NORTHERN COFFEE SCHOOL · COURSE MODULE · SENSCA CERTIFIED · MANCHESTER · 2026
SEN · sensory skills · at heart & graft

train
your palate

From identifying the five basic tastes to designing tasting panels and controlling bias - sensory skill, built in three stages.

01
SCA · SEN-FND

Sensory Skills
Foundation

MIN 7 HRS · MIN 4 LEARNERS
£240

The essentials of sensory assessment, practical and interactive. How we perceive taste and how to apply it when evaluating coffee, with hands-on identification of basic tastes and standard cupping.

who it’s for
  • Beginners wanting to taste like a professional.
  • Baristas and roasters building a shared language for flavour.
  • Anyone curious how the senses and environment shape perception.
prerequisites
  • None.
note - An Introduction to Coffee course is recommended but not required.

What you’ll learn

Sensory Science & Physiology

  • Understand sensory assessment and how the five senses build flavour.
  • See how professionals use tasting as an everyday business tool.
  • Explore smell, taste buds and mouthfeel as primary organs.
  • Separate odours via the nose from flavours picked up while drinking.

Tastes, Descriptors & Mapping

  • Blindly identify the five basic tastes and which dominate a cup.
  • Learn how mixing tastes changes perceived intensity.
  • Study how processing and growing alter acidity, bitterness and body.
  • Navigate the Flavour Wheel using standard aroma references.

Cupping Protocols & Tools

  • Master the standard cupping session - dosing, grinding and timing.
  • Distinguish descriptive tracking from preference scoring.
  • Understand how lighting, temperature and odours alter scores.
  • Evaluate flights using current industry forms.
what’s included
Instructor & trainer feesLab & cupping equipment accessSelection of practice coffees & solutionsHandoutsOfficial digital certification (on passing)All registration & exam fees
Dates, fees & places
Live availability - updates automatically
● LIVE
See all dates on the calendar →
02
SCA · SEN-INT

Sensory Skills
Intermediate

MIN 14 HRS · INC. EXAM · MIN 4 LEARNERS
£550

For those with cupping experience developing deeper sensory science - physiology of taste and aroma, test methods, cupping operation, the Flavor Wheel and WCR Lexicon, and running a panel.

who it’s for
  • Experienced cuppers advancing their sensory science.
  • QC managers, roasters and green buyers managing consistency.
  • Professionals establishing or running a formal tasting panel.
prerequisites
note - Core mechanics, chemistry solutions and the flavour wheel are assumed and may be tested.

What you’ll learn

Sensory Science & Physiology

  • Study the four stages - provoking, measuring, analysing, interpreting.
  • See how the brain links aroma to memory; crossmodal effects on sweetness.
  • Understand how flavour precursors shift along the value chain.

Tastes, Descriptors & Mapping

  • Rank intensity of sweetness, sourness and organic acids.
  • Categorise aromatics and mouthfeel using reference lexicons.
  • Map attributes across flights with check-all-that-apply grids.

Difference Testing & Triangulations

  • Differentiate overall from attribute tests.
  • Run triangulation tests with random three-digit codes.
  • Apply p-values and risk tables to judge significance.

Cupping Protocols & Panels

  • Implement recognised green assessment, descriptive and affective.
  • Control lab conditions - lighting, temperature, noise, water.
  • Design pass/fail in-out tests to set commercial limits.
what’s included
Instructor & trainer feesLab & cupping equipment accessSelection of specialised practice coffees & solutionsHandoutsOfficial digital certification (on passing)All registration & exam fees
Dates, fees & places
Live availability - updates automatically
● LIVE
See all dates on the calendar →
03
SCA · SEN-PRO

Sensory Skills
Professional

3 DAYS · MIN 4 LEARNERS
£850

Prepares you for managerial sensory assessment - alignment with industry standards, implementing assessment in a business, and accurately measuring, describing and interpreting repeatable results.

who it’s for
  • Experienced panelists moving into quality management.
  • Green buyers, head roasters and quality directors.
  • Trainers mastering panel calibration, bias control and design.
prerequisites
note - Core mechanics and standard cupping skills are assumed.

What you’ll learn

Sensory Science & Physiology

  • Understand how receptors and nerve pathways transmit taste, smell and touch.
  • Evaluate detection, recognition and saturation thresholds.
  • Analyse how tastes mask, suppress or enhance one another.

Cognitive Biases & Error

  • Identify expectation bias, the halo effect and social influence.
  • Differentiate long-term habituation from short-term adaptation.
  • Control bias with randomisation, double-blind coding and lab design.

Flavour Lexicons & Standards

  • Learn the structure of flavour wheels and tasting lexicons.
  • Apply objective references and scaled markers without preference.

Panels & Business Application

  • Design a panel - screening, training and performance monitoring.
  • Manage panelist welfare and align regional groups.
  • Use descriptive and consumer tests for NPD, shelf life and QC.

Attributes & Troubleshooting

  • Assess flavour and mouthfeel across processing and roast types.
  • Recognise faults from green defects, roast problems and staling.
  • Use analytical tools to verify sensory data.
what’s included
Instructor & trainer feesLab & cupping equipment accessSelection of specialised reference materials & solutionsHandoutsOfficial digital certification (on passing)All registration & exam fees
Dates, fees & places
Live availability - updates automatically
● LIVE
See all dates on the calendar →

Find your pathway

Tell us where you are - total beginner, working barista, or aiming for Q - and we’ll map the right pathway through the school.

NORTHERN COFFEE SCHOOL · AT HEART & GRAFT COFFEE ROASTERY · MANCHESTER
SCA AUTHORISED TRAINING · CERTIFICATION ON SUCCESSFUL ASSESSMENT