The University of Kentucky now offers undergraduate students a 12-credit-hour certificate program called Coffee Science and Culture, giving them the opportunity to explore the history, science, economics, and ethical issues surrounding one of the world's most consumed beverages.
About 150 students are currently enrolled in the certificate, which launched this year with support from the Bill Gatton Foundation.
Dr. David Gonthier, who first began teaching a coffee course as an elective eight years ago, developed the program after his own personal connection to the crop drew him deeper into the subject.
"I really got into coffee as my way into agriculture. My cousin is a coffee farmer in Honduras, and I moved down there and learned all about production," Gonthier said.
Students get hands-on experience inside UK's Coffee Lab at the Horticulture Research Farm, where they learn how to brew coffee and explore the distinct flavor profiles different beans can produce.
"It's like meditating, you have to be really focused. You can't miss the first rack and things like that otherwise you'll mess up what you're doing so you have to be really focused," Ph.D. student Mario Reyes said.
Head Roaster and Coffee Quality Specialist Bradley Bellman said the range of flavors coffee can offer has been eye-opening.
"I've seen coffees with notes of tomato and savory notes all the way to sweet fruity, jammy coffees," Bellman said.
Beyond brewing, the curriculum covers the economics and ethical issues that persist throughout the global coffee industry.
"This is an opportunity to study as a model for a lot of goods that are traded. And a lot of issues that appear in coffee appear in other goods. And it's kind of a unique opportunity to kind of learn from origin or the farms that produce it all the way to the US where it finally is sold to consumers and that's an eye-opening story, I think for just about anybody working in food or agriculture," Gonthier said.
Coffee from UK's Coffee Lab is available for purchase online here (Purchase Coffee | Coffee Lab) or at the Bluegrass Beans Coffee Shop in the Gatton Agricultural Science Building.
