SCAE Coffee Roasting Courses: Foundation to Professional

If you’ve ever wondered how professional coffee roasters learn to control flavor through roast profiles, the updated SCAE (Specialty Coffee Association of Europe) roasting curriculum is your structured path—from beginner to expert. Formerly split into Level 1 and Level 2, it now offers three clear progression levels: Foundation, Intermediate, and Professional. Each level builds technical skill, sensory ability, and industry knowledge essential for serious roasters.

In short: SCAE’s new coffee roasting program consists of three levels—Foundation (basic skills), Intermediate (defect analysis & production), and Professional (advanced curve control & business management)—with specific exams, skills, and knowledge requirements at each stage.

What Is the SCAE Coffee Roasting Curriculum?

The Specialty Coffee Association of Europe has restructured its official coffee roasting education into a three-tier system designed to take learners from foundational knowledge to professional-grade roasting and production management. These levels are Foundation, Intermediate, and Professional. Each level has defined learning outcomes, practical and written exams, and specific competencies.

Foundation Level: The Basics of Coffee Roasting

The Foundation level introduces core concepts necessary for anyone new to coffee roasting. It ensures students can understand green coffee, operate basic roasting equipment, and follow predefined roast plans. This level is ideal for beginners aiming to grasp essential roasting principles and procedures.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the Foundation course, students should be able to:

• Understand basic characteristics of green coffee beans
• Identify different types of roasting equipment and their functions
• Execute a roast following a set plan

Course Content

• 1.01 Green Coffee Knowledge: Covers coffee variety, processing methods, growing altitude, bean grading, size, density, moisture content, and chemical composition.
• 1.02 Roasting Equipment: Introduces major roaster brands, models, types, and heat sources.
• 1.03 Roasting Process: Explains roast phases, heat transfer, color changes, documentation, taste differences by roast level, and the importance of cooling.
• 1.04 Practical Exam (26 points total, pass: 16/26 or 60%):
  • Group: Two roasts using a provided plan + documentation (60 mins)
  • Individual: Calculations based on group roast (10 mins)
  • Individual: Identify roast stages (5 mins)
  • Individual: Identify roast levels (10 mins)
• 1.05 Written Exam (45 mins, 15 questions, pass: 9/15): Mix of multiple choice and short answer.

Intermediate Level: Developing Roast Skills & Troubleshooting

The Intermediate level builds on Foundation knowledge, focusing on understanding roast curves, identifying roast defects, basic roaster maintenance, and simple production management. Students learn to analyze roast quality and manage basic roasting operations.

Learning Objectives

Students will develop skills to understand and control roast profiles, recognize common roast defects, perform routine machine maintenance, and manage basic production tasks.

Course Content

• 2.01 Advanced Roasting Process: Detailed heat transfer, physical and chemical bean changes, defect causes and avoidance, factors affecting roast, curve variations, and cooling.
• 2.02 Roast Defects: Includes Baked (low temp, long time), Scorched (high temp, surface burn), Tipped (high temp, end burn), Quaker (underdeveloped due to defect), and Burnt (over-roasted, poor airflow).
• 2.03 Roaster Maintenance: Bearing lubrication, chaff collector cleaning, and flue cleaning.
• 2.04 Production Management: Equipment needs, green bean storage, food safety, and production planning.
• 2.05 Practical Exam (52 points total, pass: 36/52):
  • Individual/Group: Measure roast color with instrument, hit target color within +/-4 (60 mins)
  • Individual: Calculate weight loss, moisture, volume change (10 mins)
  • Individual: Identify roast level by sight and red-light cupping (20 mins)
  • Individual: Identify defects under red light cupping (20 mins)
• 2.06 Written Exam (45 mins, 25 questions, pass: 18/25): Mix format.

Professional Level: Mastering Roast Profiles & Business

The Professional level is for advanced roasters who want to master complex roast curves, sensory evaluation, and roasting business operations. It covers in-depth chemistry, advanced cupping, and production/business strategy.

Learning Objectives

This level equips roasters to manage sophisticated roast profiles, conduct advanced cupping, and handle the business and technical sides of commercial roasting operations.

Course Content

• 3.01 Roasting Process Review: Overview of roast phases, physical changes, and heat application.
• 3.02 Green Coffee & Roasting: How processing methods affect roast plans, adjusting for different beans, and understanding bean pathogens.
• 3.03 Physical Reactions: Heat transfer, moisture evaporation, pressure changes (first crack), volume/structural shifts, weight loss, chaff behavior, and gas release.
• 3.04 Chemical Reactions: Pyrolytic, Maillard, Strecker degradation, caramelization, hydrolysis, oxidation, and decarboxylation.
• 3.05 Roast Curves: Fast vs slow roasting, and how moisture, acids, and solubles shift over time.
• 3.06 Roast Level Identification: Distinguishing flavor differences in same-level roasts from different curves.
• 3.07 Cupping Skills: Cupping basics and triangle tests.
• 3.08 Business Management: Costing, product development, and blend formulation.
• 3.09 Production Management: Equipment planning, safety, 5S production setups, procurement, record systems, and maintenance scheduling.
• 3.10 Practical Exam (52 points total, pass: 42/52):
  • Group: Roast 4 curves across 7 batches including full development to second crack (150 mins)
  • Individual: Identify color value by eye (10 mins)
  • Individual: Cup defects under red light (20 mins)
  • Individual: WCE-style cupping and improvement feedback (20 mins)
  • Individual: Compare 4 roasts to standard samples (20 mins)
• 3.11 Written Exam (45 mins, 36 questions, pass: 29/36):

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the three SCAE coffee roasting course levels?

The three levels are Foundation (beginner), Intermediate (intermediate skills), and Professional (advanced). Each has specific learning goals, skills, and exams.

How is the Foundation level assessed?

The Foundation level has a practical exam (26 points, pass ≥16) including group and individual tasks, and a 45-minute written test (15 questions, pass ≥9).

What roast defects are taught in the Intermediate course?

Defects include Baked, Scorched, Tipped, Quaker, and Burnt, each with causes like incorrect temperature or airflow.

What advanced topics are in the Professional level?

Professional covers chemical reactions like Maillard and caramelization, advanced cupping, roast curve control, and business management skills.

How many practical and written exams are there per level?

Each level has both practical and written exams with specific point requirements to pass, detailed in the course breakdown above.

Recommended FrontStreet Beans for Roasting Practice

For hands-on roasting practice aligned with SCAE training, try FrontStreet Coffee’s Ethiopia Huakui (bright floral and citrus notes), Yirgacheffe (juicy berry and stone fruit), and Brazil Queen Manor (chocolatey nutty base). These single origins highlight how roast levels affect flavor and are ideal for practicing Foundation to Professional techniques. Freshly roasted within 5 days · Orders placed before 17:00 ship the same day · Next-day delivery across most of Guangdong Province.