What is Cupping?
To put it simply, cupping is the process of tasting coffee for grading, palate development, education, quality control, and sensory evaluation. The process itself is standardized to ensure that coffee, whether cupped at home or on the other side of the world, is evaluated in the same way. The grind size, water temperature, amount of coffee and water used, and timing of events have all been set by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) to be sure the evaluation process puts each coffee on the same playing field. Each evaluation can also be accompanied by a score sheet that guides participants through the process, with each category having a specific description so that evaluators know what they are looking for.
Cupping and its Impact in Specialty Coffee.
As previously stated, cupping is the process of sensory evaluation and is used to grade, score, and ultimately price coffee. Coffee is graded on a scale of 1 - 100. Coffees scoring 80 points and above are deemed “specialty grade” and make up only about 5% of all coffee grown in the world. At Vital Coffee Roasters, our sourcing practices focuses on sourcing coffees scoring 84 points and above (top 2 - 3%).
The importance of standardization - the score of the coffee is a major factor in a coffee’s price per pound. It is crucial to have a protocol ensuring that the coffee cupped at origin (on the farm) translates to the importer, which translates further to the final purchaser/roaster. This price/lb. is tied directly to the earnings of the farmers and producers; especially since the majority of coffee producing countries only having a single harvest. Thus, opportunities to earn better wages can be limited, which places tremendous importance on this system of cupping.
Score is in the Palate of the Q-Holder
Cupping is key, cupping is important, cupping is educational, and cupping can impact the wages of others around the world. So with all of this importance placed on cupping, who gets to make these decisions? Isn’t taste subjective? In other words - Is this great power based in subjectivity?
The easiest answer, is a frustrating yes…and no. The practice of evaluating coffee through taste (as is many things) is subjective. However, many coffee professionals work hard to separate what is personally favorable to what is deemed as objective quality.
Just as the wine industry has Sommeliers, the coffee industry has Q-graders. These individuals go through a rigorous testing process to determine whether or not they are able to accurately grade coffee based on a consensus in relation to their peers. One must be sure they are scoring and evaluating coffee on the same level as other Q-graders. If one passes, their license qualifies them for 36 months of practice, upon which they must get recalibrated. If an individual fails their recalibration, they must undergo the Q-certification once again.
Is it necessary to become a Q-grader to cup? Of course not. Many who work in coffee are not Q-graders, and many coffee professionals have no need for the license. Most often those who are Q certified can be found at origin or in the practice of sourcing coffees because these individuals play an important role in determining the quality, grade, and score of the coffee. Q-graders can also utilize their certification to help those who are trying to improve the quality of their coffee crop.
And now a Taste of Things to Come - How to Cup
Equipment
Scale (accurate within 0.1 g if possible)
Kettle
Cupping or Soup Spoons
Timer
Towel/Paper Towel (for spills and drying spoons)
Spittoon or other receptacle
Cups/Bowls
3 - 5 per sample (allows for a good sample size)
Rinse cup (1 per sample or 1 for every 2 samples)
Pencils and paper for notes (SCA cupping form if possible)
The Process
Cupping should occur no more than 24hrs after roast using a ratio of roughly 1:18 (Coffee:water).
Grind your coffee just before you begin. This preserves aromatics and ensures you don’t miss them.
Ensure you take a small sample of the coffee you are about to grind as a “purge.” This is a way to remove any residual coffee from the burrs, preventing any unintentional blending.
Smell coffee and make notes on fragrance
Allow water to reach 200° F (+/- 2°) or 92.2º – 94.4º C.
Add water to cupping bowls and rinse cups
Allow coffee to brew for 4 minutes
At the 4 minute mark, “break the crust” by using the back of your cupping spoon and following it with your nose, smelling and evaluating the aroma. Do this no more than 3 times to ensure the coffee is agitated equally.
BE SURE TO RINSE SPOONS IN BETWEEN EACH CUP. This prevents and cross over between coffees.
Once all cups have been broken take 2 spoons and gently clean the top layer of the cups. Remove any grounds, chaff, or foam floating on the top. Be careful to not agitate the grounds at the bottom.
Once cleaned, allow the coffee to rest until the 9 - 11 minute mark. This allows the coffee to sufficiently cool. Playing Russian roulette to see if the coffee ins too hot to drink is not fun.
Take your spoon and gently dip it into the coffee and slurp the coffee from the spoon being sure to spread it across your palate. Be sure to rinse your spoon in between each cup and take notes on what you taste.
Make a few passes around the table tasting each coffee as it cools.
The criteria & how we grade
Fragrance/Aroma: The fragrance is the smell of the ground coffee (still dry). Aroma is the smell once the grounds have been infused with water
Flavor: The main character of the coffee. It is the combination of the gustatory (taste bud) sensations and retro-nasal aromas. The combination of taste and smell. To properly evaluate the flavor, the coffee is slurped.
Aftertaste: Length of positive flavor sensed at the back of the palate remaining after the coffee has been spit or swallowed.
Acidity: The “brightness” when positive or “sour” when negative in a coffee.
Body: The tactile feel of the coffee in the mouth. Think skim vs 2% vs whole milk.
Balance: How all of the components listed above work together and compliment or contrast one another.
Sweetness: The fullness of flavor and sweetness.
Clean Cup: The lack of interfering negative impressions throughout the life of the cup. From the first slurp to the last, do any negative flavors present themselves?
Uniformity: The consistency of flavor between each of the different cups/samples tasted.
Overall: This reflects the result of all of the flavor and taste components and its favorability.