SCA Roasting Foundations
Live online with Valerian Hrala. Next session Thursday, September 24, 2026.

You can roast decent coffee by copying someone’s profile. It works until the next lot of green shows up and the same curve gives you something flat and papery, and you have no idea which lever to pull.

Foundations is the SCA’s entry-level roasting module. It’s the model underneath the curves: what heat is actually doing to the bean at each stage, how the roast cycle works start to finish, and how the choices you make in the drum show up in the cup. Light or dark, 9 minutes or 14, you’ll be able to say why you’d pick one.

How it runs

You sign up and get access to my online platform the same day. Work through the material at your own pace, on your own schedule. There are practice tests, so you can keep going until the exam stops being something you’re worried about.

Then we meet on Google Meet. Block 9am to 1pm Pacific on Thursday, September 24.

What the live session is actually for

We review the material, and then we open it up. Ask me anything. Roast profiles, why your drop temp isn’t landing where you want, which roaster to buy at what volume, how to price wholesale, whether the business you’re sketching out actually works.

That last category is my favorite and it’s the part you can’t get from a textbook. I’ve been in coffee for 25 years. I opened the first specialty roastery in Slovakia, built a coffee brand in the US, and I teach roasting, sensory, and Q Grader at Boot Coffee in San Rafael. Bring the business questions. Nobody ever brings enough of them.

Foundations is concepts, and the module is designed to work without a machine. Access to a roaster is a plus. Even a popper or a Bullet lets you go try something between the self-paced material and the call, and you’ll get more out of both. If you don’t have one, you’re not behind.

What you get

The SCA Foundations Roasting exam is included. Pass it and you have an internationally recognized SCA certificate.

$395. That already covers all SCA fees. Most courses quote you a lower number and add the exam fee at checkout, so compare the totals.

Get $300 off the SCA Intermediate Roasting course, in person at Boot Coffee in San Rafael, where you’re on real machines roasting real coffee for three days. If you keep going, Foundations costs you ONLY $95. 

Who this is for

Coffee enthusiasts who are curious whether roasting is for them. Home roasters who need the foundations before they can move ahead. People about to spend $4,000 to $40,000 on a machine who want to know what they’re buying. Anyone thinking about a career as a coffee roaster.

Skip this one if you’re already roasting production and want to solve a specific problem. Go straight to Intermediate.

Live session: Thursday, September 24, 9am to 1pm Pacific.

Eastern (NY, FL): 12pm–4pm
Central (TX, IL): 11am–3pm
Mountain (CO, UT): 10am–2pm
Pacific (CA, WA): 9am–1pm
Hawaii: 6am–10am
UK (London): 5pm–9pm
CET (FR, DE, IT, CZ, SK, HU): 6pm–10pm
EET (GR): 7pm–11pm
India (Mumbai): 9:30pm–1:30am
China (Beijing): 12am–4am
Singapore: 12am–4am
Tokyo: 1am–5am

Questions people ask

Do I need a roaster? No. It helps. The module works without one.

How long is the live session? Block 4 hours. It often runs shorter. The self-paced material and practice tests do most of the teaching, so a prepared group spends the call on questions and finishes early. Come in cold and we use the full window.