I've been told the Coffee Master's program in the US has been discontinued. Instead, there's a "Coffee Academy" program through ASU, though I have not done it. It doesn't come with an apron, though :(

I'm in the northeast US, was a partner for close to 2 years when I became coffee master in 2016. But I was told they discontinued the program sometime back in 2018 in passing conversation and then they started sending some books for "Coffee Leadership" which covered the same topics but became a program you could pursue on your own time, not on the company's time...

However the program itself that I completed wasn't too difficult nor was it a cake walk. I had been lucky to be chosen to do it bc it was coveted in my store to attain the black apron and to do regular coffee seminars.

But it required you to work on activities one on one with the store manager and pulled you off the floor for part of your shifts to complete them.

By the end of my textbook I had to work alone to get to the very end so I had to skip on certain taste comparisons but it didn't stop me from scheduling my first coffee tasting/seminar. It took me about a couple months but only bc it was so inconsistent and I had to figure out how to demonstrate my knowledge without actually doing the activities hands on without the different coffees at my disposal.

There wasn't any judges but the district manager and my sm watched me conduct a coffee tasting that also required me to recite the major historical timeframe of how importing coffee originated all the way up to starbucks first opening, using a typical school project poster board.

Then I needed to conduct a tasting that informed the tasters of the agricultural side coffee farms, their processes that take place before starbucks receives them and then the roasting profiles.

It was so much information and I was mildly panicking despite being surrounded by friends and regulars who were all happy to be there. I know I missed some big points too but I was given a pass, and I got my aprons a week later 😊

It was like a rite of passage to be able to work your way to that status, (like black aprons made you more competent or something) that to this day ringing partners sometimes point at me while I'm on bar and say, "she's a coffee master, she will finesse your caramel ribbon crunch." 🙃

Are you sure it’s not coffee academy? Coffee masters was discontinued in the US about 2 or 3 years ago. However I’ve heard the coffee academy is fairly easy though, you’ll be fine with only 6 months of coffee experience. I’ve never done the program so I’m not sure how long it takes but I dont think you have to present anything. If anything you’ll just have to do a tasting with your SM but I’m not sure if you even have to do that

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