Why do we cup?

I cup, first and foremost, to trial brokers samples. For this purpose, I roast shy of the second crackle, thereby identifying any possible taints or vareital characteristics. Kanneth Devies' book, Home Coffee Roasting, contains a good quick reference guide to roast styles that charts resultant taste differences in a very clear manner. It is worth studying this to see the relation between roast levels and what/how we taste in cupping. Roasting dark will hide defects and origin features, so it is easier to evaluate a coffee's potential at a lighter roast level.

Secondly, I cup production lots in order to reaffirm our roast profile and style, to ensure nothing has gone wrong in our regular production. Have we roasted our coffees according to our own standards and expectations?

Perhaps not all bags in a shipment are the same and we will not know this unless and until we cup from every bag. Perhaps the coffee's profile has changed since the day it arrived in our warehouse? How long can we store a coffee in our climate before it either starts to go off, or ages nicely? Routine production cupping helps us gauge these questions.

Thirdly, I we should educate ourselves in different coffee types and roast styles. The more you cup, the more you learn about coffee. Only by constantly tasting different origins and roast styles will you begin to form a mental database.

Fourthly, I cup for the simple pleasure of tasting coffees, because I have the good fortune to be paid to drink the beverage I most love.

Mechanics of cupping

We cup by pouring 5 to 6 ounces of water just off the boil (count to 10 seconds after it has boiled) over 7-8 grams of ground beans. The SCAA recommends grinding finely for optimal extraction. The idea is that at this extraction rate the flavour compounds are most balanced. Whatever formula you use, make sure you do so consistently so that you are comparing apples with apples, so to speak, and tasting all samples in the same way.

First we evaluate the fragrance of the dry grounds. Since coffee starts staling immediately upon grinding, commence sniffing just as soon as you have ground your measure of beans. The longer you wait, the more the compounds dissipate. You can easily distinguish an old ground sample from a fresh one by how flat the scent is. Sweet smells hint of acidity in the cup-perhaps the most obvious characteristic to the novice. But you will be able to detect all kinds of other interesting clues in the dry fragrance such as green grassiness, baggy scents, port wine etc.

Second we saturate the grounds with water just off the boil. Wait up to four minutes for the grounds to form a crust at the top, then break the crust with a spoon. Try to inhale the first precious gases released in the process as with the dry fragrance, these will dissipate into the atmosphere after the first magic moment and you will never recapture the initial impression. Certain aromas are particularly characteristic of one growing region think citrus and Ethiopia others are hints of the taste profile to come.

When the aroma of the grounds has been well sniffed, clean them off and begin tasting. This is done in a seemingly rude fashion as loud slurps are taken to coat all the mouth's sensory points (sweet, salty, bitter, sour) with taste. Then spit, or you will be awake for hours.

Sip when it's hot, sip when it's warm, sip when it's entirely cooled. As refrigeration can hide the characteristics of a wine, so heat can mask distinctions in coffee. For the full spectrum, it is best to try it at every stage of the way. As the coffee cools, you will begin to taste differences and heaven forbid defects that were obscured by the heat.

Look for acidity, body, aftertaste, varietal distinctions and overall balance of these features. Part of you perception of taste is actually smell. As aromatic compounds turn to gas, if you slurp vigorously, you will inhale these characteristics and be able to evaluate the taste profile more fully. A detailed description of these features would exceed the allocated length of this article and they are described fully in all the reference materials mentioned.

Resources

There are many excellent descriptions of the cupping procedure available, but one in particular stands out and that's the SCAA's handbook which is available online at www.scaa.org for US$ 35.00.

Another helpful tool, particularly if you are cupping in a training context for your staff, is Jean Lenoir's Le Nezdu Café, also available from the SCAA website for US$ 350.00. whilst this figure might sound heart stopping in the first instance, it is well worth it, particularly for trainers wishing to make cupping interesting and fun for new staff from a non-coffee background. The kit comprises 36 scent bottles that contain some of the most common aromas to be found in coffee. They can give newbies a handle on a particular aroma, allowing them to commit it to memory and thus, hopefully, recognize it again in future. There is also a descriptive book, a set of cards identifying each aroma and four posters relating the aromas and four posters relating the aromas to their source, i.e., taints, sugar browning, dry distillation and enzymatic origins.

It is important to cup in a reflective and unhurried state of mind with no background noise (hand phone switched off), no chatter or conversations, no music, no perfume or strong scents. Observe silence, as your impressions should not influence other cuppers' experiences or vice versa. Best cup on a full stomach (preferably late morning), but not after spicy food. Refrain from drinking alcohol and smoking just prior as these substances, like spices, dull the senses. Having said that, some people's palates are naturally more sensitive than others (super tasters). You need to gauge your own palate's receptivity through trial and error.

Aim to build your own memory bank of taste sensations. If you can remember a salient feature of each coffee, it will give you a mnemonic handle to grasp the next time you taste this or a similar coffee. Thus you slowly build up a database/vocabulary of coffees in your olfactory memory. As we are not all naturally super tasters, we have to train our palates and taste memories.

To use the obvious example of those gorgeous Ethiopians again: I have Lemon Pledge fixed firmly in my mind as an association with Ethiopia. Hold on to a memory or reference that you associate an aroma with and draw upon it again in future to remind you of what the coffee was.

Cup, cup and cup some more

If you are in the retail trade, non-traditional cuppings are also important to evaluate how your coffees are being prepared in the field. Taste your espressos, taste your brewed coffees. Here you are dealing with a whole host of other factors beyond the quality of the coffee or roast levels and methods. You have water quality, filtration systems, temperature and pressure to contend with. Coffee grind, dosage, tamping, time lapsed since brewing machine cleanliness etc, etc. taken this many degrees away from its purest form, anything could affect the taste of the coffee. Still you have to cup to see how the quality shines through or not to the end user. All things being equal and your variables being constant, you should be able to determine if your roast has come through to the consumer's cup showing off its best features.

The advantage of the traditional cupping method is it shows coffee in its purest taste testing state. So to evaluate the coffee and nothing but the coffee, you need to cup traditionally.

A final word, for those of you passionate about and making your livelihoods in coffee : Never Stop Cupping. When I left San Francisco after three months' training with Arnold Spinelli a number of years ago, I asked him for a final word of advice to take home with me. He told me to keep tasting, to keep cupping. This would be the best advice given cup, cup and then cup some more, it is the only way to learn coffee.