Specialty Coffee Association

Cottle Coffee (Australia, circa 1970) and our Academy Director (TRISTAN CRESWICK, who started in 1999), who also happens to be the founder of the World Espresso Championship, have been designing courses and training and assessing coffee skills long before the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) was even operating. SCA has helped make international recognition (especially barista certification) more standardised, but their syllabus has many holes in it and is not a complete educational system.

Unfortunately, if you don’t get a well experienced Authorised SCA Trainer (called an AST, a license you can basically pay for), if you don’t get an AST that has been teaching outside of SCA’s narrow content (a trainer that has learned beyond SCA’s limited syllabus), there is no guarantee you will learn or actually develop skills by joining an SCA class (be careful choosing any academy that is selling SCA classes, instead of their own classes they created which are equivalent to SCA, as not all SCA classes are created equal!).

In fact, instead of teaching you how to make everyone a great coffee, most AST’s try to tell you how to drink coffee (with a “I know what’s good, you should drink coffee like me” kind of attitude). This is sadly the worst representation and is the complete opposite of how the industry operates, quality is subjective (a personal preference) and as an industry professional we need to embrace and teach that (even though it is very difficult to teach).

At the Coffee Coffee Academy, we have courses that are more complete (courses that we guarantee you will build skills in), and more advanced than the SCA courses listed below, we encourage you to consider starting at these BARISTA or ROASTER courses instead (especially since you can opt in an receive the SCA certificate in these courses as well!).

We’re here to help you develop your passion and sharpen your skills!

See more at the Specialty Coffee Association website HERE

FOUNDATION

sca barista

Beginner Level

Introduces essential practical skills needed behind the espresso bar with focus on core techniques.

- Make basic espresso drinks correctly
- Learn proper cleaning methods
- Practice basic service skills

Cost: MYR 1290 (including SCA fee’s, no hidden charges)

Course Time: 7 hours

Pre-requisites: None / Perfect for beginners

INTERMEDIATE

sca barista

Middle Level

Advances barista knowledge with deeper focus on coffee science and quality.

- Analyze espresso extraction variables
- Create consistent milk texture
- Master efficient workflow management

Cost: MYR 3190 (including SCA fee’s, no hidden charges)

Course time: 14 hours

Pre-requisites: you must be able to freepour 2 latte art patterns before you can join this course (Learn how to do that here: LATTE ART COURSES)

PROFESSIONAL

sca barista

Top Level

Masters advanced barista skills and management techniques for leading coffee operations.

- Lead bar quality programs
- Design custom drink recipes
- Perfect advanced latte art

Cost: MYR 4490 (including SCA fee’s, no hidden charges)

Course time: 21 hours

Pre-requisites: you must hold the SCA Barista Intermediate Certificate before you can join this course.

EXPERT / TRAINER

COTTLE ACADEMY

Above & Beyond SCA

Learn how to trainer the trainer, master the art of teaching barista skills to others. This level includes all the SCA Barista courses listed above, as well as;

- Creating courses (session plans, costing & profit, activities etc)
- Training & assessment (different ways of learning & assessing what’s learned)
- Advanced coffee knowledge (beyond SCA’s basic content)

Cost: MYR 12,990 (including SCA fee’s, no hidden charges)

Course time: 50 hours

Pre-requisites: you must have at least 2 years experience working as a Barista.