I attended Boot Coffee for Intro to Coffee, Intro to Sensory, Roasting Foundation and Intermediate course, and follow-on business seminar. I attended Boot Coffee for the Introduction to Coffee, Introduction to Sensory, Roasting Foundation and Intermediate course (including certifications) and the business prep seminar. I truly enjoyed all the courses and found our instructor, Valerian Hrala to be extremely personable and knowledgeable; He made sure we were well prepared to take the SCA certifications and provided significant information based on his wealth of experience in the Specialty Coffee Industry including his time as an instructor. Whether we were working on roast profiles, company branding, brew methods, or discussing technological advances in the Specialty Coffee Industry, Valerian presented current, relevant information. He used fun and creative teaching methods to make the classes interesting, and prepared amazing specialty coffees from all over the world throughout each day, including Finca La Mula Panama Geisha, a delicious and highly rated coffee. Each specialty coffee he prepared included a brief history of the coffee, its farming location, its origins and/or a brief anecdote from his experiences in the Specialty Coffee Industry. The courses opened my eyes to the Specialty Coffee Community and the intricacies involved in evaluation and tasting of what I previously considered a "simple cup of coffee." I look forward to future classes with Valerian and highly recommend his classes to beginner roasters whether they are entrepreneurs or hobbyists. A side note for beginner roasters, take the accompanying sensory course (if offered). The cupping experience is well worth it and can only benefit your journey as a roaster.

Coffee Roasting week at Boot Roasting with Valerian was a fantastic experience. He is incredibly knowledgeable about roasting coffee, and the coffee business. As a seasoned coffee, roaster professional, Valerian taught the course, adding a personal touch coming from his experience as a roast master. He made sure that student always had enough time To practice and experience roasting coffee. Boot Campus It’s also well equipped with enough roaster to have plenty of time of practice for each student. I recommend taking courses and classes at Boot and with Valerian as instructor.

Q - Grader course Going thru Boot Coffee Campus has been an amazing, professional growing experience. I started by taking Coffee Pro, the courses and videos provided a plethora of information for anyone interested on immersing in the vast coffee world. My end goal was to get Q- grader certified, for what I decided to enroll in both Sensory Modules followed by Q-grading classes and examinations. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but after reading most of the blogs I knew becoming a Q-grader wasn't going to be easy. Sensory classes with Valerian were eye opening, I thought I knew some about coffee sensory, but Valerian sure taught me there was a lot more to learn about. He went the xtra mile for us involved in the modules to understand coffee sensory. Once done with these two modules, we moved into our Q- grading course. So much information to process, constant testing and practices make your senses spin like a tornado. Willem Boot taught the vast majority of the course, but it is imperative to mention that both Willem and Valerian choreographed all classes in such a way we had the time to digest and fully understand their lectures. Examinations of course brought the stress factor to a higher level, but at all times both instructors made sure we felt confident. Thank you Willem Boot and Valerian Hrala, it has been quite a ride, one for the books, can't wait to return for more quality Coffee Roasting training. Till next time, Ramon

Boot Coffee’s excellent committment to its students I am a regular attendee of Boot Coffee Campus classes and had great experiences! But one was very special…….after having registered for the SCA Boot Intermediate Roasting Class, I was informed that due to a scheduling conflict the class had to be moved to a different time/day. My plane ticket from Florida and hotel were already booked……in order to save me the trouble of cancelling my trip, the campus director, Valerian, made a special effort to spend an entire Sunday with me and presented the entire course to me, one on one, including the SCA exam!!!!! That’s what Boot is……a company that is dedicated to its students, caring, professional, knowledgeable, and above all, responsive to its students and the entire coffee community!

Up to my elbows in chocolate! I signed up for a week long hands-on course in making bean to bar craft chocolate. We learned about sensory analysis and chocolate tasting, about roasting, cracking, winnowing, roasting, grinding/melanging, conching, tempering and molding. A lot of effort goes into making a chocolate bar and that's not including all the work that the farmer does at origin. Valerian made the work fun but also made sure we learned. We made six different kinds of bars and had plenty to take home with us. We also tasted an infinity of craft chocolate bars from around the world and had an in depth visit to the Dandelion Chocolate Factory in San Francisco. All in all well worth it and I came away with the knowledge I needed to get into trouble making chocolate at home. Recommended.