by Brian Vandenbroek
As coffee beans move from harvest to importer, they pass many tests to ensure their quality. After roasting, tasters put the beans through one last test. Coffee tasting, also called cupping, is how professionals evaluate the coffee. As with wine, coffee is evaluated on flavor, aroma, body and acidity
for each cupping, a batch of beans is roasted and ground. However, a pot of coffee is not made. Instead, grounds are placed in each cup. Not quite boiling water is added. The grounds soak up the water and float to the top, forming a crust. The taster uses a spoon to stir his coffee and break the crust. A sniff is taken to catch the coffee's aroma and finally, the coffee gets slurped. Slurping the coffee is important as it mixes oxygen with the coffee, releasing all of its flavor.
You might want to try cupping at home. There are a lot of coffees out there and many of them don't come cheap. So, if you're like me you might want to sample some different coffees one day to find one you really like. But don't worry, you don't need to be a professional cupper to do the job.
Go to your favorite grocery store or coffee shop. buy some of those coffees you've been looking at. Grind each coffee to a medium grind. Don't grind it fine or you'll get too much coffee out of your bean and it'll taste bitter.
Fill your cup with 2 heaping tablespoons of coffee grounds.
Heat water to boiling. Take it off the heat and let it come off the boil for a couple minutes. Pour about 6 oz near boiling water in each cup.
Steep your coffee 2-3 minutes. The grounds will float to the top and form a crust. While the coffee steeps, sniff it, looking for sour smells. A sour aroma indicates your coffee is old or rancid.
Give the coffee a gentle stir, breaking the crust. Take another whiff as you stir. Latent aromas are often released as you agitate the coffee.
Fill your spoon with coffee, avoiding the grounds. Slurp coffee into your mouth. This mixes air and coffee, releasing otherwise unnoticed flavors.
Swirl the coffee around in your mouth, getting a feel for the flavors. Spit the coffee out, rinse your mouth with water and repeat the process with remaining brews.
You want to judge your coffee based on aroma, flavor, body and acidity. Coffee should be full in body, not thin and watery. Flavor should be rich with aromas including roastiness or chocolate. Coffee low in acidity tends to come off as flat or dull.
Doing a little cupping at home is a great way to try different coffees. After all, if you're going to get charged for what coffee costs you owe it to yourself to enjoy what you drink. So try the coffees out. Have some fun and experiment. It'll be so worth it if you do.
Learn more about this author, Brian Vandenbroek.
