How To Cup Coffee.
"Words matter, particularly flavour words. Think of a
word as a little “package” of ideas. As an example,
think of the word “strawberry.” What comes to mind
is not just the image of a small-size red fruit, but also a telltale smell, a sweet taste, and a juicy texture, provided that you have enjoyed this experience before."
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Ted R Lingle- Coffee Sensory and Cupping Handbook.
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The Essentials
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Cups/bowls- Wether it's tempered glass, ceramic or even plastic- take your pick. The key is that they are not too shallow or too tall, and that they are uniform in size and hold equal mass. About 200ml in size is good. Our preferred cupping glass brand is Duralex.
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Scale- A good small brewing scale that can measure 0.1 to 0.2 gram increments.
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Cupping spoons- Similar to soup spoons, but with a deeper bowl so that you can achieve a whistling slurp. You can use a normal soup spoon in a pinch if you have to , although it’s not ideal. Consider purchasing a larger amount of spoons if you intend to host public cuppings. As a minimum, purchase enough for you and your team.
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Water boiling equipment and kettles. I find a 20l urn works well for small to medium Roasteries.Cheaper pouring kettles are also perfectly fine for distributing the water on the grounds. 2 x 3 litre kettles work great for medium sized cuppings. Water used for cupping should be clean and odour free, but not distilled or softened. Ideal Total Dissolve Solids are 125-175 ppm, but should not be less than 100 ppm or more than 250 ppm. Get your water tested if you haven’t already.
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A good quality Burr Grinder.
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Spitoons. These can be homemade. We used a plastic funnel inside an appropriately sized cup. Cheap to make and functions well.
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A large jug and sieve to toss out all the coffee from the cupping bowls when the cupping is finished. This separates the liquid and spent coffee grounds so you can toss it or repurpose it.
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Clean and dry dish cloths- used to ensure the cupping bowls are dry and clean before using.
Extras
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Napkins to soak up spillage and to tap off excessive moisture from spoons.
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Clipboards, pens , cupping sheets.We use the Catador app as a digital solution.
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An SCA flavour wheel, somewhere around the cupping area.
Setting up your cupping session:
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Weigh out the coffee - We recommend using 60g to 1litre of water. An easy way to calculate the dose for each of your cupping glasses would be the dose per litre times by the volume per cup. I.e - 60g x 0.2 ( 200ml) = 12g. Start weighing out the coffee for each cupping bowl, and label the set in some way. Determine the amount of cupping glasses you wish to have per coffee. To do an assessment on a coffee to check uniformity and defect spread, using 5 cupping vessels are key. However, if the coffee is of immaculate quality, then it’s not really necessary to cup 5 cupping bowls. For our Conventional and Pro Series coffees- 2- 3 cupping bowls will suffice. Additional cupping bowls not only add extra volume if you have lots of people joining the cupping, but it allows you to have a chance to assess the uniformity of the coffee.
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Grind the coffee between paper filter and plunger (between medium and coarse).
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Purge the grinder between sets- Use a few grams of the coffee you’re about to grind to purge through the grinder before running a set of cupping glasses through. This clears the chute of the previous coffees residue, the build up of which is often a consequence of static.
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Samples should be ground immediately prior to cupping, no more than 15 minutes before infusion with water. If this is not possible, samples should be covered and infused not more than 30 minutes after grinding.
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Lay out your cupping spoons dispersed between a number of rinse bowls which you can fill near to the top with lukewarm water.
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Boil your water. If using an urn with a lot of water, consider switching the urn on about 30 minutes prior to the cupping.​​
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Cupping and using the SCA cupping sheet
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Step #1 – Fragrance/Aroma
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Within 15 minutes after samples have been ground, the dry fragrance of the
samples should be evaluated by sniffing. -
After infusing with water, the crust is left unbroken for at least 4 minutes but not
more than 5 minutes. Breaking of the crust is done by gently stirring or pushing the crust down 3 times , but not all the way down as that would generate too much agitation to the coffee grounds. Immediately after doing this, go low to the cupping bowl and gently sniff the aromas wafting off the top. The Fragrance/Aroma score is then marked on the basis of dry and wet evaluation. Any notes on aroma descriptors can be jotted down in the empty space below the scoring blocks. -
The top of the cupping bowls can now be cleared off using two cupping spoons- only skimming off the foam off the top to allow for more clarity in each cupping bowl. Rinse the spoons between each bowl.
Step #2 – Flavour, Aftertaste, Acidity, Body, and Balance
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When the sample has cooled about 70o C, 8-10 minutes from infusion),
evaluation of the Coffee should begin. The Coffee is aspirated into the mouth in such a way as to cover as much area as possible, especially the tongue and upper palate. Because the retro nasal vapors are at their maximum intensity at these elevated temperatures, Flavor and Aftertaste are rated at this point. -
As the coffee continues to cool , the Acidity, Body and Balance are rated next. Balance is the cupper’s assessment of how well the Flavour, Aftertaste, Acidity, and Body fit together in a synergistic combination.
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The cupper’s preference for the different attributes is evaluated at several different temperatures (2 or 3 times) as the sample cools. To rate the sample on the 16-point scale, circle the appropriate tick-mark on the cupping form. If a change is made (if a sample gains or loses some of its perceived quality due to temperature changes), re-mark the horizontal scale and draw an arrow to indicate the direction of the final score.
Step #3 – Sweetness, Uniformity, and Cleanliness
6. As the brew approaches room temperature (below 37C)- Sweetness, Uniformity, and Clean Cup are evaluated. For these attributes, the cupper makes a judgement on each individual cup, awarding 2 points per cup per attribute (10 points maximum score).
7. The cupping can conclude shortly after this.
Cupping is an incredibly valuable tool at your disposal.
You can assess roasts, green coffee and blending ideas.
You can also use it to teach your clients about certain attributes in the coffees that you’re selling.
If you would like to join myself and other roasters in a cupping session, send an email to mike@greencoffeesupply.co.za
