Coffee Consulting Services & Coffee Education

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Coffee Consulting Services

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Looking to take your coffee expertise to the next level? Unlock your full potential in the coffee industry with our expert coffee consulting services. Whether you’re an aspiring barista, coffee shop owner, or roaster, our specialized one-on-one instruction is designed to elevate your skills and set you up for success. Our team of coffee professionals are ready to take your skills to the next level in the topic of your choosing.

The Crown: Royal Coffee Lab & Tasting Room offers expert-led courses including hands-on lessons in production and sample roasting, coffee bar techniques, and sensory training for tasting and quality control. We also provide consulting services such as coffee quality evaluations and green coffee analysis as well as coffee shop consulting services to help you start or improve your business.

Designed for individuals, groups, and businesses, these courses cater to all skill levels, from home enthusiasts to aspiring café and roastery owners. Our on-site private trainings at The Crown make use of state-of-the-art coffee equipment in a setting designed specifically for learning. Off-site consultations are evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Ready to take the first step? Check out the course descriptions below for more information and set up a call with your instructor. A 30-minute introductory conversation is included in the cost of the course to make sure your needs are heard and understood.

We kindly request two weeks’ notice for most private trainings and tastings
Pricing below is intended for individual attendees. Group Pricing is available upon request.

With The Crown’s coffee roasting consultants by your side, you’ll gain the knowledge and confidence to thrive in the competitive coffee world. Learn more about our training offerings below.

Roasting Lessons
Bar Skills Lessons
Start Your Own Business
Private Coffee Tasting
Other Services
Meet the Trainers

Scrollable Testimonials

Testimonials

"Tim's class was fruitful and a shared experience of making delectable pour overs. I thoroughly enjoyed both the breadth and depth of his knowledge about extraction, taste and flavor profiles, and the creative process. The interactive element to the course made a lecture-style exposition very relevant to our own creations, and I came away knowing how to make a drink I was proud of."

- Danielle, Shi

"Evan was patient and made time to ensure we were all understanding of what was asked of us. Treated us equally despite of being experienced or not. The snacks to cleanse our palettes were a plus!! Much appreciate it!! Thank you!!"

- Alma, Andrade

"This was an excellent class, in a beautiful and comfortable environment, with a fine mixture of hands on experience and knowledgeable lecture and discussion."

- Ron, McDowell

"Excellent course and instructor, informative, well organized, fun."

- Barbara, Banchero

"The class was beyond my expectations. The main instructor and her junior colleague were both outstanding. The structure of the class was well designed, and the objectives were realized."

- Malik, Robinson

"Class and instructor were great! Excited to come back for more."

- Anonymous

"I really enjoyed the content, co-fermented coffees are so unusual and exciting, it was great to have the opportunity to learn more about this process in an open, public setting hearing questions and learning with other people. Ahead of the course I reached out because I can't really drink from cups right now, and I was given samples home to try at home. Excellent hospitality and coffee to boot."

- Jeremy, Stone

"My first class at The Crown, and it won't be my last! I appreciate you offering some free classes for enthusiasts on a budget."

-Matthew, Scimeca

"My journey as a commercial roaster has taken a wonderfully successful path because of the team at Royal Coffee."

-Tim S / Bridge

"We greatly appreciate our time spent training at The Crown. Chris is extremely well-versed in and passionate about everything surrounding the transformation of the coffee bean and the coffee industry as a whole. Aside from his vast knowledge of coffee, he is friendly, interesting, and seems to have outstanding character."

-Viviana & Aaron

"We enjoyed getting a comprehensive overview of roasting theory before practicing on the roaster. Having a private lesson made it easier for us to ensure that we grasped the subject matter before moving forward in the lesson. Chris and Doris were super positive, patient and kind to answer our endless curiosities."

-Minju & Luchi

"Thanks for the generosity of your knowledge. The course surpassed my expectations."

-Kjeld Clark

"Wonderful instructor with a wealth of information and knowledge!"

-Terry Dean

"I learned a lot, and you did a great job presenting and preparing the training modules."

-Irwin R. Donis-Gonzále, PhD

"Chris is kind and organized and groomed and professional and creative and passionate and likely a wonderful human in total. His understated yet vast pedigree of experience has an exciting vibration that matches well with his amazingly patient and stunning communication skills. All of his syllabus, lesson plans, presentations and activities were professionally organized perfectly presented, elegantly curated and visually stunning. I would describe him as a master of this trade. "

-Shane M

"Doris was kind and welcoming and warm and perfectly professional. I felt completely relaxed open to receive everything she was ready to share. She made me feel like I will grow and become a great roaster."

-Shane M

"SUPER knowledgeable. It was great to see the various co-instructors really shine with their own knowledge bases. Chris went above & beyond to make sure we knew what was going on took extra care to make this process worth it for everyone involved."

-AshleyArden Poole

Personal Coffee Roasting Lessons

Production Roasting

Learn to operate professional roasting equipment in a safe and accessible environment, using top-tier equipment like the 5kg Deidrich or 15kg Loring. Learn how the various functions of the machine affect how coffee roasts, learn how to profile roast a coffee, and operate the machine under the guidance of one of our professional instructors.

There is plenty of time for questions, and you’ll take home the coffee you roast to taste on your own. Your instructor will also sample your roasts and provide sensory feedback and guidance in a follow up.

Hours: 4 hrs

Price: $1000

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Sample Roasting

Learn how to sample roast various coffees in a professional setting on multiple machines. We’ll look at the process of logging data and taking sample-roast-specific measurements to aid your success, and practice roasting on several machines, including Ikawa Pro V2 and V3 — Bluetooth-enabled electric roasters. You’ll take home the coffee you roast, and your instructor will take a sample to evaluate and provide sensory feedback and guidance in follow-up to help you communicate with vendors on sample quality.

Hours: 3 hrs

Price: $525

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Home Roasting

Practice roasting on one of our home roasters with our professional instructor. You’ll get access to an Aillio Bullet R1 V2, Behmor 1600 Plus, and/or a Quest M3S, and learn a little about the idiosyncrasies of these roasting machines, including operation, data logging, and maintenance. You’ll take home the coffee you roast,and your instructor will take a sample to evaluate and provide sensory feedback and guidance during a follow-up.

Hours: 3 hrs

Price: $525

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Personal Coffee Bar Skills Lessons

Coffee Bar Skills

Drip Coffee, Espresso, and Milk technique are the three pillars upon which excellent coffee service is built. In this course, you’ll get a primer on extraction theory and lots of practical experience learning to “dial in” your drip offerings, espresso machines, and learning to steam and pour milk for lattes, cappuccinos, and other classic bar drinks. Take the course with our coffee shop consultants and experienced baristas at The Crown or at your own location.

Hours: 4 hrs

Price: $600 per student. Small group pricing available upon request

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Start Your Own Business

Starting Your Coffee Business: Your Guide to Critical Skill Building and Success

Business owners and managers who invest in learning the skills of the coffee trade are better equipped to hire the right employees and make the kinds of critical decisions necessary to create a thriving specialty coffee workplace. To this end, our team of coffee business consultants and educators at The Crown have put together a list of must-have trade skills intended to get your core team onboarded, regardless of initial knowledge level.

Our curriculum includes on-site training at The Crown in key coffee business and craft techniques.

Coffee Bar & Café Startup

Day 1 – Specialty Coffee Overview – covering the bases, you’ll walk away with your head full of practical and theoretical knowledge on coffee’s origin, quality evaluation, roasting, and cafe menu basics

- Intro to Coffee – our “seed to cup” lecture and tasting, covering an overview of history, geography, coffee production, supply chains, defining specialty coffee, roasting, QC and brewing.
- Intro to Coffee Quality and Flavor – Introduction to the Coffee Flavor Wheel, including a guided tasting of reference standards. Introduction to coffee cupping – a standardized quality control protocol including setup protocols, technique, and scoring/grading overview
- Menu Design – an overview of efficiencies and preferences on typical cafe menus, including specialized drink types, menu standards, and how to communicate drinks and branding on printed/display menus.
- Mini Roasting Session – a shortened version of our Intro To Roasting, designed to give hands-on experience roasting coffee with no frills, for busy cafe managers who need to know enough to be dangerous without getting sucked into the wide world of roasting.

Day 2 – Bar Skills – a full day of brewing technique training; you’ll feel confident making decisions about grind, dose, and technique

- Pour-over – theory and technique for perfecting hand-made drip coffee on various brew devices
- Batch Brew – pragmatic overview of preparing and programming common batch brewers
- Espresso – hands on dialing, profiling, and tasting
- Milk Steaming – technique focused training to refine microfoaming, prepare various drink types, and an introduction to latte art

Day 3 – The Cafe Practicum – a detailed look at the innerworkings of good cafe design, equipment, and staffing

- Cafe Design, Ergonomics, and Workflow – the ins and outs of making a physical space a workplace for coffee with efficiency and grace
- Equipment Schedules – a broad overview of everything from steam pitchers to espresso machines, grinders, pour-over kits, and the other often-overlooked minutia of stocking the shelves, counters, and bars at a busy cafe
- Staff Hiring/Management – an overview with practical suggestions for investing in personnel as an integral component of a smart business model

Roastery Startup

Day 1 – Specialty Coffee Overview – covering the bases, you’ll walk away with your head full of practical and theoretical knowledge on coffee’s origin, quality evaluation, roasting, and cafe menu basics

- Intro to Coffee – our “seed to cup” lecture and tasting, covering an overview of history, geography, coffee production, supply chains, defining specialty coffee, roasting, QC and brewing.
- Intro to Coffee Quality and Flavor – Introduction to the Coffee Flavor Wheel, including a guided tasting of reference standards. Introduction to coffee cupping – a standardized quality control protocol including setup protocols, technique, and scoring/grading overview
- Intro to Coffee Sourcing – a focused lecture including a basic understanding of market dynamics, supply chain management, sampling etiquette, trade terms, and communication suggestions.
- Roasting Session – a hint of theory and a bit of practice, enough to get you familiar with the basics so the next two days can focus on refining technique and building skills.

Day 2 – You’ll have a solid understanding of baseline roaster ops and feel confident roasting coffees on some basic profiles.

- QC on prior day’s roasting
- Overview of roaster Operations, safety and maintenance, and practical equipment requisites and recommendations
- Profiling roasts based on green coffee characteristics like origin, process, and physical specs (moisture, density, etc.), usually on our Diedrich IR-5. Cropster (datalogging) training.

Day 3 – you’ll have a solid sense of how roasting technique shapes flavor and explore blending and alternative roasting styles with confidence

- QC and analysis on prior day’s roasting
- Blending theory and practice – tasting and technique driven understanding of why and when to blend
- Intermediate Roasting – usually includes a few large batches on our Loring S15, revisiting and refining prior techniques

3-day minimum with optional additional curriculum upon request

$1250 per day, additional attendees may be added upon request

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Private Coffee Tasting

Private group coffee experiences

Bring a group of friends or coworkers to learn about coffee with our professional staff in an incredible one-of-a-kind environment. We’ll provide a basic introduction to our facility, coffee as an agricultural and specialty product, and engage together in a fun and enlightening tasting experience. Be sure to reach out and communicate any specific needs your group might have in advance.

Base: 1 hour. $50 per person

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Other Coffee Consulting Services

Professional Cup Quality Evaluation Services

If you’re in need of a roast evaluation or have quality questions about your roasted or green coffee, we have an experienced team of Q-graders and QC Specialists ready to assist. You can send us roasted or green coffee for quality evaluation or bring your coffee(s) in hand to taste alongside us.

Price varies depending on the exact service you need, so be sure to provide details like how many coffees you need evaluated, whether they are roasted or need to be roasted, and if you want a physical evaluation as well as a sensory one.

You will receive specific, written feedback on the coffees’ quality and can respond with any follow-up questions that might arise.

Base Rate = $200

+$20 for each sample over 5

+$20 per sample if submitted unroasted

+$150 to attend and cup & discuss with instructor (2 hrs max)

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One-on-one Sensory Training Workshop

The Crown’s one-on-one sensory training workshop includes several important sensory-skill-building exercises to improve your ability to taste and evaluate coffee, under the guidance of one of our veteran cup quality specialists and Q-graders.

Includes the following skill-building exercises under the guidance of veteran coffee sensory professional:

Triangulation (6 sets, batch brewed)
Defect identification (phenol, mold, ferment)
Standards & Calibration (SCA form, cup taster alignment, 3 coffees)
Sweet / Salty / Sour intensity training

The 4-hour session includes opportunities for questions and feedback with your instructor.

Hours: 4

Price: $750

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Green Coffee Analysis

A holistic approach to green coffee grading includes understanding and evaluating Density, Screen Size, Moisture, and Visual/Physical defects. Our industry-leading team of professional Q-Graders and green coffee specialists have customized a curriculum that dives beyond the basics of grading and equips roasters and buyers with critical skill sets to work with and appreciate the complexity of unroasted coffee.

This private training module blends theory, with hands-on practice and cupping in each section. Each module takes 1.5 hours, students may choose to select a single specialization or bundle modules together.