All of your information at CQI is held in your DATABASE PROFILE. In your profile, you can view all of your enrolled and completed courses, your grades, and your non-expired certificates.
To access and view your PROFILE, log into the DATABASE, go to your PROFILE tab.
If you have forgotten your password, you will need to reset it. Start by clicking the FORGOT? button on the DATABASE login screen. You will receive an email with instructions to reset your password. The reset instructions will go to the email address you provided when you set up your account profile. If you have forgotten your username, please DO NOT create another profile. Just email us for assistance at info@coffeeinstitute.org and we will help you get logged in.
Click on the Course ID # to view the course details. Once you find your desired course, select it and at the top right select either ENROLL or RETAKE TEST and follow the instructions. The Instructor will confirm your enrollment.
To create a profile first select the SIGN IN button at the top right corner of the CQI homepage - https://www.coffeeinstitute.org. Then select CREATE AN ACCOUNT and follow the instructions.
Everyone is welcome to visit CQI’s website! If you’d like to enroll in a course, retake a test, or submit a sample to be Q evaluated, you’ll need to register and create a profile on CQI’s DATABASE. Click on Sign In in the upper right corner of the site.
All of your information at CQI is held in your DATABASE PROFILE. In your profile, you can view all of your enrolled and completed courses, your grades, and your non-expired certificates.
To access and view your PROFILE, log into the DATABASE, go to your PROFILE tab.
All upcoming courses are listed on the CQI DATABASE in real time. To view upcoming courses, log into the DATABASE, and select UPCOMING COURSES. Each course lists the instructor(s), location and details. If you have questions, please contact the instructor directly.
No, Post-Harvest Processing Generalist Online is a LIVE course, and all lessons will be administered synchronously.
CQI is committed to educational excellence and ensuring all our certificate holders stay sharp and at the forefront of coffee processing knowledge. To maintain an active Post-Harvest Processing Professional certificate, CQI offers online Continuing Education Seminars.
Post -Harvest Processing Generalist online is our normal Post-Harvest Processing Generalist course, administered completely online. It is the same content, coffee tastings, and testing as the in-person Post-Harvest Processing Generalist course.
Post-Harvest Processing Generalist is for any coffee professional (namely roasters, retailers, baristas) willing to learn about the main processing methods, how they are carried out, and how they impact coffee chemistry and coffee flavor. This course is ideal for those who enjoy learning online.
It depends on the level. There is no pre-requisite for the Post-Harvest Processing Generalist course. For the Post-Harvest Processing Professional, Post-Harvest Processing Generalist is pre-requisite for Post-Harvest Processing Professional for all students who do not work on coffee processing at a farm annually. Post-Harvest Processing Expert is by invitation only.
The minimum age to register for all CQI certification courses is 16 years old; unless local, country or federal labor or employment laws supersede in which case those laws will determine the minimum age of registration.
Becoming a CQI PHP Instructor is a multi-step process which often extends over years of commitment. To learn more about the expectations and application process, please visit this page: https://www.coffeeinstitute.org/page/to-become-a-cqi-instructor.
Post-Harvest Processing Generalist is a general, 2-day course for any coffee professional (namely roasters, retailers, barista) willing to learn about the main processing methods, how they are carried out, and how they impact coffee chemistry and coffee flavor. The training involves lectures and cupping of processing methods. To earn a certificate, attendees must pass a multiple-choice exam at the end of the course.
Post-Harvest Processing Professional is 6-day field course for coffee professionals working regularly with post-harvest processing. Students should be willing to deepen their theoretical knowledge about the main processing methods and technology, learn good practices, and a quality control system for post-harvest processing. The course takes place in an origin country, during the harvest season, and involves lectures, teamwork, and hands-on practice of all main processing methods. To earn a certificate, attendees must pass 16 theoretical and practical tests.
The Post-Harvest Processing Expert course is offered every other year. Learners are accepted through an application process conducted the year prior to the course. Pre-requisites include being a current Post-Harvest Processing Professional certificate holder. If you are interested in attending the Post-Harvest Processing Expert course, please email Yimara Martínez Agudelo at yagudelo@coffeeinstitute.org.
Post-Harvest Processing Generalist students have 2 opportunities within 18 months to retake their exam. Retake exams must be completed at a scheduled Level 1 course.
Post-Harvest Processing Professional students have 2 opportunities within 24 months to retake their exams. Retake exams must be completed at a scheduled Post-Harvest Processing Professional course.
Students who fail their retake or have used all their opportunities must proceed to retake the entire course.
Intro to Post-Harvest Processing is a 5-hour online class geared towards coffee people who want to better understand the basic processing methods. The class covers a brief history of coffee processing, coffee harvesting methods, pre-cleaning measures, and the standard post-harvest processing methods: natural, honey, mechanically demucilaged, fully washed, and wet hulled. This non-certificate class is ideal for coffee people who are interested in learning the basics of processing.
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ICPs support the infrastructure of CQI’s Q Coffee System, being the hub to evaluate coffee quality using industry standards for both Specialty Arabica and fine Robusta. The integrity of the Q Coffee System is supported by ICPs through their adherence to strict protocols. ICPs also support regional initiatives to improve the quality of coffee by hosting and promoting courses.
ICPs are ambassadors for CQI and our programs. In-Country Partners are valued partners for CQI in supporting our mission to improve coffee quality and the lives of those who produce it.
To learn more about an ICPs role in the Q Coffee System, please view the ICP one-pager HERE.
Current Q Instructors and Assistant Instructors are eligible for a fast track to authorization as instructors of the evolved Q, which they can earn by completing the two-day CVA for Cuppers course by December 31, 2025. (See pathways chart for details.)
If you are a Q Instructor or Assistant Instructor in our QE Program whose certification expires before September 30, 2025, your license will be extended by one year to allow time to transition to the new system. To take advantage of the fast-track window offered by SCA, you will just need to complete the two-day CVA for Cuppers course to be authorized to teach the evolved Q.
Yes, if you are currently a Q Grader, your certification remains valid until the date of expiration on the certificate. You are eligible for a fast track to be recognized as an evolved Q Grader, operated by SCA by completing a two-day CVA for Cuppers course before December 31, 2025. (See pathways chart for details.)
Good news: you are eligible for the same fast-track path to an evolved Q Grader license as Q Graders with active certifications. (See pathways chart for details.)
Both Q Arabica and Q Robusta Graders will qualify for the evolved Q Grader program.
Every certified Q Venue in our QE program will transition automatically to SCA’s Premier Training Campus network, and certification will be valid until the expiration date of its current certification. Thereafter, renewal will be handled by SCA.
If you are a Q Venue whose certification expires between now and the transition date of September 30, 2025, your certification will be extended automatically until September 30, 2025.
If your application for Q Venue certification is currently in process, it will be completed. You do not need to do anything further.
Any new application for Q Venue certification received after April 24, 2025 will be valid only until September 30, 2025.
No. The evolved Q program will not be exclusively taught in SCA Premier Training Campuses, however they will continue to offer the best facilities for students and trainers to conduct training.
The role of In-Country Partners will change moving forward. After September 30, 2025, CQI will no longer support the grading or certification of Q Coffees. But CQI’s ICPs have always been more than grading centers – they are local hubs of CQI training and activity, and we are excited to reimagine the ways ICPs can help us advance our mission through participation in our development initiatives moving forward.
The PHP program is not impacted by these changes.
CQI may be changing how it works, but our mission and our commitments to coffee producers and the global coffee community remain the same. We exist to improve the quality of coffee and the lives of the people who produce it. For over 20 years we served that vision largely – but not exclusively – through the Q. Our Post-Harvest Processing (PHP) Program brings us into direct engagement with the people at the heart of our mission and enables us drive quality improvement through our trainings. We will center our work moving forward on our PHP Program, but we won’t stop there. Over the years, our project work has taken CQI to every space in the supply stream from the farm to the market. We will continue to seek opportunities to serve our mission through development projects and producer-centered training. We look forward to working with you to chart this path and implement activities to benefit the people who produce our coffee.
Yes! We will continue to expand our PHP program and will need to enlist CQI PHP Instructors in that work. We will also continue our work to create a common language of coffee quality, but as that language evolves and the Q is transferred to SCA, that work will look a little different. Rather than supporting CQI instructors delivering a Q based on the 2004 form, we will be working to help SCA instructors to deliver a Q based on the CVA in the context of our development projects in the places where coffee is grown. We will welcome your support in this important work.
Coffee Quality Institute remains an independent nonprofit that is governed by its own board of trustees.
