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This course lays the foundation for all subsequent G.I. Joe Coffee House (GIJCH) classes and is a great way to “get a taste” of the GIJCH curriculum. Coffee Introduction is designed for newcomers to the coffee industry and will teach you all of the basic, essential coffee knowledge. It will cover a broad overview of coffee. Perfect for the person who would like to explore what direction they wish to take their education within the Specialty Coffee Industry. When combined with GIJCH’s specialty add-on courses, you will be well on your way in your specialty coffee skills and knowledge.

FOUNDATION:
This is a full day course designed to introduce core barista skills to people with no previous barista experience. Successful candidates should be able to simply calibrate their grinders and make espresso, cappuccino, lattes, and steam milk to core standards.

INTERMEDIATE: 
During the first part of this intensive training class, you will learn about coffee history, green coffee, roasting, grinding, brewing, extraction and preparation, milk, water, service skills, presentation, cleaning and sensory technology. The second half of the class is spent in the practical espresso stations. This is where you get hands-on experience with grinders, grinder adjustment, espresso machines, extraction, and pulling the perfect espresso shot. Not only will you learn about milk, steaming and texturing, but you will practice it on the spot by preparing the perfect traditional espresso, cappuccino and latte. The class will be concluded with time learning the basics of latte art.

PROFESSIONAL: 
Similar to the Barista Skills Intermediate Course, except this class goes deeper into the coffee world from coffee history, green coffee, green coffee retail, coffee added value labels, certifications, roasting, grinding, brewing, extraction, preparation, milk, water, service skills, presentation, cleaning, maintenance, sensory cup technology, health and coffee. You will then spend the second half of the class refining your skills on grinding and extracting as well as milk texturing, followed by a practice session to hone skills in latte art.

This course teaches the importance and interaction of all grinding and extraction methods, as well as brewing styles typically used in the coffee industry. You will acquire the skills necessary for the preparation of coffee with respect to all of these methods. With your improved skills and knowledge, you will be able to determine what factors are important for each brew style and quality. At the end of class, you will reproduce and evaluate each brew method studied. This course is also excellent preparation for the Green Coffee class.

In the Professional class, you will use your previous knowledge to come up with brewing methods that best suit your style and unique needs.

1. FOUNDATION
2. INTERMEDIATE
3. PROFESSIONAL

The Green Coffee course covers everything about the unroasted or immature coffee bean, which is the actual “seed”. You will learn significant background on the science and history of green coffee, as well as botany, agronomy, processing, storage, decaffeination, and grinding. You will gain an understanding of how these factors affect the cup and taste of coffee.

All three levels of the class will cover to differing depths the fundamental principles of green coffee by analyzing its process from the producer to the roaster.

Professional will provide substantially more information regarding the financial and commercial mechanics that are applied to the specialty coffee industry, including the local, national and global sales systems.

1. FOUNDATION
2. INTERMEDIATE
3. PROFESSIONAL

FOUNDATION 
The focus of this class is to get some basic impressions and physical understanding of the product and roasting process. You will learn how to and practice distinguishing between green coffee and roasted coffee, identify the change in roaster flame control, repeat the process of timing a roast temperature evolution, learn how to weigh and record the moisture of green and roasted coffee, and identify the first crack.

INTERMEDIATE 
In the Intermediate course, you will learn how to easily identify the color range of roasted coffee beans and understand the cup result with different roast profiles. You will be taught the steps required to install a coffee roaster, including different heat, energy sources, and materials needed for a professional roaster. You will be guided through the roasting stages, physical reactions, chemical reactions, browning process, and how different environmental conditions can affect the roast. By the end of the class, you will be able to determine different defects of the roast, how air quality can affect roasting, maintenance of the machine, and how to stop a possible roaster fire. Finally, learn about different types of roasters and we will give you the tools to setup and design a typical micro roasting facility.

PROFESSIONAL 
The Roasting Professional Level class takes a more practical approach than the Intermediate Level, thus taking you further into the world of roasting. More time will be spent in actual roasting sessions. You will roast three batches of the same coffee to a predetermined color range, getting within ten points as a target. You will learn to identify coffee roasted at different times and temperatures in a cup tasting session. We will dive deeper into the science of coffee, the chemical makeup of coffee, and chemical reactions of roasted coffee. At the end of the course, you will have the ability to profile roast.

In this course, you will learn the fundamentals of formal coffee analysis. You will develop keen sensory skills, formal cup tasting protocol, and proper terminology used in the coffee industry. We cover everything from setting up the preparation of a cup tasting with proper tools and utensils to the weights, grind, and measurements used with formal cup tasting protocol. You will learn to use your sensory perceptions and proper terminology that is used by experts in the industry.

1. FOUNDATION
2. INTERMEDIATE
3. PROFESSIONAL

Q Cupping Essentials teaches you the fundamentals of cupping. This course covers how to utilize both the Specialty Coffee Association and the Coffee Quality Institute’s cupping forms, as well as how to use sensory skills to evaluate the coffee. You will learn every step of the cupping process including weighing, grinding, table setup and pouring water. No previous knowledge or experience is required, as the course is focused more on learning and less on testing.

You will find this course most useful if you work as a roaster and you want to leave your mark on the coffee industry. Benefit from the years of experience with blend development by working directly with our top SCA Certified Roasters to create your own custom coffee blend. 

The world of coffee goes beyond just caffeinated drinks to delicious alcoholic beverages flavored with coffee. There is a fine balance to mixing coffee and alcohol and you will learn the art of mixing the two in this course. We cover far more than the well-known coffee cocktails like the Irish Coffee, and you will walk away with a menu of coffee cocktails to offer at your coffee house.

If you want to impress with more than just the taste of your coffee, come learn the art of latte art. Latte art goes back centuries and continues to be loved by coffee consumers worldwide today. This course will teach you the fundamentals and allow for time to practice what you learn. By the end of the course, you will have the knowledge to make any latte art design by etching or free pouring. The skills you leave with will set you up to perfect your latte art with regular practice. This course is a great addition to the Barista Skills Course as well as the Brewing Course.