Cupping: How To Determine The Best Possible Coffee Bean.

Posted on | January 14, 2010 | No Comments Yet, Your Thoughts Are Welcome

 

 

In order to pick the best possible coffee beans, many coffee buyers and roasters use a technique called coffee “cupping”. Cupping is one of the coffee tasting techniques used by coffee buyers and roasters to evaluate coffee aroma and the flavor profile of a coffee. To understand the minor differences between coffee growing regions, it is important to taste coffee from around the world side by side.

In a coffee cupping session, the table is usually set up with 6 to 10 cups per coffee.  These are fashioned in a triangular manner.  At the top of this triangle you should place a sample of the roasted coffee and a sample of the green coffee.  In the center of the table place a cup of room temperature water and an empty cup containing the cupping spoons. Cover both the green sample and roasted sample until the cupping session is over and the coffee aroma, fragrance and flavor profile have been documented. After that the coffee samples could be uncovered and additional comments can be written based on appearance. This method will help reduce the common eye cupping” technique.

The key to cupping coffee is practice and humility. The best cuppers are modest and always eager to learn more. Do not be intimidated by people that try to impress you with some abstract description of a coffee. This is more of a romantic tribute to a coffee rather than a reality. Cupping coffee should be fun and interesting, but not a contest of who is more articulate. On the other hand, your description should be more substantial than a reiteration of a textbook definition of a coffee.

Broad differences stand out on a coffee-educated palate as clearly as do sugar and salt. It would be difficult for even a half-trained palate to mistake a Kenya for a Sumatra, for example, or a Yemen for a Guatemala. On the other hand, subtler differences can be striking, but are difficult to communicate and, above all, may not be consistent from crop year to crop year or from farm to farm. No sane coffee professional would pretend, for example, to be able to consistently describe the difference between a Guatemala Antigua and a Guatemala from another part of the country, or between an estate Costa Rica and an estate Panama, or even, as was clear in a recent scandal in which Panama and Costa Rica coffees were sold in place of Hawaii Kona, between a Panama, a Costa Rica, and a Hawaii Kona.

The secret to becoming a good coffee cupper is simple: trust yourself by practicing regularly and be humble enough to continue to learn from others.

SOS eMarketing is an internet marketing business, specializing in food and coffee marketing utilizing email marketing, integrated eMarketing, internet marketing, and social marketing tools. 

With over 20 years experience in food and coffee marketing, SOS eMarketing has a proven track record in increasing our client’s sales and awareness of their brands. Our industry expertise includes Specialty Coffee Marketing, Food & Beverage Marketing.

For more information on integrated eMarketing programs for small business contact SOS eMarketing.

David Schwartz
SOS eMarketing
Specialty Coffee + Food Marketing
760.345.5069
sosemarketing@gmail.com
www.sosemarketing.com
Facebook http://bit.ly/cX5YQS
Twitter http://twitter.com/MarketingXprt
Linkedin http://www.linkedin.com/in/sosconsulting

Comments

For access to our expertise and insights, sign up for our Email Newsletter

Admin

• Log in
• Wordpress
• XHTML