# Cupping



## chrisweaver_barista (Jun 14, 2008)

Hey guys.

One of the most important part of coffee tasting, for a lot of links in the chain, is the cupping of coffee. An act that is almost ritualistic in its methodology and acclaim. How many of you have actually tried this.

The reason I ask, is that when I release my podcast next week hopefully, I want to include a "cup-a-long" session, whereby I will be cupping three coffees, live, with 3 beginners, and I welcome you guys to join us.

The coffee's we will be cupping are a Bolivian Machacamarca, an Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, and an El Salvafor Finca La Fany.

These are all availabile from www.hasbean.co.uk, and for the sake of balance, many other coffee roasters









Chris


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Great topic Chris.

Cupping in the UK is still in its infancy with very few cafes or roasters holding cupping evenings to educate the budding enthusiast or build the knowledge of the industry professional.

Cupping allows you to evaluate coffee on a level playing field, following the same process for preparation time after time.

There are 4 steps to follow;

1. Grind & Smell - smell the freshly ground beans - take in their aroma

2. Add hot water to the grounds and once again smell the grounds, taking in the aroma as they steep

3. Break the crust - A "crust" of grounds forms on the top of the coffee. Use your spoon to break through this and smell the coffee once again

4. Remove the 'crust' and taste the coffee using a specialist cupping spoon (or a soup spoon if you do not have one) and slurp/swish the coffee around in your mouth to aerate it and release the flavours.

When slurping and swishing the coffee around you'll notice subtleties you never thought could exist.

A copy of the flavour wheel will be handy at this point, as will your coffee notebook or journal.


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## SeamusMcFlurry (Jul 9, 2008)

What a great idea. I've recently begun to really try and taste different coffees. Though this tends to be from a french press, I'd love to try some cupping. Might have to invest in some of those beans and have a go lol


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## chrisweaver_barista (Jun 14, 2008)

Well slight change to this, it's just going to be me and my boss cupping, but still worth joining in on!!

It can be quite hard to find the motivation to cup on your own, in fact you may even feel silly doing it. The the fact of it is, its a fantastic way to really taste coffee.

If you really aren't confident with cupping however, another fantastic way to go, and to be honest, a way that seems to produce a very similar cup to cupping, is to use the chemex! Which is like a filter coffee method, but with specially designed filter papers.

The Chemex


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## brewjester (Nov 12, 2008)

How would one go about setting up a cupping session? Do you need different Presses or filters? I'm just curious about it. I heard the Podcast and wondered if I could do one myslef with the 3 different coffees I currently have. Thanks for the input.


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## chrisweaver_barista (Jun 14, 2008)

Oohh, that is a great question fella. There's basically two ways to go about cupping. The first, and traditional method doesn't actual use any filters whatsoever. Here is a bit of a step by step.

Firstly, prepare your cups, and things you'll need for the cupping. For each coffee you hope to cup, you'll want a cup, preferably bowl shaped, like a good cappuccino cup. I use 12oz cups at work, but 8-12oz will be fine. you'll also want a glass, or cup, with hot water, and a spoon, preferably a soup spoon for each coffee.

Measurement wise, you are looking at about 18g coffee for each cup. This is approx 3/4 demitasse of beans. You're looking for a course grind, maybe slightly courser than for espresso. grind straight into the cup you are hoping to cup from. Grind the three coffees into the three cups, and then place the cups down in a row, preferably each infront of the appropiate bag so they don't get mixed up.

Now comes the water, aim for water just off the boil, so about 80 degrees or so, don't pour straight from boiling, or the coffee will cry. pour slowly, making sure to wet all the grinds, and fill the cup, once the first cup is full, start a timer counting down 4 minutes. Fill the other two cups, and wait.

After four minutes, its now time to 'break the crust' this involves taking your spoon, putting it through the crust of grinds on the top of the cup, and in a circular motion, bring the spoon down to the bottom of the cup, and back up again at the other side of the cup from where you started, do this three times in each cup, whilst smelling the aroma you'll have unleashed. Do this for each coffee, using the respective spoon to avoid cross-contamination.

Now, scoop all the grinds from the top of each cup, and the 'bloom' and leave for thirty seconds or so to allow the grinds to settle in the cup. Now carefully, you can taste each coffee. Make extra sure to slurp as loudly as possible as you sip from the spoon, as this sprays the coffee against the back of your palette, giving you the best aroma and flavour of the coffee.

And there we go, the simple, but wonderful cupping procedure.

If this is a little daunting for you, hopefully it won't be, but if it is... you can try using any filter method, though I'd reccomend the one I just wrote an article for on common grind







read it at http://www.commongrind.co.uk/pour-over-method-from-common-grind/

Chris, Common Grid


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## brewjester (Nov 12, 2008)

Thanks Chris, I'll have to give a try when I get a chance. I'll look it up on your site too. I appreciate the help. I just want to learn more about coffee and anything that goes with it. Cheers!

Jeremy


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## chrisweaver_barista (Jun 14, 2008)

Well if you ever wanna hop on a plane, you can come to a common grind cupping... maybe not cost effective though!


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## YouriV (Dec 4, 2008)

silly question here and I will probably get a lot of expected answers, but why exactly do you cup Chris?

Why don't you just make the coffees the way you are going to drink them and judge them that way? If you design a blend for an espresso machine for example then why should you cup it, surely it doesn't taste the same?

We cup coffees to look for defects and a flavour profile to see how to roast etc. However, when customers want to try our coffee we always serve it to them in the way it should be brewed.

See what I mean? I hope I make myself a little clear, has been a long day!

I am not against cupping at all and it is very interesting process and great fun. However, I do believe that you could simply make 4 cafetieres and cup the coffees that way.

Would be interesting to see what you guys think about this.

Youri


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## chrisweaver_barista (Jun 14, 2008)

Well in answer to the very last comment. I don't own a french press, whereas with cupping I own everything I need.. ie. not a lot.

I cup because I feel that it can be a great way to show how the coffee will taste in most filter methods. I don't cup espresso blends, but also don't have a stable enough machine to really get the chance to play with SO espressos as much as I'd like!

Cupping I find is a great way to level the playing field, and also due to the clarity of flavours it gives me the final product I would then aim for in brewing filter coffee.

Hope this helps?

Chris


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## YouriV (Dec 4, 2008)

Do you find that the cupping taste different then the final filter brew?

Cupping is a quick way and it is basically a cafetiere coffee when you think about it...

Thanks for your answer, interesting topic.


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## chrisweaver_barista (Jun 14, 2008)

I don't think it tastes better, however its the even playing field to then show me exactly how the coffee should taste.

Plus as I don't need cafetieres, I can cup more coffees in quick succession, as as you said, as its exactly like cafetiere why not use the cupping method?









Chris


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## LeeWardle (Nov 16, 2008)

This is a really interesting thread. Why do you not cupp espresso blends Chris?.....I have done a little cupping on my own but not much so It's not a subject I know much about to be honest.......

Regards

Lee


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## chrisweaver_barista (Jun 14, 2008)

I don't tend to cup any blends, this isn't out of a choice to avoid them, as much as I am much more about trying to coffee at its rawest. I love the provenance, I love the country difference, the varietal difference, and I feel that for me, I would have nothing to gain personally from cupping blends.

I may at some point in the future cup a few blends, however I would rather drink the blends within the purpose that it was blended for, as I feel that blends tend to be a lot more purposeful than single origins!


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## LeeWardle (Nov 16, 2008)

I tried a little cupping today with the only beans I had in the house. A Union Blend, Bright Note. I know the bean well as espresso but couldn't taste any of the usual flavours in there. Do I take it then that it's quite difficult to pick out seperate notes cupping a blend? Or is it just that my pallete is more used to picking espresso apart?

I will try with some single origins at work tomorrow.

Regards

Lee


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## SeamusMcFlurry (Jul 9, 2008)

I tried one at home, and tasted nothing in anything. Went to a professional one and was picking out the most subtle flavours...it's wierd. Maybe I just haven't gotten the nack yet lol


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## brewjester (Nov 12, 2008)

I just did my first cupping today with 2 grocery store coffees. One was a Kona Light Roast and the other a Colombian Supremo coffee also light roast. I could taste some diferences in them. I smelled citrus and some floral in the Kona, but just floral in the Colombian. Kona was bright, slightly acidic, and a very light body, it just dissapated on my tongue. The Colobian was different, little more mellow, more acidic, medium body, and nice clean, dry finish, kind of like Guiness.

Thanks for the tips. I hope to grow my knowledge on coffee and cupping. Cheers!

Jeremy


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## LeeWardle (Nov 16, 2008)

I still havn't got around to spening a few hours cupping at work. We have a warehouse full of single origin/single estate beans. COuld be really interesting. We also hold quite a lot of the singles that go into making the Union Blends so would be a good experiment after cupping he singles to pick them out in blends.

Lee


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## khaela_2009 (Jun 22, 2009)

that was a great idea! on that way people may differentiate the tastes of coffee such that the brand of coffee's.. also the way which coffee has the best taste in doing different preparations.. this cupping was really a good idea!


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## hightlow (Sep 8, 2009)

Thanks for the feedback. That is very useful.

Cheers and we look forward to your Forum Favourites selections!

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## michaelbenis (Apr 14, 2009)

Good idea, but I want to come in taking an opposite tack: an overemphasis on cupping has muddied perceptions and understanding about which single origins are actually acceptable for pure espresso (by which I don't mean cappuccinos, Americanos etc.). It's easy for the brightness of a SO that's not intrusive when cupping to become overpowering in espresso.


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