Coffee cupping may sound quite painful but essentially it is a method of evaluating the different characteristics of a coffee bean, This way we can understand what makes different coffee beans taste different. For many coffee experts this is a real science. They may be right, but everyones’ taste is different and different people will taste different things from the same bean, so don’t get too over awed by it.
What’s The Point Of Cupping?
Not only do we understand coffee beans more so we can categorise them to help people when they buy but also it can help when deciding what bean to blend with another bean for a great taste.
How Do You Cup?
The key thing to remember when you cup is that you use the same method every time. That way you can compare accurately. The method we will explain here is the textbook way.
It is best to roast to a light roast so that the different roast type won’t complicate the assessment. After resting for two days then grind to a coarse jug type grind. Place the grinds in a small bowl, pour over nearly boiling water and allow infusion to take place for about 3-4 minutes.
Stir the bowl gently allowing some of the grinds to sink to the bottom. Then let the slurping commence!
Take a spoon (a soup spoon is a good choice) and spoon your infusion into it, then bring it to your mouth and inhale (hence the word slurp). This may all make you feel silly but the science is there. By slurping you are creating a coffee vapour that stimulates your sense of smell. Then you need to think about what you are tasting. To help you here we have borrowed some of the words you will often see in coffee shops when buying beans.
Acidity
By this coffee roasters mean how lively the coffee is, for many this can be a great fresh taste, to others some beans can taste sour. The type of words you will see here include-soft, tangy, mild, smooth, winey.
Body
By body we mean how rich and full the coffee tastes. Words here include full, rich, fat, and thin.
Flavour
This is probably self-explanatory but again common adjectives for coffee beans include fruity, winey, caramel, chocolatey, nutty and spicy.
Finish
We would recommend that you spit out the coffee after the tasting. So what feelings are left in your mouth? This aftertaste is really important. Words here include sweet, sour, sharp, burnt, bitter.
Then you can bring this altogether to see what you have from that particular coffee bean.
As always with tasting coffee what one person loves another will hate. But by cupping you may get an idea of what it is you particularly like from a region. And then when you’ve found it, you will know what else you may also love!