Coffee cupping, it’s not just for aficionados anymore. Just like wine tastings, coffee cuppings have become a fun way to get out there and try new coffees and learn about their origins, their flavor compositions, and how to describe them.
In the not so distant past, it was only coffee buyers, roasters, and baristas who spent their time sniffing, slurping, and finding the best words to describe their findings with patient dedication. But now cuppings at independent cafes attract connoisseurs and newbies alike to rub elbows together and learn from each other.
“Though wine tastings seem to have become less pretentious in recent years, it’s still rare to hear a top varietal compared to Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. But at coffee tastings — known to aficionados as cuppings — there is no prescribed lexicon, and a lot more room for whimsy,” says Hannah Wallace of The New York Times in her article Do I Detect a Hint of…Joe?
If you have never heard of cupping, by now you are starting to get the idea of what we are talking about here, but you may still be wondering, what is it and why do we do it? Essentially, cupping is a method of assessing different characteristics of a particular coffee bean. It allows us to compare coffees by using our basic senses to grasp their basic taste and appreciate some of its finer points or point out its flaws. The method by which we do this is fairly simple, and there is no right or wrong way to do it.
When you go to a coffee cupping, they will have the coffees brewed for you, leaving you to simply enjoy yourself. The first step is to smell it. Often, cuppers will take a spoon and do something called “breaking the crust.” During the brewing process, a thick “crust” of grounds will settle on top of the sample cup. Here you will place your nose very close to the cup and puncture the crust with a spoon and inhale the aroma that wafts up. Once you have broken the crust on all the samples, the remaining top grounds are skimmed off the top. Then the tasting begins.
Now the cuppers will take their spoon and slurp it into their mouths while inhaling gently. This allows the coffee to “spray” across the tongue while the aroma wafts up into the nose (this is very similar to what happens in wine tastings). It is perfectly acceptable to spit your coffee out as you go along, but often swallowing will give one insight into aftertaste and finish.
During a cupping session, most pros like to keep silent while tasting and jotting down notes, and only after everyone has tasted each sample, will they get together and discuss their findings. This is done mostly because the human mind is susceptible to suggestion, and if someone says “this tastes like caramel,” you might instantly taste caramel as well.
The biggest challenge beginning cuppers have is coming up with good descriptions of what they are tasting, and although there is absolutely no right or wrong answer, there are some good guidelines to start with when tasting and then you can let your imagination take you from there. To see these terms visit http://www.coffeeterms.com/coffee-cupping-and-tasting.htm and then go out there and find a cupping, or have a cupping party right in your home!
Written by Krysti Kokot for Maui Coffee Roasters
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