Coffee Events & Certifications
Join coffee professionals from around the world for immersive learning experiences and industry-recognized certifications.
Nothing is on the public calendar right now.
We are planning the next release of cuppings, certifications, and trade sessions. You can use the archive below to see the kinds of experiences we host, or contact the team if you need a private event for buyers, staff, or clients.
Guided Cupping Labs
Focused tastings for importers, roasters, and buying teams who want calibration, context, and practical takeaways.
Certification Intensives
Hands-on learning built around concrete skill development, exam readiness, and standards that hold up in the real world.
Origin & Trade Sessions
Conversations that connect producers, quality, logistics, and sourcing strategy in one room.
Past Events
A look at Anthem sessions, certifications, and gatherings.
Past Session Completed
Apr 10, 2026
The Business of Building Better Blends: Defects and Commodity are not Dirty Words
Workshop Description: The founders at Anthem Coffee learned the art of blending from their uncle, Vaughn Neblock, the lead coffee buyer at Folgers in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. Many of his employees went on to lead major mass market coffee companies and used what he taught them to run their buying portfolios. Using techniques learned working alongside him we hope to give participants a reliable framework for building blends that can remain consistent regardless of market and buying conditions. We will introduce the Category approach and lead participants through the use of the Affective form for gleaning information and data from their own internal team and customers to learn how to use replacement coffees and coffee buying to keep their blends reliable and consistent. A combination of presentation and hands on exercises will give participants practical experience with building blends on a budget. The final hour will challenge participants to match a commercially available blend with coffees that come from the Categories we present. Learning Objectives: 1. Greater familiarity with the Affective form and how powerful of a tool it can be for roasters when used to collect data at all points in their blend development process. 2. Foster in specialty roasters an awareness of the applications lower quality coffees have in their roasting stables and blending practices. 3. A greater appreciation for how defects actually affect the cup quality of your blends.
Past Session Completed
Oct 25, 2025
Anthem Customer Appreciation Party
Join us at Parlor in downtown Kansas City for an exclusive evening dedicated to our valued partners. Enjoy complimentary craft cocktails, local beer, signature mocktails, and gourmet appetizers as you mingle with our team and fellow roasters. It's our way of saying thank you for your trust and collaboration throughout the year, we can't wait to raise a glass and celebrate. Only 150 spots available.
Completed
Oct 13, 2025
Basic Lab Services
Just starting out and not sure how to evaluate your coffees? We can help. From green coffee samples to production roasts, we can help you get started down the right QC path for your business. Send us what you want evaluated and we'll green grade, sample roast, and cup your coffees. You'll be furnished with a full report on your beans, bumps and all.
Completed
Oct 1, 2025
Fermentation - How Coffee Gets Fancy
Did you know that all coffees are fermented? Yes, even washed coffee is fermented for a little bit. Come join us for a basics of fermentation workshop. We'll talk about microbes and the important role they play in the whole coffee value chain and human food in general. We'll taste some experiments to see how the sensory qualities of a coffee or food can be altered simply by letting these little guys do their work. At the end of the workshop we'll cup a table of coffees representing the full spectrum of what you can achieve with just a little bit of biochemistry and microbiology.
Completed
Oct 1, 2025
Basics of Coffee Cupping
Cupping is an industry practice utilized all over the world to evaluate coffees. There is a published official protocol for it, but different organizations often have their own spin on it, which can lead to confusion for newcomers. Do I use 5 bowls or 2? What roast level is it supposed to be at? What if I don't have spoons. Come join us for an introductory cupping where we'll explain the basics and nuts and bolts that you'll need to conduct your own cupping at your business or in your home kitchen. We'll take you step by step through the most common procedures and then let you try your hand at running your own using a variety of coffees from our catalog. No experience necessary.
Completed
Oct 1, 2025
Roasting 101
Interested in starting your own roasting business or even just taking care of your own consumption needs? Come get your feet wet with this introductory course. We'll help you cover the basics and give you some hands on experience with a variety of roasters and beans. Be careful though, this rabbit hole is nearly endless.
Past Session Completed
Sep 25, 2025
The Producers Summit 2025
The Producers Summit 2025 is an exclusive gathering limited to just 100 participants. Connect, learn, and grow with fellow coffee producers from around the world.
Past Session Completed
Sep 17, 2025
The Business of Blending
With the coffee market currently experiencing near record highs and historic volatility now's the time when many roasters are sharpening pencils and trying to figure out how to cut costs. Traditionally this leads many people into the world of blending. If you would like some helpful strategies for learning to blend, we're here for you. Sign up for an afternoon slot, send us your coffees to match and then we'll meet you in our lab and cup through affordable alternatives to help maximize your profitability while not sacrificing your quality.
Past Session Completed
Sep 11, 2025
Fridays What Flavor Is That
Have you ever looked at the SCA Cupping Wheel and gone, 'well, I don't know what that taste or aroma is but I think that word fits what I'm experiencing, but I'm not so sure?' We're here to help you build your vocabulary. Each week for a month we'll focus on a different quadrant of the SCA Cupping Wheel and provide you with the reference standards for each category. We'll talk about the science of perception as well, and how so many variables influence what you perceive in coffee. At the end of each session we'll then put that newfound knowledge to practice with a cupping and discussion.
Past Session Completed
Sep 11, 2025
Wednesdays We Learn: The Coffee Spectrum
Everyone is always on the lookout for the next mind blowing coffee to offer on their menu. We all have well-developed opinions, borne from years of experience, on what makes coffee good. But what makes a coffee bad? Come join us for a cupping and learning session dedicated to helping you learn how to identify bad coffee, and figure out ways to think about bad as still useful given the right context. We'll also practice using the new Affective and Descriptive forms from the CVA for those of you interested in keeping up with changes in the industry. We promise not all the coffees will taste horrible, some will be delicious. This class is perfect for coffee professionals and lay people alike. Familiarity with cupping protocol is helpful, but not required.
Past Session Completed
Sep 1, 2025
CQI Arabica Q Grader Combo Course
We are so pleased to be able to host Sandra Loufbourow here at our lab to teach this course for you from September 1-8 at Anthem Coffee Imports, running 8 AM to 5 PM daily. This intensive training will prepare you to become a certified Arabica Q Grader. This will be one of the final courses to be held using CQI's curriculum before the Q program is handed off to the SCA. Come join us and celebrate the abundance of knowledge available about evaluating coffee. Here at Anthem our goal is to provide a classroom where everyone can find the conditions they need to succeed. We'll feed you lunches and have tons of snacks available through the week for you so you can focus on what you need. Also, if you have retakes to do for your CQI Q licensure let us know. We want to be a place where folks can come and get their retakes done so as not to lose progress. Please reach out to us if you have any questions.
Past Session Completed
Aug 16, 2025
CVA for Cuppers
The Coffee Value Assessment (CVA) for Cuppers course is designed for coffee professionals looking to enhance their cupping skills and deepen their understanding of the new SCA Coffee Value Assessment, a critical part of the new Q certification. This 2 day course is part of the fast track for current and lapsed Q graders to become eligible for the new evolved Q standards to be released this fall from the SCA. Learn this new approach to evaluating coffee quality and determining its market value alongside industry experts and peers. The instructor for this CVA course is Ben Helt, hosted by Russell Thorpe - Lab Director at Anthem Coffee Imports. We are looking forward to the in-depth discussions generated by these exciting new ideas for the coffee industry and hope you can join us.
Past Session Completed
Jul 3, 2025
Thursdays Nerdsday
Come learn about coffee, the plant, with us. Every Thursday morning join us to nerd out about coffee. Our lab director loves to search through scientific literature for new and exciting research about coffee. We have read a lot of different white papers and want to share them with you. Sign up and come join us for some good coffee and good conversation. For the first hour, make yourself comfortable and read through a coffee topic that interests you, for the second hour, let's share with each other what we've learned.
Past Session Completed
May 24, 2025
CVA for Cuppers
The Coffee Value Assessment (CVA) for Cuppers class is designed for coffee professionals looking to enhance their cupping skills and deepen their understanding of coffee value assessment. This is offered as part of the fast track for current and lapsed Q graders to become eligible for the new evolved Q standards that will be released this fall from the SCA. Learn this new approach to evaluating coffee quality and determining its market value from industry experts. The instructor for this CVA course is Thomas Ameloot - AST, hosted by Russell Thorpe - Lab Director at Anthem Coffee Imports.