The liberalisation of the coffee industry in India during 1993-96 brought in a number of changes. Cup-tasting is one area that is now being perceived as a strategic activity, with the potential to shape the perceptions of buyers about the quality of coffees from India. While there are some classical aspects to cupping, the demands of the consumer market bring in various influences. In this interview, Ms Sunalini N Menon, a Member of the Coffee Board, speaks about the business of cupping in India:

How has cup-tasting evolved in India over the past 25 years?

Cup-tasting in India, as a practice, dates back to 1967, when the Coffee Board took the pioneering step of establishing a department for Quality Control. Mr. Ramunni Menon was selected to spearhead this department - he was trained overseas in Germany on the specific processes of organoleptical evaluation. When he returned in 1970 he set up the cup-tasting laboratory and recruited people to staff the unit. I joined in 1971 and was one of two trainee coffee tasters. My colleague and I, with backgrounds in food science, were able to relate easily to the chemistry of coffee. We trained for five years in-house in India; then followed a stint overseas. The Coffee Board thus laid a solid foundation for the discipline by ensuring that the practitioners were well versed in all the aspects of cupping. The Coffee Board is surely the fountainhead from where all the expert cuppers in India have emerged and have learnt their craft.

I took over as head of the department in 1977 and one of the first challenges was to introduce cupping into the field. Back then, growers believed that cupping was subjective, and that it could not properly define a type of coffee or become a term of reference for a buyer. Kenya has had a long tradition in cupping, or liquoring, as it is sometimes termed, but for us in India, this first decade was an experimental stage. Some of the best cuppers in the world come from African countries and I have found we could learn a lot from them. Africa grows both arabica and robusta and their experience is particularly relevant for us in India.

While absorbing the tenets of cupping from both producing countries and consuming countries, the key issue was to develop a process methodology for cupping that would be relevant to India. We have created a practice that is entirely suited to our country - we have developed the quality standards, the norms, the cupping vocabulary and terminology. We translated what the buyer wanted into actual application on the ground.

Coffee tasting was unheard of in India even in the 1970s…tea tasting was well known - as also tea auctions - because tea operated in an open market. Coffee in India was a controlled commodity, and by virtue of the pooling system, the Coffee Board took on the sole responsibility of maintaining quality control. The quality lab was a service provided to growers, but even so, the prevailing attitude amongst growers was that cupping meant another stricture, even worse, that it was arbitrary! The point to note is that the initiative taken by the Coffee Board - the impetus to cup-tasting - was with the belief that cupping could provide a framework for coffee quality.

The acceptance of cupping amongst growers has been a welcome development, and now more than ever, the quality control outcomes are well understood. To a large extent, it is the forces of the free market that are now influencing the responses of growers, who are now discovering how cupping can contribute to their business growth. The big shift came with liberalisation in 1996, with cupping laboratories being set up within the private sector, and with that has come attitudinal change and greater acceptance.

What are the current trends in cupping in international circles?

Cupping has always been an integral part of the buying process, a pivotal activity - the heart of coffee is perceived to be in the cup! Chemical analysis apart, it is well accepted that the human palate can "read" quality like no other method, and so, the art of cupping got established.

However, consumer tastes, and therefore the requirements, keep changing. For instance, today you might like a sweet chocolate, another time you might prefer a bitter chocolate. Espresso was not there in India even 10 years ago - filter coffee was the norm - today the demand for espressos is universal. So the buyer has to adapt to changing requirements - the 'flavour of the month' so to speak. You might even say there is a fashion element, with roasters wanting to "design" coffees with a new look, a new texture. With consumers constantly looking for novelty, a new coffee experience, the buyer has to come back to the taster to get help in fine-tuning his product offer. With the specialty coffee movement, and with the need to imbue coffee with more excitement, the taste factor has become critical.

Buyers source coffees from all over the world so blending is a very specific art. A buyer will come and say "I want a coffee that is mellow, but with a hint of spice". So it becomes a challenge for the coffee taster to interpret the specs, and provide feedback to the grower so as to obtain coffees with the desired attributes. A clear palate, with a nuanced understanding of requirements is a must for a coffee taster.

Can cup-tasting play a strategic role in improving the quality of coffees from a particular country?

Most certainly. With country 'origins' becoming an important factor in international trade, there is greater recognition of the quality aspects of coffee from a particular country, which has a lot to do with the cultural practices. There may be differences in the coffees from various regions within a country, but an overall quality standard - a country standard - has to be established, and cupping is one of the routes to achieve this. Since buyers / roasters accept cupping as an integral aspect of their work, one way of enhancing the perceptions of coffee from a particular country is to reach out through cuppers.

To create a pervasive cupping culture in India, what are the steps that need to be taken?

The new café culture in India has created a demand for expert blending, and certainly there is more awareness of how cupping can contribute. The Coffee Board, as well as private players, now operate training programmes throughout the year. The Coffee Board has also started the nine-month P.G. Diploma Course on Coffee Quality Evaluation. The cupping competition, part of the IICF 2002, has sparked off a great deal of interest amongst growers. To my mind, all these initiatives will go a long way in spreading the good word on cupping, and will bring in more talent into the profession, besides integrating further into the grower's practices.