Learn About Coffee, Roasting and Hand-Pour Brewing at the Crimson Cup Innovation Lab

We’re thrilled to open up our new Innovation Lab to coffee aficionados as well as baristas and coffee shop owners. Columbus coffee lovers can learn more about their favorite drink and improve their java skills in our three introductory courses.

The series kicks off 9 a.m. Saturday, March 12 with Hand-Poured Coffee Brewing 701.

This course explores the science behind brewing via demonstrations of Chemex, Hario v60 and French Press brewing methods. Students will learn how to prepare a perfect hand-pour coffee – including proper brewing temperatures, coffee grind, coffee-to-water ratios and pouring techniques. Each student will leave with a Roaster of the Year Coffee Set (includes 4oz of three award winning coffees). Cost for the two-hour course is $50. Registration is limited to 8.

Roasting 701 will be held Wednesday, March 16 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

This course teaches the art and science behind coffee roasting. Instructors will discuss basic organic chemistry, explain the roasting process and demonstrate factors that affect a roast profile. Students will examine green coffee and then roast their own on both sample and production coffee roasters. The class will end with a coffee cupping, in which participants will evaluate the sensory qualities of fresh-roasted coffee. Each participant will leave with a bag of one of Crimson Cup’s newest craft coffees. The class costs $75, and registration is limited to 5 students.

Coffee 701 will be held Thursday, April 7, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

This is an introductory course about the history, cultivation and trade of the world’s number-one cash crop, beginning with the legend of Kaldi and his dancing goats. Instructors will share stories gleaned from more than 25,000 miles of travel to coffee-growing countries in Central and South America, Africa and Asia. Participants will taste award-winning Crimson Cup coffees.  Cost is $25, and registration is limited to 12. Participants will receive a Crimson Cup Mug and FREE Drink card to redeem at the two Crimson Cup Coffee Houses.

Instructors for the courses include members of Crimson Cup’s coffee and training teams, including Coffee Buyer Dave Eldridge and Coffee Sourcing and Education Manager Brandon Bir. Together, they have over 20 years of coffee industry experience and have visited with coffee growers in more than a dozen countries.

Teaching people about coffee has been at the core of Crimson Cup’s mission for nearly 25 years, and we’re excited that we now have a state-of-the-art space to offer training.