SCA Registered Instructor

Today I completed the SCA’s Instructor Registration Exam and received confirmation of a passing score. The email from the Education team notes the final step: a small registration fee, after which I will receive workshop materials and the ability to upload rosters—details that make the milestone feel concrete rather than abstract.

The news sent me straight back to my own beginning at the cupping table. My first structured cupping was a Panama Geisha lineup. That afternoon I learned how humbling cupping can be when the coffees are extraordinary but your vocabulary is still catching up. Wanting to help others take those first steps with clarity and patience is a big part of why I pursued this path.

On the SCA Coffee Skills Program profile, my roles now read Q Grader and Registered Instructor alongside Producer—a combination that reflects how I think about coffee: grounded in origin, sharpened by calibration, and increasingly oriented toward teaching.

I am looking forward to running Intro to Cupping sessions—meeting people where they are, demystifying protocol, and giving newcomers the same sense of possibility I felt when spoons first clicked against bowls in a quiet tasting room.