The Craft of Specialty Coffee
Like Duolingo, but for The Craft of Specialty Coffee. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
For the part of you with thirty open tabs that never became anything.
75 levels across 8 sections, about 150 minutes end to end, roughly 30 days at five minutes a day. It moves through The First Sip, Decoding the Industry, The Science of the Roast, The Professional Barista, The Business of Beans, Managing the Team, Advanced Operations, and The Future of the Shop. It starts from scratch.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in The Craft of Specialty Coffee
- Brightness (acidity) is felt as a sharp or mouth-watering sensation on the tongue
- The flavor wheel organizes specific tastes into broad categories
- Bitterness is a drying or harsh sensation often felt at the back of the throat
- Coffee can contain complex flavors that mimic other foods
- Fruity notes are associated with brightness, not bitterness
- Identifying a broad category (like 'Nutty') helps narrow down the specific note (like 'Hazelnut')
- Distinguishing between acidity and bitterness in a tasting experience
- Using the flavor wheel to categorize specific coffee notes
- Extreme heat masks the delicate sugars in coffee
- The tongue only detects basic tastes like sweet, sour, and bitter
- Coffee flavor profiles evolve and often become more balanced as the liquid cools
- Complex flavors like 'caramel' or 'strawberry' are actually perceived through the nose
- Professional cuppers wait for coffee to cool to judge its true quality
- A 'clean' finish means the flavor disappears pleasantly without leaving a chalky or harsh film
- Understanding how cooling affects the perception of coffee sweetness
- Lower-grade coffee often leaves a lingering, unpleasant 'dirty' or 'ashy' aftertaste
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives The Craft of Specialty Coffee the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
What is the main job of the coffee flavor wheel?
Get it right to open this lesson and 74 more in the app.
Where The Craft of Specialty Coffee takes you
Master the art of specialty coffee from the science of roasting to the logistics of running a high-end cafe. Learn to identify flavor profiles, manage a professional team, and build a sustainable coffee business.
- 1
The First Sip
- Tasting Like a Professional
- The Specialty Coffee Identity
- 2
Decoding the Industry
- Specialty Slang and Industry Dunks
- Reading the Coffee Bag
- 3
The Science of the Roast
- The Roasting Cycle
- Roast Profiles and Flavor Design
- Identifying Roast Defects
- 4
The Professional Barista
- Espresso Theory and Extraction
- Milk Chemistry and Texturing
- 5
The Business of Beans
- Cafe Workflow and Layout
- Menu Engineering and Pricing
- Inventory and Waste Management
- 6
Managing the Team
- Hiring and Training for Hospitality
- The Barista's Health and Longevity
- 7
Advanced Operations
- Water Chemistry for Coffee
- Professional Cupping Protocols
- Preventive Equipment Maintenance
- 8
The Future of the Shop
- Building a Regulars Culture
- Scaling and Sustainability
8 sections · 19 units · 75 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
You pick the voice
The Craft of Specialty Coffee is taught in the Explain Like I'm 5 style: no big words. promise.. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
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Start The Craft of Specialty Coffee today.
Download Tomo, search The Craft of Specialty Coffee, and play your first lesson in under a minute.