Coffee Roasting Course

Lesson 1 • Roasting Equipment Overview

Surveys drum, fluid bed, and hybrid roaster designs and their heat transfer methods. Prepares learners to select equipment suited to batch size and roast goals.

Lesson 2 • Chemistry of Roasting Transformation

Covers Maillard reaction, caramelisation, and pyrolysis as flavour-building processes. Links chemical changes to colour, aroma, and taste development.

Lesson 3 • Green Coffee Bean Anatomy

Examines seed structure, moisture content, and density as roasting variables. Connects bean physical properties to heat absorption and roast behaviour.

Lesson 4 • Roast Stages and Colour Development

Defines light, medium, and dark roast stages by temperature and colour. Establishes visual and sensory benchmarks used throughout the course.

Lesson 1 • Cupping for Roast Feedback

Uses cupping notes—flavour, body, acidity, after‑taste—to adjust rate of rise, development time, temperature set points, and cooling. Sensory data then drive roast decisions for quality and batch iteration.

Lesson 2 • Comparative and Triangulation Tasting

Uses triangle tests and side-by-side comparisons to detect subtle roast differences. Sharpens discrimination ability for quality control and profile refinement.

Lesson 3 • Identifying Roast Defects by Taste

Teaches recognition of underdevelopment, baking, scorching, and tipping through cup analysis. Connects sensory defects back to specific roast profile errors.

Lesson 4 • SCA Cupping Protocol Mastery

Walks through grind, water temperature, steep time, and scoring steps of SCA cupping. Establishes a repeatable evaluation ritual for all roast assessments.

Lesson 1 • Understanding Coffee Varietals

Profiles Bourbon, Typica, Gesha, and hybrid varietals and their roast sensitivities. Enables roasters to tailor profiles to varietal-specific flavour potential.

Lesson 2 • Evaluating Green Coffee Quality

Teaches physical inspection, moisture analysis, and water activity testing of green lots. Connects pre-roast evaluation to predicting roast consistency and cup quality.

Lesson 3 • Building Supplier Relationships

Covers direct trade, importers, and spot market purchasing as sourcing channels. Equips students to evaluate supplier reliability and lot consistency.

Lesson 1 • Oxidation and Staling Mechanisms

Covers oxygen, moisture, light, and heat as the four staling agents for roasted coffee. Teaches mitigation strategies at each stage of the supply chain.

Lesson 2 • Shelf Life Testing and Protocols

Establishes sensory and chemical methods to determine and verify coffee shelf life. Enables roasters to set accurate best-by dates backed by data.

Lesson 3 • Degassing and CO2 Release Science

Explains CO2 production during roasting and its release rate post-roast. Connects degassing timelines to brew extraction quality and packaging decisions.

Lesson 1 • Espresso Roast Profile Design

Covers how solubility, body, and crema are shaped by roast level and development. Teaches profile adjustments that reduce sourness and enhance sweetness in espresso.

Lesson 2 • Blending for Brew Method Targets

Teaches pre-roast and post-roast blending strategies to achieve consistent flavour targets. Connects blend design to specific brew method performance.

Lesson 3 • Filter and Pour-Over Roast Profiles

Explains how lighter roasts preserve acidity and origin character for filter brewing. Profiles are designed to highlight clarity and complexity in the cup.

Lesson 1 • Green Coffee Storage Management

Establishes temperature, humidity, and airflow standards for green coffee warehousing. Protects green quality from receipt through roasting.

Lesson 2 • Scaling Production Without Quality Loss

Addresses profile transfer across roaster sizes and multi-roaster consistency challenges. Prepares students to grow output while maintaining sensory standards.

Lesson 3 • Energy Efficiency in the Roastery

Analyses gas consumption, heat recovery, and batch sequencing as efficiency levers. Reduces operating costs while maintaining roast quality standards.

Lesson 4 • Production Scheduling and Batch Planning

Covers demand forecasting, roast order sequencing, and green inventory alignment. Reduces waste and stockouts through systematic production planning.

Lesson 1 • Weight Loss and Roast Yield Tracking

Explains moisture evaporation as the primary driver of roast weight loss. Connects yield percentages to roast level, cost, and pricing decisions.

Lesson 2 • Colour Measurement and Agtron Use

Teaches Agtron spectrophotometry and colorimetry as objective roast level verification. Provides a non-sensory check to confirm profile execution accuracy.

Lesson 3 • Documentation and Traceability

Builds roast logs, batch records, and green coffee intake documentation systems. Enables recall readiness and continuous improvement through data review.

Lesson 4 • Batch-to-Batch Repeatability Systems

Covers pre-roast checklists, equipment warm-up routines, and environmental variable tracking. Reduces roast variance caused by operator inconsistency.

Lesson 1 • Airflow Management in Roasting

Covers damper and fan settings as tools for heat transfer and smoke evacuation. Shows how airflow changes alter roast speed, colour, and cup clarity.

Lesson 2 • Development Time and Ratio

Defines development time ratio (DTR) as post-first-crack time relative to total roast. Links DTR to sweetness, acidity, and body balance in the cup.

Lesson 3 • Charge Temperature and Preheat

Explains how drum temperature at bean loading affects early roast trajectory. Connects preheat decisions to drying efficiency and first crack timing.

Lesson 4 • Understanding Rate of Rise

Defines rate of rise (RoR) as the temperature change per unit time and its role in flavour. Teaches students to read and manipulate RoR curves for desired outcomes.