What is cupping?
“Cupping” is the coffee tasting process used by industry insiders to analyze the coffee's quality and flavor characteristics, thereby assessing prices. The word “cupping” refers to the whole process, from the amount of coffee and water in brewing, other assessment steps, to the taste of the coffee.
Cupping Etiquette - Rules of cupping
There are a few rules that every cupper should keep in mind:
- Do not bring along a "strange" scent when going cupping. Perfumes, cigarettes, or even soaps can affect cuppers (cupping participants).
- Clean your palate thoroughly and avoid strong flavor food, including sour or spicy, before entering the cupping place.
- The cupping room should be comfortable and quiet, with little distraction such as passersby, noise, or loud music.
- Most cupping places follow the "rules of order" and the assessment usually takes place in silence with the discussion at the end of the cupping session.
Stay focused, try to eliminate distractions, enjoy this cupping time, and devote your full attention to coffee.
The steps of cupping
01: Weight coffee Coffee should be weighed in whole with coffee: water ratio of 1:18. Keep the coffee samples separate and do not mix any of them.
02: Heat water Start to boil the water so that once the coffee has been ground and placed on the table, the water is ready. We should use purified or filtered water, free of impurities and foreign odors. (If you don't have a filter available, you can buy bottled water - be sure to use one type of water for all your coffee to ensure consistency).
03: Grind coffee & Smell the dry aroma Before you grind your coffee samples, clean the blender with some samples you are about to grind so that the previously ground coffee does not get mixed with the about-ground coffee (This is called Rinsing). Make sure that it does not exceed 15 minutes from the grinding process to the cupping time. After you grind the coffee, you will smell and experience the dry flavor of each type and compare its variation in the next step.
04: Pour water Once the preparation is done, pour freshly boiled water into each cup at a steady pouring rate until the cup is full. Gently pour water to soak all the coffee powder in the cup. Start timing from the moment the water hits the coffee.
05: The break After four minutes since pouring water, cuppers begin to "break" the foam on the surface of the cup, to assess the aroma rising from the coffee - also known as wet coffee, and stop the process by letting the powder settle to the bottom of the cup. To "break" the coffee foam layer, use a clean spoon (the spoon face upside down) to gently push. Remember to clean the spoon with water before moving to the next cup. Each person has a different technique of "breaking" coffee, but whichever it is, keep the technique consistent between cups. While using the spoon to push the foam, place your nose right on the surface of the cup and take a deep breath to experience the aroma of the coffee, and write on your notes.
06: Skim the cups After the floating coffee layer on the surface has been "broken", there are crumbs and the coffee foam that need removing.
07: Cool the coffee Right now, the coffee is very hot so that you need to wait for the potable temperature (typically 8 - 10 minutes after pouring the water) to start testing the coffee.
08: Taste & Discuss To taste coffee samples, you must learn and practice how to "slurp" coffee. 'Slurp' here can be understood as strongly sipping up the water in the spoon. Do not be shy. Slurping not only helps coffee spread evenly across the palate but also affects the evaporation of the liquid, supporting you to taste and smell at the same time. The coffee will be arranged in order so that the cuppers can move from left to right along the cupping table.
Cuppers are encouraged to taste the coffee continuously while the coffee cools and remember to rinse the spoon thoroughly after each tasting of a coffee sample.
On the first try, you will value coffee based on 2 elements: flavor and aftertaste.
On the second try, you will focus on four factors: acidity, body, sweetness, and balance.
Based on these factors, you will give an overview of the samples and discuss them with other cupping participants.
++ You can refer to SCA's guidance and detailed standards in the link: https://sca.coffee/research/protocols-best-practices/
Basic cupping form from Cafe Imports (Picture) The cupping chart that each cupper will keep throughout the cupping process makes individual rating notes.
