Workshop Description: Blending is both an art and a science, and intentional design is key to achieving flavor, balance, and consistency. This workshop teaches roasters how to craft blends with clear sensory goals using component tasting, roast-level experimentation, and iterative cupping feedback. Participants explore how origin, variety, and roast interact to influence sweetness, acidity, body, and clarity. Emphasis is placed on co-discovery, allowing participants to hypothesize, test, and refine blends collaboratively. The workshop also incorporates storytelling, helping participants translate blend design into concise narratives for café teams and consumers. Attendees leave with repeatable frameworks, tasting skills, and practical storytelling tools to create blends that are purposeful, repeatable, and memorable.
Learning Objectives:
1. Evaluate individual component coffees for sensory contribution.
2. Adjust roast levels to optimize blend balance, body, and flavor clarity.
3. Co-create blends collaboratively using iterative, sensory-driven experimentation.
4. Use cupping and sensory feedback to refine blend outcomes.
5. Craft concise, engaging narratives explaining blend intention, flavor goals, and origin context.
6. Apply repeatable frameworks for signature, seasonal, or menu-specific blends.
Date: Sunday, April 12, 2026
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Room Number: 31 C
Category: Cupping
REGISTRATION FEES:
Regular - $275
Paid Member - $230
Booking: To book your place in this Workshop, head to the World of Coffee San Diego Registration & Booking Portal and add a session to your order. Already registered? Simply login using the credentials created at purchase to access your booking and add other paid events to your badge.
Instructor
Ashley Whelan
Director of Coffee
Ashley Whelan is a coffee educator and operator with experience developing training programs, multi-sensory teaching tools, and flavor communication frameworks for café teams, roasteries, and competition-level baristas. Ashley integrates operational knowledge, sensory science, and creative pedagogy to make coffee education accessible, memorable, and grounded in real café practice.