Brews & Botany: The Life of the Coffee Plant

Presented by East View Coffee Company
Duration: 1 to  1.5 hours
Format: Interactive class with tastings, sensory elements & botanical exploration
Perfect for: Coffee drinkers, plant lovers, flavor explorers, and the curious
Includes: Guided tasting flight, hands-on sensory activity, and take-home materials

Cost: $25 per participant

🌱 Class OverviewExplore the natural wonder of the coffee plant in this immersive, flavor-forward workshop. From seed to blossom to bean, coffee is a botanical marvel with roots in lush, high-elevation environments. In this 90-minute class, you’ll get to touch, smell, and taste your way through the life cycle of coffee—no planting required.

This session blends education, tasting, and interactive elements, all centered around coffee’s place in the plant world.

What You’ll Learn

1. The Botany of Coffee

• Anatomy of the coffee plant: leaf, flower, fruit, seed
• Arabica vs. Robusta: what makes them botanically and flavorfully different
• The plant’s lifecycle: flowering, fruiting, and ripening
• Climate, soil, and biodiversity around coffee farms

2. Processing & Flavor

• Natural vs. washed vs. honey processes: how fruit is removed, and why it matters
• Coffee as a fruit: understanding the impact of terroir (like wine!)
• How processing mimics fermentation techniques used in other foods (e.g. kombucha, wine, kimchi)

3. Tasting the Plant

• Guided tasting of 3 + unique coffees:
  • A naturally processed coffee (fruit-forward)
  • A washed coffee (bright and clean)
  • A honey or experimental process (balanced and complex)
• Use aroma jars, dried plant materials, or fruit samples to connect flavors back to the plant

Hands-On Activity: Build a Sensory Flavor Board

Participants will:

• Smell + match botanical ingredients to tasting notes (e.g., jasmine, cocoa nibs, citrus peel, dried berries)
• Assemble a small “flavor board” to visualize the flavor journey of each coffee
• Use an illustrated mini flavor wheel and guided worksheet to connect flavors to regions and processes

🛠️ All materials provided and flavor boards can be taken home as a keepsake

What’s Included:

• Guided coffee tasting (5 x 4 oz pours)
• Flavor board activity + take-home flavor wheel
• 10% off coupon for East View Coffee
• Your choice of a 12 oz bag of East View Coffee