All About Cupping Coffee

Why cup? Coffees are ‘cupped’ to evaluate their good and bad qualities. An exporter will cup coffees seeking defaults, taints, or other negative traits that affect the coffee's flavor, price, and marketability. Some common defaults result when under-ripe coffee cherries are picked and mixed with ripe cherries or beans have been exposed to bacteria or insects or have fermented due to exposure to moisture.

Step 1: Dosing the Coffee

Measure out whole-bean coffee into each glass. The standard weights to water ratios I have seen are 8 grams of coffee per 5.5 ounce glass and 12 grams of coffee per 6.5 ounce glass. Two glasses per coffee sample is standard but you can add more depending on the number of cuppers. It’s important to keep track of what coffees are in which cups, so label and identify the glasses with their specific coffees. Find a marking system that works for you and use it consistently.

Step 2: Heating the Water

Start the water kettle.

Step 3: Grinding the Coffee

It’s important in this step to “purge” the grinder between each coffee grinding. You do this by taking a small sample of the coffee you are about to grind and run it through the grinder into a separate “purge” container before grinding into the cupping glasses. This is done to “purge” the grinder of any coffees remaining from the previous grinding and avoids the danger of cross-contaminating your coffees. You don’t want your natural processed Brazil Yellow Bourbon mixed with your wet-processes Ethiopian Yirgacheffe do you? Didn’t think so.

Step 4: Sampling the Aroma

Once grinding is complete and while the water is heating, sample and record the aromas of each ground coffee. This is done by holding the glass in one hand and gently tapping it against the palm of the other hand. This agitates the grounds to releases their aroma. Do this for each coffee.

Step 5: Cooling the Water

Once the water has boiled, wait until the water has cooled to between 195¾ F and 198¾ F before pouring. If everything is flowing correctly, the water should have boiled and begun cooling while you are finishing Step 4. It is important to note that water that is poured just off the boil can actually singe a coffee and alter its cup character. At sea level, this typically takes about 4 minutes. Use the thermometer to get an accurate measure of time it takes in your location. The higher the altitude, the lower the boiling temperature will be for water, resulting in a shorter cooling time.

Step 6: Pouring the Water

Pour water into each glass in order of first coffee ground to the last. Pour slowly and evenly, making sure to saturate all the grounds; no dry grounds should be visible. Don’t fill glasses to the very top as this will result in a huge mess when you get around to cupping. Leave a little glass showing below the rim and be sure that each glass is poured to the same uniform level. In cupping, consistency is king.

Step 7: Steeping the Coffee

Start a timer or stopwatch just before pouring the first glass. Wait 4 minutes for the coffees to steep. While waiting, pour lukewarm water into the pint glasses and position them on the table for rinsing cupping spoons. (Lukewarm water should be used because water that is too hot can actually heat the spoons to the point that they can burn your lips when sampling the coffees.) It’s a good practice to keep rinsing cups between each group of cupping samples.

Step 8: Breaking the Crust

Starting with the first cup you poured, position your face so your nose is close to the cup, but not directly over it. Your nose should be almost level with the glass so the nostrils are in the best position to inhale the aromas. Take your cupping spoon and hold it at a slight angle with the bowl towards your face — you want to dip the spoon into the grounds that have formed on the top of the glass and gently stir the coffee with the spoon just below the surface, while smelling the coffee’s aroma. This is known as “breaking the crust” and should be done gently to agitate the coffee in order to better smell the aroma of each coffee. Note and record each coffee’s aroma. If there is a marked difference between the aromas of glasses from the same sample, this is also noteworthy and should be recorded. When “breaking the crust” and smelling the aromas, you might find better sensory results by making small inhalations (sniffs) through your nose, rather than one big long inhalation. Experienced cuppers will also sometimes be seen smelling their spoon after removing it from the glass. The intent is to smell the aromas as thoroughly as possible. Also, be sure to rinse your spoon between each glass, since there can be differences even in coffees from the same sample. Repeat this for each sample. If you are cupping with multiple cuppers, it is best to agree in advance on the position of each cuppers’ cup. Playground etiquette is as important here as it was in 3rd grade — everybody should have a turn.

Step 9: Clearing the Grounds

Once all the crusts have been broken and notes recorded, it’s time to clear the grounds from the glasses. This is done by taking a rinsed cupping spoon and skimming the remaining grounds from the top of each glass. Experienced cuppers typically use a two-spooned method for clearing the grounds. To do this, start at the back of the glass with the spoons together and then pull/drag them forward with the outer edge of each spoon following the rim of the glass and meeting again at the front of the glass. The collection is then dumped into an empty spitting cup or spittoon. This two-spooned method takes practice. Initially, use one spoon and try to keep the spoon as shallow as possible in the glass to remove only the grounds from the top surface level, trying not to take too much of the coffee in the glass.

Step 10: Slurping the Coffee

Take a small spoonful and slurp it into your mouth. It can be helpful to start inhaling (slurping) just before the coffee makes contact with your mouth. Also, it might help to tilt the spoon slightly when slurping. Initially, don’t try to slurp aggressively. It’s not a contest and slurping harder won’t change the coffee. The intent is to spray the inside of your mouth and coat your tongue with coffee. Slurping functions to aerate the coffee, which results in a better sense of its aromatic properties. If you have the image of wine drinkers carefully slurping wine, then you have the right idea. Once you’ve gotten some practice, your slurping will improve and you will be making the fast, high-pitched slurping sound that is the hallmark of truly refined and experienced cuppers. The age-old axiom holds true here: Practice makes perfect.

Step 11: Evaluating the Coffee

Roll the coffee around in your mouth for a few seconds. Chew it. Try to be aware of how it feels in your mouth. Take small additional slurps of air through your teeth to re-aerate the coffee, but only a few times. If you do this too many times, you will overemphasize the aromatics, which will impair your ability to sense the coffee’s flavor and other characteristics. Record what you sense. You are looking to evaluate the coffee’s body, acidity and flavor.

Step 12: Spitting the Coffee

Spit each sample into your empty spitting cup/spittoon. Don’t be shy and timid. A good forceful spitting has more effect than one less forceful. It might not be a bad idea to have a napkin or towel handy to help clean up any spitting mishaps. Once you’ve cupped a few times, especially with others, you’ll be so comfortable with spitting you’ll be hard-pressed to remember a time when spitting wasn’t as normal as…slurping.

Step 13: Evaluating the Finish

Take a moment after you have spit the coffee out and make note of what you are still tasting and sensing from that coffee. This is called the Finish or Aftertaste. Sometimes the Finish/Aftertaste will continue to change for a minute or even longer. This is called the Long Finish and should also be noted.

Step 14: Sampling the Table

Move on to the other glasses, sampling each in turn. Did you remember to rinse your spoon between each coffee? If so, good job. If not, remember to rinse. Once you’ve completed one full circuit and have made initial notes on each coffee, start going back and forth among the coffees on the table. You not only want to take the time to get a clear sense of how each coffee tastes, but also how they taste in relation to the other coffees on the table. Also try to be aware of any differences present in the cups of the same coffee sample. It only takes one bad bean to make a coffee bad and that bean can only be in one glass at a time.

Step 15: Finalize the Sampling

Once all the coffees have cooled to room temperature, go through them one last time and note how they taste at room temperature. Are they sweeter? Do you notice something now that you didn’t when the coffee was warm? A coffee’s flavor and cup character is dynamic and will typically change noticeably as a cup cools. Just because the coffee is cold doesn’t mean that there isn’t some characteristic that has yet to be sensed and noted. Give each coffee every opportunity to communicate what it has to offer.

Step 16: Reviewing the Notes

Finally, review your notes. If you are cupping alone, this is time for you and your coffees. What did they tell you? If you are cupping in a group setting, share your notes with the other cuppers and see what others had to say. A sample of each coffee is often set aside and not cupped for situations when there is a question about that coffee. If there is a discrepancy or a question about a coffee’s cup character, there’s no harm in cupping again.

http://www.virtualcoffee.com/articles/april_06/article3.html

For home cupping you’ll need:

• Fresh filtered water. Water accounts for 99% of brewed coffee, so the water you use must be free of taints. Do not use distilled or softened water.
• Coffee measure scoop. You will need one that holds two tablespoons.
• 5-ounce glasses or small cupping bowls. You will need three for each coffee to be cupped. If cupping five coffees, you’ll need 15.
• Coffee trays. Use rectangular plastic trays that hold whole-bean samples. You will need one for each coffee.
• Cupping Spoons. Use deep-bowled spoons designed for slurping and cooling samples.
• A Cupping Form. Use to record and log your results in a consistent manner.
• Whole-Bean Coffee. You will need enough for three cups each–six tablespoons–plus an allowance for misgrinds.

Procedure

Bring fresh water to a rolling boil and let it rest. Place your five-ounce glasses or cups on a table in groups of three, one set for each type of coffee to be cupped. Use one coffee measure–two tablespoons of beans–per cup. Grind each coffee sample to a fine consistency and place it in a cup. A burr grinder achieves the best consistency; however, you can also use a blade grinder. Make certain each sample is ground to the same exact fineness and that the grinder is clean and free of stale coffee oils.

Sniff each coffee sample and log your findings on a cupping evaluation form. Pour water that is just off the boil directly onto the ground coffee. Allow the samples to steep for four minutes. Grab your cupping spoon and gently ‘break the crust,’ allowing the aromatics to escape. Glide the spoon back and forth to stir the grounds. This motion will allow the finer grounds to settle on the bottom and the larger ones to float to the top. Inhale deeply as you stir. Rinse the spoon in clean water and continue gliding the spoon back and forth until all the crusts are broken, sniffing carefully and logging the results. Carefully scoop the floating grounds from each sample and discard. Don’t forget to rinse the spoon between each cup so you don't cross-contaminate the flavors.

Once the brewed samples have cooled slightly, dip your cupping spoon into the first coffee. Slurp the coffee from the spoon with a deep pull. Let the coffee spray over your entire palate, allowing your taste buds to experience and recognize each flavor and nuance. Hold the coffee in your mouth without swallowing and swish it about. Some cuppers like to exhale through their noses while doing this. Finally, purse your lips and spit the coffee into another vessel whose sole purpose is for discarded samples. You can use a large coffee mug that you hold in your hand and bring to your mouth for ease of use, or a spittoon designed specifically for the cupping room that sits on the floor. Aim carefully. (Don’t worry, this takes practice.)

What does the coffee feel like? Is it syrupy, full-bodied, thin or shallow? Is there a tingle or tartness? If so, this is called acidity or brightness. Is the coffee highly acidic like grapefruit juice or is the acidity more subtle like that found in grape juice? Finally, what flavors come to mind? Is the coffee nutty, spicy, peppery, or floral? Record your observations on a cupping form. Taste the coffees several times to fully explore each similarity, difference, and uniqueness. Arrange the coffees from lighter to darker roast, beginning with Latin America, Indonesia and finally, Africa. The different characteristics will become more pronounced as the coffee cools. You’ll want to return to each coffee at least once.