At-home Coffee Cupping The Newest Hobby?
Coffee cupping is an exciting process that will help you identify serious coffee gourmets.
In the movie ‘Pulp Fiction’ Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) has a notoriously inappropriate dialogue with Jimmy (Quantin Tarantino) over coffee.
Jules: *** Jimmy, this is some serious Gourmet ***. Me and Vince would have been satisfied with some freeze-dried taster’s choice, right? But he springs this serious gourmet *** on us.
Coffee cupping allows you to taste coffee beans’ true nature. And no! It is not a fancy activity associated with high-end barista gods only. Anyone who gets roused by the smell of coffee in any form can have fun coffee cupping. Let’s take a quick look at the process and why you should have checked it off your bucket list already.
What is Coffee Cupping?
Coffee cupping is the process of tasting coffee to analyze its overall quality and score it based on special flavor notes and individual characteristics like body and acidity. It is more like comparative tasting as you have to try different coffee beans side by side and let your brain focus on what sets the brews apart.
As mentioned earlier, coffee cupping allows you to taste coffee beans’ true nature without the interference of method and technique. The process works well to find the best-tasting coffee beans from a batch of similar coffees, the ideal roast profile, and the flavors you most enjoy.
A typical cupping session has various coffee samples from different farms or the same farm but with different processing methods. The sample diversity is useful when you are looking to buy the best quality coffee beans with great consistency, like coffee merchants did in the 19th century; or are simply interested in expanding your knowledge and coffee experience.
Coffee Cupping: How to do it at home
Before you grab any tool and seriously get down to cupping, keep in mind that although it is a scientific process that requires a lot of precision, it is fluid. Don’t be high-strung. Have loads of fun while paying attention to the critical specificities.
Coffee Cupping Supplies
- 20 gms of different single-origin coffees. Check out my article on the best Kenyan coffee for top brands worth sampling.
- A grinder.
- A scale
- Timer
- 160-200 ml cupping bowls (2 for each coffee sample)
- Cupping spoons
- Shot glasses
- Cups filled with water
- A container for holding cupping spoons
- A hot water kettle
- A container for collecting used coffee beans
- Coffee tasting chart.
- A cupping buddy or two.
- A notepad or any equipment for taking notes.
Coffee Cupping Procedure
Step 1: Prepare
Pick a room that is free of distractions and aromas. Collect all the supplies needed for cupping and arrange them on a table or any other large surface area.
Step 2: Grind the coffee
Grind all the coffees with a high-quality grinder. Begin by grinding 2 gms of each coffee in between to prime the grinder and ensure zero interference with each coffee’s flavor profile. Choose a high-quality grinder with a consistent grind, as you need a similar grind size for all the coffees. Grind size consistency prevents under extracted and over-extracted compounds from mixing with good flavor compounds.
Experts like Scott Rao recommend a slightly finer grind than for pour-over. If you have no clue, a medium-coarse grind is the best size for a pour-over.
Step 3: Assess the coffees’ dry aroma
Split the coffee grounds into two and place them in cupping bowls. Each bowl should have 9 gms of the coffee samples. Label the bowls to avoid confusion. Acquaint yourself with the samples by assessing their dry aromas.
Step 4: Add water
Heat up water to 200 degrees Fahrenheit then pour 150 ml into each of the cupping bowls.
Step 5: Asses the coffees’ wet aroma
Smell the coffee to assess their wet aroma without moving the cupping bowls.
Step 6: Break the crust
Wait for 4 minutes to break the crust (4 minutes is a convention, not a hard requirement; it is just a good time guideline for a balanced extraction). Grab a spoon and push the coffee grounds back. Use a different spoon to break the crust in each bowl or wash after every use.
Step 7: Discard coffee grounds
Use two spoons to remove coffee grounds and foam from the cupping bowls and discard them into the container for collecting used coffee grounds.
Step 8: Waiting
Let the coffee sit and cool for 15 minutes before you start tasting. Cool coffee has a wider range of flavors.
Step 9: Tasting
Scoop a spoonful of coffee and bring it to your mouth, then slurp so that it can spread along your tongue. Slurping allows you to get the full range of flavors. Take note of the taste and cleanse your palate with water before moving to the next cupping bowl.
Coffee Cupping Tips for Beginners
Cupping can be intensely detailed and overwhelming for a newbie. You do not want to be that cupping buddy who feels they are aiming for something that isn’t there at the end of the process. Here are a few hacks for acing the process;
1. Start small.
Way too many samples all at once for a beginner can be overwhelming. As a newbie, you will have difficulty differentiating a bunch of coffees lined up unless you have a naturally good palate and flavor memory. To avoid palate fatigue, start with 2 or 3 cups of 2 or 3 coffees. Do AB comparisons of the coffee-tasting cornerstones like sweetness, acidity, and fruitiness. Assess the characteristics of each coffee with a checklist approach to avoid confusion. Is it sweet, acidic, floral, or fruity? Do the same for the other coffee and compare the results.
2. Coffee type and quality
The main goal of cupping is to get standardized comparisons of different coffees, hence why single-origin coffees are best recommended. As for the quality, be keen on the peak flavor window for the best results. Check the roast date on your beans. Light roasts are often hard to extract when too fresh and are known to reach peak flavor after 2 to 3 weeks. With medium and dark roasts, the peak flavor window comes sooner. You do not want them to sit for 3 weeks before use.
3. Water
Water is another potential issue with getting good extractions and a true representation of coffee flavors during cupping. Too soft water will struggle to extract the coffee, resulting in a watery and light coffee. Conversely, too-hard water will add strong, unwanted flavors. Use well-filtered water for the cupping process. You can also standardize by buying distilled water and adding a packet of third-wave water to it.
4. Refer to a tasting wheel
According to Nescafe, coffee flavor wheel is a tool designed by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) in collaboration with the World Coffee Research to help coffee tasters identify and savor the flavors and aromas of different coffees. The wheel was not made with professionals only in mind. Anyone can use it, including newbies.
5. Get a cupping buddy
Coffee cupping is a fantastic idea for a date, especially if your person has little appreciation for repetitive mainstream romance. If you both love coffee, the fun is guaranteed. You could also do it with your friends or join the cuppers at the nearest coffee roasters. Getting different feedback from other cuppers sampling the same coffees with you will widen your perspective and increase your knowledge.
Coffee Cupping: In sum
At-home coffee cupping is a fun way of testing and assessing beans’ quality to identify your favorite flavors. The process will reveal to you the truest nature of your favorite coffees, eliminating all the factors that affect a cup’s quality. One thing you should know before you immerse yourself in the process is that tasting notes are not always accurate, and coffee roasting itself is inconsistent. You can cup a coffee that tastes amazing, but the next time you buy it, the taste is completely different. Unless they have a sophisticated roasting and inventory management system, roasters cannot consistently put out a perfect bag of coffee.