From perception to sensorial analysis to the SCAA cupping form. Discover how works the coffee cupping courses of sca.

Very often is defined as coffee cupping courses or cupping form but since the union between SCAA and SCAE (and even before) the real name of this module is Sensory skills.

Also this module as the others:

• Barista skills
• Brewing
• Roasting
• Green coffee

is divided by SCA in three levels:

• Foundation
• Intermediate
• Professional

As understandable the foundation level is designed to introduce the main aspects of sensory analysis. At the end of the coffee cupping course, and during the exam, the student will be able to identify and describe flavors and body of the coffee cup. Also he/she will be able to asses with the correct coffee cupping form.

The Coffee Sensory Training

We start with the exam of the main tool: the human being. During the Sensory Skills Foundation SCA we learn also the passage from the stimulus, to sensation, to perception to sensorial analysis passing through the study of the organs that are used for sensory analysis, and how these interact with tastes and aromas. Of course, aside sight and hear, during the course a lot of attention is paid to the the recognition of the 5 basic tastes (sweet, bitter, sour, salty and Umami).

During the course in Espresso Academy we lead this part of the coffee cupping classes with aqueous solutions with dissolved elements (from citric acid to sucrose) that allow the identification of the various sensations. With the coffee cupping intermediate level the game gets harder because the solutions are mixed. This bring the student to recognize a greater or lesser intensity of sensations among others.

A very important part of the Sensory Skills Foundation SCA concerns the different types of flavors according to the SCA Coffee Flavor Wheel dividing them into Enzimathic, Sugar Browning and Dry Distillation. These differences are given by the coffee varietals, the environment and the ground. Some other differences can be given by defects of the coffee beans and defects in coffee roasting.

At Espresso Academy we use for this part of the course different samples of aromas that guide us through the aromas, positive and negative, of coffee.

The Coffee Cupping Protocol

We go discovering how do work the coffee cupping with the scaa protocol

The last part of the coffee cupping course is dedicated furthermore to the scaa coffee cupping form. In our school the students has to complete overview of how a tasting is done according to the coffee cupping sca protocol and learns to fill out a complete tasting sheet.

• Basic equipment for the scaa coffee cupping form (cups, spoons, kettle, grinder…)
• Roasting degree of the beans 2 cup
• Grinding degree
• Characteristic and temperature of the water
• Coffee Cupping timing
• Evaluation of: dry fragrance, flavor, clean cup, uniformity.
• What a coffee specialty is? the scoring system.

Then several coffees are tasted. The students, also during the exam, are called to to recognize a Specialty Coffee among others by comparing two different coffees describing their differences.

Being in Italy, we will dedicate the last part of the course to the technical tasting of espresso coffee. How do we can miss it?

The Points of the Coffee Skills Program and the Logistic

The coffee cupping courses in Espresso Academy

No previous work experience in the coffee world is required to pass the Sensory Skills Foundation SCA exam and our coffee cupping course is structured on the Sensory Skills Foundation SCA certification curriculum.

The Sensory skills Foundation certification is part of the new training system created by the Specialty Coffee Association, the Coffee Skills Program. A credit training system that achieves 100 credits allows you to obtain the SCA Coffee Diploma, a diploma that recognizes the skills as a coffee professional. With the foundation level the student get 5 points, 10 points for intermediate and 25 for the professional.

In Espresso Academy we organize the Sensory Skills Foundation SCA module in our main house in Florence, Italy, but also in other branches abroad. Thanks to our partnership we held coffee cupping classes in Nepal, In India in the city of Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi, in Bangkok, and in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Join the coffee cupping courses of Espresso Academy contacting us here!