Exploring
Testing whether a roasting model is worth developing further
Clarify the idea, the customer and the operating assumptions before committing to equipment or premises.
Cottle Coffee Academy · Roasting Business Consultancy
Build the roasting business before expensive decisions build it for you.
A six-week weekday consultancy for owners preparing to launch a coffee-roasting business—connecting the business model, equipment, premises, workflow, costing, quality systems and launch plan before major commitments are made.
MYR11,990 per business
Six-week weekday consultancy · Starts arranged with the business · Petaling Jaya
Includes Two-Day Coffee Roasting Fundamentals and two selected Sunday roasting labs.
Led directly by Tristan Creswick27 years of Australian coffee-industry experience.
6
6 weeks
Structured weekday consultancy.
1
1 business
Guidance shaped around its decisions.
Included
Practical foundation included
Fundamentals plus two selected Sunday labs.
Direct
Directly with Tristan
One accountable lead adviser.
The decisions are connected
A roaster is not a business model. A premises is not a workflow. A good coffee is not yet a quality system.
Launch choices influence each other. The intended customer affects product and service format. Product and volume assumptions affect equipment. Equipment affects premises, utilities and workflow. Workflow affects labour and consistency. Costs affect price and commercial viability. Quality systems affect whether the intended product can be repeated. All of these affect the launch plan.
The consultancy helps the owner examine those connections before they become expensive constraints. It does not eliminate all risk or prevent every mistake.
Who this is for
For the owner who needs to make the whole operation make sense.
Café owner
Considering adding roasting to an existing café
Examine how roasting would sit inside the current business rather than treating it as a separate hobby project.
New founder
Comparing equipment or premises options
Connect those choices to product, workflow and cost before a catalogue or a lease starts making the decisions.
Owner-roaster
Planning to roast personally
Build the business decisions while understanding that deeper Four-Week or Ten-Week development may also be appropriate.
Hiring a roaster
Expecting to employ a roaster
Understand the system around that role—equipment, workflow, quality and cost—without pretending to become the principal roaster.
Near launch
Moving toward launch with connected decisions still open
Prioritise what must be decided now and what can wait, so the remaining work is ordered rather than scattered.
If the primary goal is personal roast skill, use the practical roasting pathway.
If the goal is only an official credential, use the standalone SCA pathway.
If the business is already operating and needs a narrowly defined specialist service, request a consultation so fit can be assessed rather than assuming this launch program applies.
Owner/operator diagnostic
Who will be responsible for roasting?
This is a decision aid, not a forecast. It does not produce a financial recommendation or a guaranteed operating model.
Choose an option to see how the consultancy relates to that roasting responsibility.
The consultancy includes Fundamentals and two selected Sunday labs, but deeper Four-Week or Ten-Week development may also be appropriate depending on the role and required capability.
The consultancy focuses on the owner’s business, equipment, workflow, costing, quality and launch decisions; the owner does not need to pretend to become the principal roaster.
The operating model, product, quality responsibility and transition plan still need deliberate decisions.
This is an appropriate issue to explore in the initial consultation because it affects many later choices.
The business decision system
Seven connected areas. One launch plan shaped around your business.
Clarify what the business intends to sell, to whom and through which operating model.
Connect the intended coffee offer and service channels to operational decisions.
Frame equipment against product, workflow, scale and premises—not brand prestige alone.
Any specific recommendation follows consultation. The consultancy does not procure equipment.
Examine how the intended operation interacts with space, workflow and equipment.
This is not legal, lease, planning, environmental or regulatory approval.
Map how coffee, people, information and quality decisions move through the operation.
Build a clearer basis for cost awareness and repeatable quality decisions.
No promised margin or profitability result.
Turn open decisions into an ordered set of next actions and dependencies.
The consultancy does not promise a launch date.
The arrows are illustrative. Real businesses loop between these areas; they do not follow a fake linear recipe for success.
A consultancy, not a generic cohort
The sequence follows the decisions your business actually needs to make.
This is an indicative decision process, not a promise that every business completes an identical module each week.
1. Understand
Current idea and open decisions
Establish the current idea, stage, assumptions and unresolved decisions.
2. Define
Model, customer and offer
Clarify the operating model, customer and intended offer.
3. Connect
Equipment, premises and workflow
Examine how equipment, premises and workflow affect one another.
4. Test
Costing and quality assumptions
Challenge costing, quality and operating assumptions.
5. Prioritise
Now versus later
Distinguish immediate decisions from later decisions.
6. Plan
Ordered next actions
Organise the next actions required for launch preparation.
The owner should understand the product
Business decisions improve when they are connected to real roasting practice.
Included
Two-Day Coffee Roasting Fundamentals
Establishes practical roasting understanding. Two days do not create a professional roaster.
Included
Two selected Sunday roasting labs
Continued exposure to the repeatable lab method. Exact Sundays are arranged as part of the engagement and confirmed availability.
These practical components help the owner connect business decisions with the product and process. They do not replace deeper Four-Week or Ten-Week development when the owner intends to become the principal professional roaster.
Place in the roasting architecture
A separate business branch—not a higher technical rung.
Practical roasting skill
Fundamentals → Four-Week Development → Ten-Week Mentorship → Trainer Program
For the person who will roast and wants technical development.
Business-owner branch
Launch Your Coffee Roasting Business
Includes Fundamentals + two selected Sunday labs. Deeper roasting development may also be appropriate if the owner will roast personally.
Business Consultancy
MYR11,990 per business
- Primary outcome
- Build and organise the business decisions
- Best for
- Owner/operator launching a roasting company
- Main method
- Six-week weekday consultancy
- Practical inclusion
- Fundamentals + two selected Sunday labs
- Relationship
- Separate branch
Practical Roasting Pathway
Program-specific
- Primary outcome
- Develop the person’s roasting judgement
- Best for
- Person who will roast and wants technical development
- Main method
- Repeated practical roasting and evaluation
- Practical inclusion
- Fundamentals, Four-Week or Ten-Week according to goal
- Relationship
- Skills progression ladder
An owner who will personally roast may need both forms of development. The consultation determines the appropriate route; this page does not automatically place every owner into every program.
Practical context
The Academy lab is where included practice can meet the decisions.
The included Fundamentals and Sunday labs take place in a real multi-platform roasting laboratory. These machines are the Academy’s teaching platforms. They are not necessarily the correct machines for the applicant’s future business, and use of every platform is not guaranteed.
Academy platform
Skywalker Cubean Plus
Academy platform
Kaleido M2
Academy platform
Aillio Bullet R1 V2
Consultancy investment
MYR11,990 per business.
- Six-week weekday consultancy.
- Business model and offer decisions.
- Equipment and premises decision support.
- Workflow development.
- Costing and quality-system planning.
- Launch planning.
- Two-Day Coffee Roasting Fundamentals.
- Two selected Sunday roasting labs.
- Direct work with Tristan.
Investment
MYR11,990
per business
Starts are arranged with the business after an initial fit consultation.
Consultation process
A conversation about fit, then a start arranged with the business.
1
Tell us where the business stands
Complete the short WhatsApp-first consultation request.
2
Speak with Tristan
Clarify the intended model, current commitments and most important decisions.
3
Confirm fit and starting plan
If the consultancy is appropriate, agree the start and next requirements directly with the business.
Questions
Before you request a consultation
Is this a course or a consultancy?
It is a six-week weekday owner/operator consultancy. It is not a generic cohort course and not a classroom syllabus with a numbered weekly module for every business.
Who is it designed for?
Owners and operators preparing to launch a coffee-roasting business, including someone who may not personally become the principal roaster.
What does “MYR11,990 per business” include?
The six-week weekday consultancy covering business model, equipment selection, premises/location, workflow, costing, quality systems, launch planning and owner decision-making, plus Two-Day Coffee Roasting Fundamentals and two selected Sunday roasting labs. Direct work with Tristan.
How many people from our business can participate?
The investment is quoted per business. The appropriate people to involve depend on the ownership and operating model; confirm participant arrangements with Tristan during the consultation.
Does the consultancy include practical roasting?
Yes. Two-Day Coffee Roasting Fundamentals and two selected Sunday roasting labs are included.
Will this make me a professional roaster?
The included Fundamentals and Sunday labs provide practical grounding. If the owner will become the principal roaster, deeper Four-Week or Ten-Week development may also be appropriate. The consultancy itself does not guarantee professional-roaster competence.
What if I plan to hire a roaster rather than roast personally?
The consultancy still focuses on the owner’s business, equipment, workflow, costing, quality and launch decisions. You do not need to complete the Ten-Week Mentorship merely to receive business consultancy.
What if I intend to roast personally?
The included practical foundation still applies. Deeper Four-Week or Ten-Week development may also be appropriate depending on the role and required capability. The consultation determines the route.
How is this different from the Ten-Week Mentorship?
Ten-Week develops a person’s roasting judgement across ten coached Sundays. This consultancy organises the owner’s business decisions across six weekday weeks. It is a separate branch, not a higher technical qualification than the mentorship.
Does the consultancy recommend equipment?
Equipment selection is part of the decision process. Any specific recommendation must follow an understanding of the intended product, workflow, premises and operating assumptions.
Do you sell or procure the equipment?
No. The consultancy does not sell, procure, install or commission equipment.
Does it include premises, legal, licensing, tax or financial advice?
No. Appropriate licensed or specialist advisers may be required for legal, tax, licensing, finance or property matters. The consultancy examines how the intended operation interacts with space, workflow and equipment; it does not replace those specialists.
Can you guarantee profitability or a successful launch?
No. The work is to help the owner make better-informed connected decisions. It does not guarantee profit, funding, permits, supplier access, a launch date or business success.
Is SCA certification included?
No. Official SCA credentials are separate and not automatically included.
When can the consultancy begin?
Applications and consultations are open. Starts are arranged with the business after a fit conversation. No fixed cohort date is published here.
Is there one-click checkout?
No. The next step is a consultation request. There is no one-click checkout for this consultancy.
Consultation request
Tell Tristan what you are planning before you commit to the next major decision.
Review the WhatsApp message below, then send it to Tristan. Sending does not accept the business into the consultancy.
Make the important decisions before they become expensive decisions.
Tell Tristan what stage your roasting-business idea has reached, who is expected to roast and which decision is currently holding the project back.