SCA Grade Certification and Q Grader Certification International baristas examination content introduction to internationally recognized baristas Certificate

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Whenever a partner wants to ask questions on the social platform about "whether baristas need to attend relevant professional training courses and obtain qualifications", the comment area is almost always a response to dissuasion. "it's too expensive, isn't it good to save it for other things?" the course is too bad. You can get a set of lessons from going to a cafe with thousands of yuan.

"is it useful to take the barista certificate?" That must be useful! Examination is one of the fast and intuitive ways to let people know their abilities. Before all the examinations, we all need to participate in the relevant courses and learn relevant knowledge, and the examination is to test our mastery of certain knowledge or skills, or whether we already have the basic ability to obtain certain qualifications. So the most important thing to verify is not the final certificate, but whether you have gained anything from the whole process of obtaining the certificate. When everyone does something, the starting point and purpose are different. Whether it is worth it or not, you have to experience it before you can come to a real conclusion, while what others think is just the point of view of others.

If you really want to go to the relevant training courses and obtain the relevant qualifications, you can rest assured to do so under the conditions of financial permission. Although the final role of the certificate is not great, but the knowledge and principles learned in the process, equivalent to giving themselves a framework, so that we have the direction of learning. No matter what level it is, the learning content is the basic framework of this level. after that, even without the constraints of the course examination, I can continue to improve my professionalism through different channels. More in-depth learning of knowledge and technology is the last word ~ the certificate is only a piece of paper after all, and the real gold point is yourself. "Q Grader or SCA?" Both of these certificates will be highly recognized in the industry at present. With the increase in demand, a variety of coffee training institutions began to appear on the market, and the scale, price and "gold content" are also uneven, so some small partners are very unlucky to have "wronged money". If you have a need, you must choose qualified and large-scale training institutions, and you must not take advantage of petty gain. In fact, SCA certificate and Q Grader are certified and issued by SCA (World Fine Coffee Association). They are basically universal and internationally recognized baristas. The biggest difference between the two is that SCA certificates tend to be knowledge and skills, while Q Grader certificates are aimed at the senses.

Test which kind of barista certificate, you need to look at everyone's needs, only choose the right one, not the expensive one. If it is a rookie, want to learn systematically, so that they have an introductory direction, then in fact, the SCA course is enough. If the barista wants to walk out of the bar and become a bean hunter, baker, trainer, event judge, etc., or want to engage in the raw bean trade, you can choose the Q Grader course. "what courses are there in SCA? Can you skip the exam? " There are six courses for SCA certification, and each course (except for the first lesson) is subdivided into three levels: junior, intermediate and advanced. Junior: 5, Intermediate: 10, Advanced: 25.

Introduction to Coffee Introduction to Coffee

Barista skills Barista Skills

Hand-washed Brewing

Baking Roasting

Sensory appreciation Sensory

Raw bean Green Coffee

The examination of junior baristas is relatively simple, and the learning content of the course is mainly based on basic theory and practical knowledge. If you have worked in a coffee shop for a certain period of time, basically do not need to take a certification course, go directly to take the SCA junior certificate. If you feel that your coffee knowledge and operation skills have reached a certain level, you can also skip the primary level and directly take the SCA Intermediate Certificate ~ SCA Intermediate Certificate can skip the primary exam, but the SCA Advanced Certificate must first obtain the Intermediate Barista Certificate.

As a result of the credit system, courses at each level have their own credits, and students have to get a total of 100 credits if they want to obtain a diploma, which is not as simple as it seems. However, the advantage of this system is that students can choose to specialize in specific courses according to their own interests or needs, without having to complete all courses.

If you are a complete rookie, but want to be a barista, you can focus on baristas' skills, hand pulsing, and sensory appreciation. As for what level you learn, you need to choose according to your actual situation. After all, each level costs a lot.

"is Q Grader certificate graded? What is the content of the exam? "

Q Grader certificate ungraded oh ~ Q Grader is one of the coffee bean quality appraisers certified by the Coffee quality Institute CQI (Coffee Quality Institute), which belongs to a branch of the SCA education module. Different from the SCA curriculum system, CQI is more inclined to identify the quality of raw beans, focusing on sensory training and improvement.

(the flavor water to drink in a class, commonly known as devil water)

Q Grader is the person who guards the quality of raw beans, using cupping to evaluate, grade and grade each bean at the export stage, so that other buyers of raw coffee have a basic concept of the flavor of beans, and then they can plan the corresponding baking methods to bring out the potential of beans.

The Q Grader certification system is designed by CQI (Coffee quality Association) to evaluate the quality of exported coffee beans in a language commonly used in the industry. Due to the use of common evaluation language and standards to determine the quality and price of coffee, the price of coffee will be more transparent and fair, and there will be no justification.

Unlike SCA courses, candidates who sign up for the Q Grader course must complete 20 tests within six days and must pass all the tests to obtain a certificate. These 20 tests include:

Coffee Comprehensive knowledge examination (1 test)

Sensory skills test (3 tests)

Olfactory skills test (4 tests)

Cup test skills test (4 tests)

Triangle cup test skill test (4 tests)

Organic acid control test (1 test)

Arabica Raw Bean grading Test (3 tests)

Grading test of Arabica baked beans (1 test)

Baking degree identification (1 test)

If you fail the test, you may require a retake within 6 days of the course, or a make-up exam within 18 months after the end of the course.

The Q Grader certificate is valid for 3 years. During this period, flavor calibration needs to be carried out once a year (food-grade capsules for calibration are purchased on the CQI designated website, then mixed and tasted according to the instructions, and then the answers are uploaded to the exam website for Q Grader certification).

Then, before the expiration of the 3-year period, the student must take a correction course (Q Grader Re-Calibration Course) to extend the validity of the certificate.

Q Grader can be said to be the most expensive certification course with the largest number of exams in the coffee industry. If you are lucky / strong, you may be able to get an exam of 20,000 to 30,000, otherwise you will have to spend thousands more on each make-up exam. It's a costly course.

If you trade raw beans, then Q Grader is essential. Because the certification course is based on sensory training, it can help you better identify the quality, flavor and price of coffee bean samples, and it is also very suitable for coffee bean roasters.

Or if you want to sign up for the judges of coffee competitions, such as raw beans, roasting, brewing and other competitions, the Q Grader certificate will be one of the eligibility criteria, but you may not necessarily be able to register successfully with a certificate, and there are other reviews.

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