# Cupping session @ Avenue G, Gt Western Road, Glasgow



## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

Avenue G have started roasting their own beans at their new(ish) location on Great Western Road. They mentioned on Facebook they were having a cupping session this morning so I stuck my name down, braved the snow and headed along.

The session was run by Katelyn and Todd - both really friendly and enthusiastic. They started with an explanation of how they select their greens which led us in to cupping. There were five of us in the group and none of us had cupped before so the importance of slurping was stressed at this point and everyone encourage to be as noisy as possible.

We cupped three coffees - a Columbian, a Kenyan Thiriku and a Rocky Mountain Yirgacheffe.

We were told to smell the coffees after the water was poured in to see how they developed but everyone was still a bit tentative at this point so didn't get really go for it. I only smelled the Columbian and it smelt pretty much how you'd expect a Columbian to smell.

Then we got on the to slurping - I had the Columbian first and it was good, classic South American, chocolate, gentle orange/citrus acidity but not the sort of thing i'd be scrambling for.

Tried the Yirga next and it was outstanding - blueberries, someone said brambles, lemon, fruity, almost bergamot/floral vibes - amazing. Knockout coffee.

Last was the Kenyan, which was great too, fruity but with a bit more mouthfeel although it was totally overshadowed by the Yirga. Katelyn and Todd said they would have cupped the Columbian first, then the Kenyan and the Yirga last for that reason which was interesting.

After we had a general chat about things like coffee harvests/seasons, forecasting what you'll need/want, how coffee is graded, roasting scales, how they aim to roast (the Has Bean way of doing one roast which represents the beans as well as possible rather than a specific filter/espresso roast), Scandinavian roasts, Tim Wendleboe, brightness fatigue, a bit of talk about water/minerals etc.

For a free session it was brilliant. I'd tried cupping at home before but never got anything like that value out of it - to get the clarity of flavour and see what the bean is capable of was a revelation.

Wanted a bag of the Yirga but they sold out of it while the cupping was running so had to make do with the Kenyan. Smells amazing though.

They're planning to do these sessions once a month so if you're in the area i'd recommend checking one out.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Avenue-G-Caf%C3%A9-Glasgow/223293021018108

http://www.avenuecoffee.co.uk/


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Sounds like fun....I haven't had a bad Rocko Mountain variant yet this year, and all have been different slants due to the way they are roasted.

Part of what makes coffee such an interesting obsession ...









For me cupping tends to work better when you have a few coffee to taste and see the difference over , when cupping just the one at home i find it harder to pick stuff out , going between two or three coffees can highlight their taste through difference a lot more


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

After the other two going back to the Columbian was BORING.

Think cupping when you first open a bag would be useful as you then know roughly what you're aiming to get out it


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## GCGlasgow (Jul 27, 2014)

Sounds good, I'm not far away so will try and make it along sometime...daft question, what is cupping?


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

http://www.hasbean.co.uk/blogs/articles/6488501-coffee-cupping-a-basic-introductionhttp://coffeegeek.com/guides/beginnercupping

http://coffeegeek.com/guides/beginnercupping


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## GCGlasgow (Jul 27, 2014)

Thanks, i'll give it a visit then decide on the cupping thing.


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