Roaster's Winter Workshop: Education for Experienced Roasters

Roaster training and education have always been at the core of what we do at Mill City Roasters. We want to see our customers operating successful roasteries all across the country. That starts with the right equipment, but it’s a goal that can only be fully realized with high-quality instruction.

Since we began teaching classes, we’ve helped thousands of new roasters gain confidence on their machines by learning with us. In our Roasting 101 class, we cover all the basics: green coffee information, cupping skills, machine control, inventory management, and profile design. Students who have never roasted before are able to leave the class with the skills to get saleable coffee out of their cooling trays. Class attendees are consistently impressed with the level of knowledge they gain and how much fun they have in class. Don’t take our word for it, read some of the reviews on the class page.

Many graduates from our Roasting 101 class have the same question: what’s next? We’ve had requests for a higher-level class, one with more challenging exercises and a chance to offer continuing education to professional roasters.

The next level in training

New in 2023, we’re thrilled to introduce our Roasters’ Winter Workshop. This intensive two-day course is built for returning students and experienced roasters who want to continue to hone their skills. With a focus on small class sizes and customized roasting exercises, this class is designed to help take your roasting techniques to the next level.

Our Roasting 101 or Specialty Roasting for Entrepreneurs classes serve as the pre-requisite for the Winter Workshop. Before the class begins, we’ll learn more about your machine, your coffees, and your roasting goals by sending a simple form for you to complete. With that information, we’ll build customized roasting exercises to help target key skills. We’re sourcing new coffees for this course, and incorporating unique processing methods and varietals for the chance to work with something different.

Core competencies

Our focus remains centered on three key strengths: machine control, sensory skills, and greens selection. The class will feature regular cuppings of all students’ coffee with time for discussion and group calibration. We’ll also help you improve your buying strategy by sharing our approach to greens selection, sourcing, and sample evaluation. Learn how we narrow down the thousands of offerings to find out what will be most interesting, most delicious, or most well-suited to the needs of our customers.

Continuing education is an investment in your roasting company. Join us this winter to break out of your roasting rut, learn new techniques, and start the year off with the enthusiasm of a student!

Space in the Winter Workshop is limited. Call our office with any questions.