Full to the brim with valuable professional development, courses at The Sensory Agenda give coffee professionals internationally recognised training in sensory development, including cupping, grading, and processing: skills that connect what's in the cup back to the people, places, and decisions that shaped it. Courses span the renowned Q Grader program, CQI's Q Processing certification (fast becoming the industry's common language for post-harvest knowledge), and the SCA's Coffee Value Assessment (CVA) system. Wherever you sit in the supply chain, these courses build a shared vocabulary for quality and the confidence to use it.
SENSORY
EDUCATION.
COURSES.
Q Processing Level 2
Understanding processing is fast becoming one of the most valuable skills in coffee. Big claim but think about it!
Processing is the topic on everyone's lips right now - from precision fermentation, carbonic maceration, extended naturals and inoculation - and CQI's Q Processing program is clearly establishing the industry's common language for it, much as the Q Grader program did for cupping and grading. It's not just for the experimental edge of the industry, either: understanding what happens between cherry and cup is now core to the quality control that underpins every reliable coffee, season after season, from micro lots to macro supply.
This November, The Sensory Agenda is running the Q Processing Level 2 Professional certification - CQI's flagship processing course - on-site at Simalem Coffee Academy in North Sumatra, the only CQI-certified Q-Venue for processing in Indonesia. Taught by Johan Kwe (CQI Instructor of the Year, 2024, and Director of the estate where the course takes place), this is six full days in the middle of harvest season, learning on working farms, alongside the producers behind the coffee, not off a slide deck.
Lake Toba and the Simalungun highlands are as much a part of this course as the curriculum: fertile volcanic soils, misty mornings, and one of the most distinctive coffee-growing regions in the world.
What you'll cover * Field-based learning on working farms during active harvest; cherry selection, depulping, fermentation, drying and hulling as live processes. * Fermentation science - the microbiology behind flavour, and how to predict and control sensory outcomes. *Processing method analysis - washed, natural, honey, anaerobic, and Sumatra's signature giling basah wet-hulling method, seen at scale in its home environment. *Quality control systems - identifying defects, tracking consistency, building protocols producers and buyers can use season after season. *Applied cuppings with fresh cherry, straight from harvest CQI-certified theoretical and practical exams. *Who's this course for?* Competitors selecting lots, roasters developing new products, buyers building producer relationships, and mill managers refining quality systems - anyone for whom what happens between cherry and cup is now core to their work.
Cost
The 8 day/7 night, QP2 Course Cost: AU$4,000 twin share / AU$4,300 single room (inc. GST)
All-inclusive once you land in Medan: return transfers from the day prior course commencement and day after course finalisation, 7 nights' accommodation, all meals, the venue, all processing equipment and materials, and instruction from Johan Kwe. Flights to/from Medan (KNO) not included.
Optional Add-On — 2-Day Farm & Mill Tour
It would be a shame to travel this far into one of the world's great coffee-producing regions and not get your boots on the hillsides yourself! As an optional add-on we've organised a guided tour of the region - walking through active farms, watching giling basah wet-hulling at village scale, meeting the producers behind the coffees you've spent the week studying, and taking in Lake Toba itself.
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Dates: Sunday 6 – Monday 7 December (depart Tuesday 8 December)
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Cost: +AU$800pp - single room, all meals, guided transport for both days.
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Day 1: Smallholder farms and giling basah wet-hulling in the Simalungun highlands, finishing with an informal cupping alongside local farmers.
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Day 2: Local mill visit - mechanical sorting, grading and export preparation - followed by a visit to the beautiful Lake Toba.
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Day 3: Morning transfer back to Medan for departures.
Upcoming Courses:
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Dates: 30 November – 5 December 2026 (travel 29 Nov – 6 Dec)
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Location: Taman Simalem Resort & Simalem Coffee Academy, Lake Toba, North Sumatra, Indonesia
Q Grader Full Course
Globally recognised for over 20 years, the Q Grader remains one of specialty coffee's most valued certifications, teaching and testing how to cup and grade green coffee to one shared international standard. Originally created by the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI), the program is now run by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) and has been rebuilt around the new Coffee Value Assessment (CVA) system, pairing established descriptive cupping with the context-led, value-based scoring offering a different methodology to grading coffees. Despite these changes, the course continues to validate key sensory skills and understanding of assessment frameworks.
A good general knowledge of coffee and some experience tasting a range of coffees will serve you well going in. It's a demanding week and some students find it tough to pass every module first time, but resits are available throughout, and you can return to a future course to finish off any outstanding exams.
I take pride in running an inclusive, safe and supportive classroom. We take the testing seriously, but there's always good coffee, good conversation, and a genuinely diverse, passionate group of coffee people to learn alongside.
Course format (6 consecutive days, built around the CVA framework) *Physical Assessment - green coffee grading and form. *Descriptive Assessment - multi-perspective cupping, olfactory calibration, triangulation. *Affective Assessment - quality perception and preference. *Extrinsic Assessment - origin story and value attributes. *8 practical exams in total, plus a 55-question written exam - each attempted twice during the course. *Q Grader license on passing, valid for 3 years
CVA for Cuppers
Cost
The 6 day, Q Grader course is $3500(incGST).
Upcoming Courses:
Contact for more information
Existing or lapsed Q/R Grader? Curious about the SCA's new Coffee Value Assessment (CVA)? This is the workshop for you!
CVA for Cuppers is a two-day, hands-on training for professional cuppers, Q and R Graders, and anyone bringing the SCA's new Coffee Value Assessment system into daily practice. We unpack the philosophy and research behind the new format, which pairs established sensory descriptive recording with value-based reasoning, weighing not just what's in the cup, but how origin, processing, and consumer perception shape a coffee's commercial and qualitative worth.
Who is this course for? This course is ideal for: Professional cuppers seeking to update or expand their cupping methodology to the new SCA CVA system. Coffee buyers, roasters, educators and quality evaluation professionals making sourcing decisions or describing coffees. It's built for professional cuppers updating their methodology, Q Arabica/Robusta Graders (current or lapsed) transitioning into the new SCA-managed ecosystem, and buyers, roasters, educators and quality professionals who make sourcing decisions or need to describe coffee with precision. What you'll learn * Use of the CVA Descriptive and Affective Forms to evaluate coffee * The 15-point intensity scale, CATA lists, and hedonic scales in sensory analysis * Olfactory reference calibration for consistent descriptive cupping * How to weigh intrinsic and extrinsic attributes that shape a coffee's perceived value * Combining sensory data with subjective impressions to inform buying, pricing, and communication Assessment & certification *Written exam *Olfactory reference identification test *Descriptive cupping assessment *Affective cupping assessment *Passing earns an SCA-sanctioned certificate confirming your proficiency applying CVA tools (this doesn't certify you as a cupper outright, but validates your training in the system)
Cost
The 2 day course is $1300AUD (ex GST)
Upcoming Courses:
TBA - Inquire below to let us know where we should run our next course!
