back and revisit any topic that was especially helpful or perhaps too challenging to master in your first attempt.

Be sure to keep pace with your study so that you can join and contribute to our live social sessions and cohort group calls with learners and alumni. Make note of any questions you'd like to discuss during one-on-one calls with our Coffee Coach.

You will be equipped with language, context and exercises to provide you confidence and to exercise your skills. Engage with others in the cohort and our social channels. Share your newfound knowledge or insights with friends and coffee colleagues.

This course works best when followed in sequence. Read the lecture notes and watch the videos with accompanying exercises entirely before advancing to the next topic. You will have questions, which may be addressed in the coming lectures and videos.

Give yourself grace - Sensory training takes time. These skills require repetition and there is no substitute for practice. Learn how to practice the right way and continue to build good habits. Consider also, one of our SCA Training Kits (link) built to flexibly suit all of our SCA Foundation courses.

In this course we will cover:

• Language and definitions to better understand sensory analysis
• Why sensory analysis is important for specialty coffee
• Physiology and sensory attributes at work in coffee
• Basic tastes as they relate to our human anatomy
• Basic coffee aromas and activities to explore
• The tastes of coffee
• Body in coffee
• Aromas in coffee
• How to understand and use the SCA flavor wheel and other flavor wheels
• Coffee cupping with SCA cupping protocols
• The core sensory equipment required for the cupping room
• SCA sensory exercises (for your practice)
• SCA sensory practical exams (to prepare you for intermediate and professional levels)
• A mock practice SCA sensory skills exam (to prepare for the official exam online)
• Follow up steps and certification

Digital Course Resources

• SCA TasterWheel English 8.5x11
• SCA Protocols & Best Practices
• SCA Full Cupping Form x3.pdf
• SCAA Full Cupping Scoresheet x4.pdf
• Sensory Tasting Code Placemats
• Counter Culture's Flavor Wheel.pdf

Bookmark and find more resources at: https://sca.training/foundation-modules-x5

Course Activities

This course is built around several activities and practice experiences. While not required for Foundations certification, they are all highly recommended during or after your course to solidify your experience and will help you to participate better in cohort calls and social discussions.

Specific to this course we will explore:

1. Specialty vs. Commercial Grade Coffee
2. Species (Arabica vs. Robusta) Sensory Cupping
3. Other Taste, Mouthfeel, Tactile Sensory Experiences

To participate fully in the exercises you will be guided through various exercises and coffee cuppings. Coffee cupping is a professional term which standardizes the brewing experience no matter if you are a grower at origin, a roaster manufacturer or a final cafe purchasing manager. To participate in these cuppings you should have or acquire the following:

• 2 x glasses or bowls at 150-200ml capacity
• 2 x broad cupping spoons
• 1 kettle for boiled water
• 1 x rinse glass
• 1 x scale

The coffees required for these exercises are described in each exercise. You may look for them locally at a specialty coffee roaster or perhaps online. We have designed SCA Training Kits (link) built to flexibly suit all of our SCA Foundation courses.

SCA Foundations Bibliography & Resources

• Carpenter, Roland P., David H. Lyon and Terry A. Hadsell. Guidelines for Sensory Analysis in Food Product Development and Quality Control - Second Edition. Gaithersburg: Aspen Publishers, Inc., 2000.
• Flavor Wheel, English, PDF. London: Specialty Coffee Association, 2016.
• Folmer, Britta, ed. The Craft and Science of Coffee. San Diego: Elsevier Inc. as Academic Press, 2017.
• International Organization for Standardization. ISO 4120:2004 Sensory analysis — Methodology - Triangle test. Geneva, ISO, 2004
• International Organization for Standardization. ISO 8586:2012 Sensory analysis — General guidelines for the selection, training and monitoring of selected assessors and expert sensory assessors. Geneva, ISO, 2012
• Lawless, Harry T., and Hildegarde Heymann. Sensory Evaluation of Food - Principles and Practices, Second Edition. New York: Springer Science & Business Media, LLC., 2010.
• Lingle, Ted. Coffee Cuppers Handbook. Specialty Coffee Association of America. 1992
• Meilgaard, Morten, Gail Vance Civille, and B. Thomas Carr. Sensory Evaluation Techniques, 3rd Edition. Boca Raton: CRC Press LLC., 1999.
• Meilgaard, Morten, Gail Vance Civille, and B. Thomas Carr. Sensory Evaluation Techniques, 4th Edition. Boca Raton: CRC Press LLC., 2006.
• Muñoz, Alejandra M.,Gail Vance Civille, and B. Thomas Carr. Sensory Evaluation In Quality Control. New York: Springer Science+Business Media, 1992.
• Oberthür, Thomas, Läderach, Peter, Pohlan, H.A. Jürgen, and Cock, James H, ed. EnSpecialty Coffee: Managing Quality. International Plant Nutrition Institute, 2012.
• Stone, Herbert and Sidel, Joel L. Sensory Evaluation Practices, Third Edition. San Diego: Elsevier Academic Press, 2004.
• Sensory Lexicon Unabridged Definition and References, Second Edition (PDF). Portland: World Coffee Research, 2017.
• Wikipedia. “Cognition.” entry. Last modified November 7, 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognition
• Yantis, June E. ed. The Role of Sensory Analysis in Quality Control. Philadelphia: American Society for Testing and Materials, 1992. 

Enjoy your course!

PS. If you didn't see - our Free HowToCoffeePro course introduction is here:
https://howtocoffeepro.teachable.com/p/free-introducing-howtocoffeepro

In it we explain programs, introduce our Coffee Coach and more!