The Understanding Extraction course provides both theoretical and hands-on approaches to comprehending the process of making a beverage from a solid, roasted seed.

The course bounces back and forth among lecture-style teaching, tasting exercises, and hands-on brewing and testing of coffees. First, the fundamentals of coffee brewing are established. Then, the course dives into the meaning of strength: both scientifically and experientially. Next, extraction is explored in a similar way. Then, the course highlights how strength and extraction can be determined using scales and a refractometer. Last, extraction and strength are manipulated in actual brews of coffee to achieve improved sensorial quality.

Understanding Extraction will provide Baristas with a multitude of skills such as:

• the ability to explain brew control chart
• describe common characteristics of over-extracted and under-extracted brews
• discern the difference between strong and weak brews
• knowing the difference between strength and extraction  
• understanding common levels for both extraction and strength in brewed coffee and espresso
• basic use of VST CoffeeTools app and how to change dose, water weight, beverage weight, liquid retained ratio, and TDS
• understanding how manipulating coffee dose or water weight will affect extraction
• grasp the fundamental differences in measuring extraction in percolation brews and immersion brews
• proper use and calibration of a refractometer

TO REGISTER, EMAIL TRAINING AT BLUEPRINTCOFFEE DOT COM

Required prerequisite courses:

• Seed to Cupping
• Brew Basics
• Calibration Cupping

Recommended prerequisite experience:

• brewing pour-over coffee with a scale
• engaging in discussion in a lecture-style classroom environment
• very light science lab experience (use of transfer pipettes, calibrating and cleaning lab equipment… high school chemistry or equivalent should be more than adequate)
• comfort using a calculator and/or digital tablet
• decent grasp of algebra (specifically, solving equations with one unknown variable)