COLUMBUS, Ohio – Brandon Bir (PICTURE), coffee sourcing and education director for Columbus, Ohio coffee roaster Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea, has been certified as a Lead Instructor by the Specialty Coffee Association.
As a result, he is qualified to become a lead instructor or assistant instructor at SCA events and to teach professional coffee development courses on SCA campuses.
“Brandon is one of the most highly qualified coffee professionals in Columbus, and we’re excited about the contributions he’s making to Crimson Cup,” said Founder and President Greg Ubert. “As an SCA Lead Instructor, he will be directing professional course development at the Crimson Cup Innovation Lab.”
Since Bir started out as a customer experience specialist at Crimson Cup in 2011, his role has expanded to include direction of Crimson Cup’s cupping, coffee buying and education initiatives.
Over the past few years, he has visited more than a dozen coffee farms in Central and South America, Africa and Asia to develop direct relationships with small-plot farmers and assist them with improving coffee quality.
In 2016, he became one of only 3,500 coffee professionals worldwide to be licensed as a coffee Q Grader license and earned an SCA Coffee Taster Certificate. He was one of the first 31 graduates of the new SCA Coffee Buyer Pathway and holds Level 2 Certification from the Specialty Tea Institute.
Through its 7 Steps to Success coffee franchise alternative program, the Columbus coffee roaster teaches business owners, managers and their staff everything they need to run successful coffee businesses.
This includes drink preparation and barista skills as well as guidance on everything from writing a coffee shop business plan and choosing a location to hiring staff and marketing the new business.
To achieve Lead Instructor certification, Bir completed SCA courses in adult learning principles, instructional design, testing, evaluation and class management.
“I’m a more affective instructor as a result of the training, and we’re updating our courses at Crimson Cup to reflect what I learned,” Bir said. “The next few months will be exciting as we roll out a new series of courses for coffee professionals at our Innovation Lab.”
