Virtual Sensory Performance for Coffee Roasters with IKAWA
Gain Confidence in Your Sensory Skills—No Travel Required
If you already own (or can borrow) an IKAWA coffee roaster and want deep sensory confidence without leaving home, this one-day virtual live course is for you.
Using your IKAWA roaster—and a friend or colleague as your on-site assistant—you’ll receive personalized feedback on your sensory skills, similar to a hearing test, enabling you to make data-driven roasting decisions and break free from overcomplicated cupping forms. No shipping required—your own roaster and coffee are all you need!
Why This Matters
Traditional cupping forms (like SCA or Q Grader) often focus on green coffee analysis rather than the day-to-day needs of a roaster developing consumer-oriented products. These overly complicated cupping forms keep you dependent on rigid protocols. In contrast, our approach equips you with scientific sensory methodologies used in leading research universities for over 50 years. By the end of the day, you’ll trust your own palate and know how to run simple yet powerful sensory and roasting experiments—without drowning in paperwork.
How It Works (Virtual + Local Assistant)
- You Attend the Live Online Training
- We connect via an online platform (Zoom) for the full 1-day interactive session.
- Join from anywhere—no travel, no shipping.
- Your Local Assistant
- Choose a friend or colleague to act as your on-site “coffee lab tech.”
- They’ll receive their own e-learning course—guiding them step by step on how to roast and set up cupping samples without letting you see which coffees/roast profiles are which. This keeps your tasting and, therefore, personal cupping skills feedback unbiased.
- Real-Time Data & Feedback
- We use CoffeeMind's own scientific sensory software to analyze your performance and expose your week spots for maximum learning.
- You’ll get instant insight into your detection thresholds, discriminative skills, and descriptive accuracy—just like getting a “hearing test” for your taste buds.
- Interactive, Hands-On Experience
- Ask live questions, share results, and compare with other roasters in the session.
- Receive direct coaching on designing your own sensory experiments so you can optimize roast profiles with confidence.
Bonus for the Assistant
Your assistant doesn’t just prep coffees—they learn a ton about scientific sensory setups and how to orchestrate a professional tasting environment. By working through our Assistant e-learning, they’ll gain practical skills in:
- Roasting protocol management
- Blind sample preparation
- Data logging for sensory tests
It’s a win-win: you get unbiased samples, they get specialized training.
What You Will Gain
- Personalized Sensory Assessment – Understand your strengths/weaknesses so you can refine your palate.
- Freedom from Cupping Form Tyranny – Break free from complicated forms and scoring systems.
- Independent Roast Decision-Making – Use your data-backed senses to understand what to focus on to adjust profiles for your purpose and stop following somebody else's curves.
- Design Your Own Sensory Experiments – Learn simple scientific methods for reliable tasting results.
- Instant Feedback – Our cutting-edge software delivers immediate analysis so you see exactly where you stand with strengths and weaknesses.
Example Schedule (Local Time)
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 10:00 – 10:30 | Introduction & Group Intro |
| 10:30 – 11:00 | Discriminative Threshold Test – Part 1 |
| 11:00 – 11:20 | Break |
| 11:20 – 11:50 | Discriminative Threshold Test – Part 2 |
| 11:50 – 12:00 | Threshold Test Feedback |
| 12:00 – 12:30 | Lunch Break |
| 12:30 – 13:30 | Introduction to Sensory Methodology |
| 13:30 – 14:00 | Basic Taste Tasting & Testing |
| 14:00 – 14:30 | Descriptive Analysis Calibration |
| 14:30 – 15:00 | Descriptive Analysis Data Collection |
| 15:00 – 16:00 | Final Feedback & Wrap-Up Discussion |
Note: Your local assistant will be following their e-learning instructions to prepare samples at the right times, out of your sight, ensuring unbiased tasting.
Who Is This Course For?
- Coffee roasters craving true sensory confidence without traveling.
- Professionals or enthusiasts with an IKAWA roaster.
- Anyone wanting a scientific approach to tasting and roast profile development.
- Teams who need a proven system for unbiased cupping and data-driven experimentation.
Join Us Virtually & Become a Self-Reliant Sensory Expert!
Take control of your sensory skills and profile decisions. Break free from overcomplicated forms, and build lasting confidence with scientific sensory methods—without ever leaving home!
