SCA Sensory Skills

SCA SENSORY SKILLS FOUNDATION
Who is this course for?

The SCA Sensory Skills Foundation course is designed for individuals with little or no previous experience in sensory analysis who are looking to build a solid theoretical foundation and gain a practical understanding of the subject.

• For coffee enthusiasts who would like to describe their tasting experience and sensory perceptions in a professional way.
• For coffee industry professionals — including roasteries, cafés, food companies, and green coffee importers — who want to explore how sensory analysis can be applied in a business context.
• For anyone interested in developing their sensory skills in order to gain greater enjoyment and awareness when eating and drinking.

SENSORY SKILLS FOUNDATION
Why should you take this course?

• You will learn the fundamental sensory categories that will help you translate your tasting experience into clear and structured descriptions. Your coffee communication skills will improve significantly.
• You will become more aware of how to use your senses. You will learn to identify the five basic tastes, nine aroma groups, and five texture categories. This provides a strong foundation for further sensory skills development.
• You will learn how to compare coffees based on the intensity of different sensory attributes — an excellent basis for creating precise and useful coffee descriptions.
• You will become familiar with three types of sensory tests and their applications within the coffee industry. Rather than staying in the realm of theory, you will gain an initial understanding of which sensory methods may be the most useful for your own goals and professional context.
• You will stay up to date with the new coffee evaluation system — Coffee Value Assessment (CVA) — and learn how it can be applied in practice.
• You will take part in practical exercises designed to develop your sensory skills, which you will easily be able to continue independently after the course.
• You will meet other participants who either work in the coffee industry or share a passion for coffee. It is a great opportunity to build new professional and personal connections.

SCA SENSORY SKILLS INTERMEDIATE
Who is this course for?

For coffee roasteries that would like to:

• develop fast and effective quality control procedures,
• create professional sensory descriptions for new coffees,
• select coffees that match different product lines and customer preferences,
• monitor changes in existing products to ensure consistent quality.

For companies that include coffee in their product portfolio and would like to:

• create professional sensory descriptions that can be used by sales and marketing teams,
• learn tools and methods for evaluating products against competitors,
• discover sensory tests useful when sourcing new suppliers,
• taste a variety of coffees outside of their current portfolio,
• better understand customer preferences,
• stand out from competitors by gaining skills confirmed by an internationally recognized certification.

For green coffee importers who:

• would like to communicate more effectively with roasteries and recommend coffees tailored to their needs,
• want to learn SCA quality evaluation standards, including the new Coffee Value Assessment (CVA) system,
• aim to further develop and refine their sensory skills in order to better identify differences between coffees.

For cafés whose teams:

• work together on recipes, quality control, and product evaluation — making a shared sensory language essential,
• advise customers on coffee selection,
• would like to strengthen their sensory competencies to better prepare for coffee competitions.

For coffee enthusiasts who:

• want to develop their sensory skills and deepen their tasting experience,
• would like to taste coffees from different quality segments, species, processing methods, and botanical varieties,
• want to improve their ability to describe the sensory characteristics of coffee,
• are considering a career in the coffee industry — sensory skills are valuable across many roles and provide a strong foundation for learning brewing and roasting,
• simply want to drink a lot of coffee, 😉
• have heard about Coffee Value Assessment and would like to understand why the topic generates so much discussion.

SENSORY SKILLS INTERMEDIATE
Why should you take this course?

• You will develop your sensory skills and gain confidence — both while participating in different types of sensory tests and when communicating with clients, suppliers, and fellow coffee enthusiasts.
• You will receive a realistic and practical sensory training planthat will help you maintain and continue developing your skills after the course.
  This will not be a one-time investment! 
• You will learn how to select sensory tests tailored to the individual needs of your company.
  Examples of business challenges where sensory testing can be useful include:- finding a new raw material that can successfully replace an existing one while maintaining a similar profile,
  – developing a product comparable to one already available on the market,
  – handling and verifying customer complaints,
  – evaluating how aging processes affect a product,
  – creating sensory descriptions for sales and marketing purposes,
  – selecting new coffees for your portfolio,
  – assessing customer acceptance and product preference.
• You will learn how to evaluate and further develop the sensory skills of your team. You will also improve communication within your company by creating a shared and precise language for discussing coffee.
• You will discover how to build a sensory panel within your company — even a very small one — and learn which equipment and tools are worth investing in.
• You will taste coffees from different quality segments, species, and processing methods. You will broaden your coffee horizons — and perhaps discover a new favorite coffee along the way.
• You will not get bored! The SCA Sensory Skills Intermediate program is filled with diverse practical exercises designed to help you absorb knowledge, build new skills, and enjoy the learning process at the same time.
• You will expand your professional networkby meeting coffee enthusiasts and experienced coffee industry professionals.
• You will learn how to evaluate and describe coffee according to the latest SCA standards — Coffee Value Assessment (CVA) — and apply them in practice based on the needs of your business.

SENSORY SKILLS PROFESSIONAL
Who is this course for?

Please refer to the recommendations for the Sensory Skills Intermediate course.

In addition, this course is designed for:

• individuals who would like to become AST Sensory Skills trainers,
• professionals who require an internationally recognized certification confirming advanced sensory expertise,
• sensory panel organizers,
• quality control professionals,
• ambitious coffee enthusiasts who want to take their sensory skills to an even higher level,
• individuals who would like to gain a deeper understanding of how their senses work.

SENSORY SKILLS PROFESSIONAL
Why should you take this course?

• You will expand your knowledge of sensory testing with new and practical solutions — from quality control to customer preference research — that can be implemented directly within your company.
• You will gain an in-depth understanding of how your senses work and learn how to use them consciously and effectively.
• You will further develop your sensory skills through new exercises not included in the Intermediate course. You will also learn how to continue your sensory training after completing the course.
• You will learn how to design your own professional sensory testing forms and implement them within your company.
• You will earn an internationally recognized certification confirming your advanced competencies. It will strengthen your professional profile and increase your company’s value in tenders and B2B collaborations.
• You will stay up to date with Coffee Value Assessment (CVA), an increasingly important system within the coffee industry. Knowledge of the Descriptive Assessment protocol will allow you to create complex sensory descriptions, while the Affective Assessment component can be applied in quality evaluation.
• You will learn how to identify defects and negative coffee attributes and determine their source — whether they result from green coffee quality, roasting or brewing errors, or improper storage. This knowledge will help you improve product quality, which will certainly be appreciated by your customers.
• You will discover how to avoid the most common mistakes in sensory analysishelping you build a reputation as a knowledgeable and reliable sensory evaluator.
• You will learn how to organize a sensory panel and manage the quality evaluation process , allowing you to implement high standards of sensory analysis within your company.