Cupping is how we ‘taste’ coffee in the industry. This standardised sensory evaluation method is used by everyone from roasters to producers and importers. It’s how we assess the aroma, flavour, acidity, body and aftertaste of a coffee as well as a way to spot taints or defects.
The cupping process itself involves a strict standardised procedure, but this is really quite straightforward and it is something you can do at home.
What you'll need:
- Coffee
- Kettle
- Water (freshly boiled and around 93°c to 96°c)
- Scales
- Timer
- Cupping spoon 1 per person (any spoon with a deep bowl, like a soup spoon, also works)
- 4-8 Cups all the same size ideally between 150ml and 250ml (you could also use any mugs or small bowls which are the same size)
- 4 extra cups for rinsing (these don’t have to be the same size)
Grinder (unless using pre-ground coffee)
Method:
- Measure the volume of the cups you will be using which should be all the same size, and calculate how many grams of coffee to use with the ratio of 1:18 coffee to water (we use 11g per 200ml).
- Weigh out the desired amount of coffee into each cup (one to two cups per coffee). Grind the beans into the cup making sure to flush a little bit of the same coffee through the grinder first so the sample isn't contaminated with another coffee.
- Smell the freshly ground coffee and make a note of the fragrance.
- Start a timer and begin to pour boiling water into all the cups, filling them all the way to the top. At this point, also fill the spare cups with just water as these will be used to dip spoons later.
- After 4 minutes, ‘break the crust’ of coffee that has formed on the top of each cup by gently pushing the back of your spoon three times through each cup. Make sure you dip your spoon into a clean glass of water before moving onto the next cup. This is also a very good time to get down close and smell the aroma of the wet coffee.
- There will be a foamy ‘crema-like’ layer on the surface of the cups which is not very tasty, using two spoons slowly skim the surface of the cup and discard.
- Wait another four or five minutes so the coffee is cool enough to taste. Put a small amount of coffee into your spoon and slurp it, making sure to aerate as much as possible throughout your mouth (to do this you need to slurp as quickly and intensely as possible in order to make the coffee spray all around your mouth. Think about getting the coffee off the spoon without tilting it).
- Continue this process over the next twenty minutes or so working through all the coffees and going back and forth making notes of the acidity, the body, the flavour and the aftertaste. Often coffees will change and flavours will unfold as the coffee cools so do make sure to try them colder too.
Note: every time you use a spoon in a coffee, dip it in a hot water cup to rinse so there is no cross contamination.
