Get Ready With Me! Q Arabica Grader Course – by Trish Rothgeb
Intro
As of this writing – July 22, 2024 – we are less than one week away from kicking off our next Q Arabica Grader Course! Theis course begins this Saturday at The Crown: Royal Coffee Lab & Teaching Room in Oakland, California. And while we’d like to all believe we’re ready for the occasion, I have some ideas that could make you more confidentlet me help you bring your best.
If you’re enrolled in this course, or one across the world from us, or just thinking about taking the Q, (let’s say Q-Curious) here are some prepping tips from someone who knows a thing or two about Q Grader courses!
Cupping:
Day one! The very day you decide to enroll in a Q course, start cupping coffee!
The Q Grader Course, whether it’s for Arabica or Robusta, is well known as the most challenging coffee education and certification for tasters in the business. You might hear that from folks who don’t cup coffee every day. Others who do taste multiple coffee samples in their daily work, seldom have trouble getting through the Q. This course demands a lot of tasting. There are cuppings right out of the gate on the first day and they increase each day to as many as 2 tables (6 samples on a table at 5 cups each) in addition to other coffee tasting and sensory exams.
To best prepare, get used to cupping a lot of coffee every day. Don’t worry too much about how you cup, just build up your tolerance for many coffee samples in one day.
Find my video guide on the cupping form
Aroma, taste, flavor:
Aroma, taste, and flavor are three units we delve into during the week of Q. How do you prepare for those?
Try these fun exercises to get ready:
- Aroma: Whenever you walk into a new room or place, stop and name three new smells you’re encountering. Let’s say it’s a bakery for this example. You must name the aromas specifically. If you detect a spice, ask yourself is that cinnamon, or is it more like fruit? (Shout out Lucy Ward of St. Ali Coffee in Melbourne for teaching me this fun exercise!) Practicing with the Le Nez du Café set is good too, although not everyone has access to that before the course.
- Taste: Sit down to eat breakfast but hold your nose before your first bite of whatever it is. Toast with jam? Fruit and granola on yogurt? Without the use of your olfactory sense, can your tongue and mouth detect sweetness, saltiness, umami, bitter, sour? Fruit can be sweet and sour. Yogurt is more sour than sweet. Are the eggs umami enough or did you add some cheese? How much salt did you use?
All this makes more sense when we get into these units. Until then, take time to really taste food with intention and so you can identify the sensory input quickly.er
Green Grading:
If you don’t have the SCA Green Grading handbook, get online and find some resources related to that. You can also look at a video I made on green grading.
Altered states- don’t change!
DO NOT change too much about yourself at this stage. If you want to quit smoking before taking a Q Course, it’s best to have done that a year ahead of time. Did you want to change your eating habits and reduce your intake of sugar or salt to be more sensitive in the course? That should have happened months ago as well. You are currently calibrated to your eating habits and otherwise. Don’t change major habits right before a Q course. It won’t do you any real favors. The disruption in your usual way of life deserves all your attention when you decide to do that. Adding a demanding Q course on top of that is just too much to ask of your senses. Please don’t overindulge in your favorite things during the course. Adjust a little bit on alcohol or tobacco intake, if you do that kind of thing. Sleep well and drink water. Go ahead and eat spicy foods if you’re used to that, but don’t overdo anything.
When you get to the lab, take your time and listen to the presentations, Pace yourself and ask questions! Two things happen at Q Grader courses. 1) you WILL learn new things about coffee, sensory, and about yourself as a taster. 2) Students pass the exams and become Q Graders. Only one of those two things is guaranteed to happen. Take advantage of it!