cup, you cup, he cup. Okay, consistent with the Bescherelle it doesn't really combine. However, you're bound to have heard that within the mouth of an honest coffee buddy. But what's a cupping?
WHAT IS A CUPPING?
Under this sexy anglicism hiding is really the most method of tasting coffees. Responding to a particular and detailed protocol by the Specialty Coffee Association, an association that promotes specialty coffee within the world, cupping is that the essential way for green coffee buyers and roasters to guage with the utmost precision the standard and aromatic profile of a coffee. Each coffee has its own identity which is that the results of a mess of factors: variety, region, altitude, climate, nature of the soil, fermentation method, roasting profile ect. Composed of several stages, the cupping allows to get the personality of a coffee, both its olfactory properties that taste. But if the cupping seems to be something reserved for the pros, it's not the case: this practice is accessible to all or any and is even an excellent thanks to work your palate and find out the good aromatic diversity that exists between coffees.
CUPPING: the various STAGES TO ENJOY A COFFEE
Cupping is an art, or almost. to get and appreciate a coffee at its fair value, it's necessary to respect some basic rules. If you would like to form a cupping reception , you'll need: a bowl of cupping or a glass of about 20cl, a cupping spoon (4-5ml) or a round spoon, d a scale, a mill and a chronometer.
Let's go :
First, roughly mold 12g of coffee during a cupping bowl or a glass
Smell the freshly ground coffee: this stage is named the " dry nose ". It helps to spot the aromas that emerge from coffee and must be administered immediately due to the volatility of the aromas. you'll lightly tap the cup if you would like . What does one feel? Floral, herbaceous or rather spicy notes? Note everything, there's no wrong answer. It can even be memories, sort of a Proust madeleine.
Pour 94 degrees water over the whole grind and up to the sting of the bowl or glass. A crust will then form on the surface. this is often normal, and forget your aversion to the word "crust", we'll use it quite once during this article.
Let infuse 4 minutes .
Once 4 minutes have elapsed, break the crust with the rear of the spoon by "pushing" it 3 times towards rock bottom of the bowl or glass and place your nose just above to inspire the gases released by the grind.
Part of the crust will then fall to rock bottom of the bowl, remove the moss and excess grind remained on the surface and smell again: this is often the stage of the " wet nose ". Which flavors does one identify? an equivalent as during the dry stage or new ones?
Now wait 6 to eight minutes for the coffee to chill down and "open": too hot, you'll not be ready to detect its aromatic profile again (and you'll burn your tongue with the name!)
After this moment of patience, the tasting can then start: fill your coffee spoon and suck it strongly so as to diffuse aromatic molecules throughout the palate and taste buds. To avoid an more than caffeine, don't hesitate to spit during a cup, approximately on the bottom but we advise you, you'll slip.
Make a minimum of 3 passes to "cupper" at different temperatures (a jiffy of patience between each pass is enough). Cafes often reveal new facets of their personality once they warm up and a few may even be very nice once they are almost cold. you'll now compare your feelings with dry nose, wet nose and tasting. don't worry if you are doing not always find a match, there aren't always. Coffee remains a living product which will sometimes be filled with surprises
HOW TO DESCRIBE YOUR COFFEE: TASTING GUIDE
We just saw the methodology pure and hard to realize a cupping but all that doesn't tell us the way to really meet the coffee that involves us, discover it, describe it, analyze it briefly, know it. Coffee may be a rich and sophisticated product offering over 800 different aromatic compounds. Here may be a short guide to find out the way to describe your coffee during a cupping.
The aromas
The aromas are the perfumes identified with dry nose and wet nose. they're derived from terms of lifestyle like fruits, flowers, food then on. The Specialty Coffee Association and World Coffee Research also updated in 2016 an upscale tool of qualifiers to explain the aromas and flavors of coffee: the Coffee Tasters Flavor Wheel , called in French the "wheel of flavors", iconic resource and recognized within the world of coffee.
The flavours
Once the aromas are determined, one can begin to taste and identify the flavors present within the coffee. We also speak of "flavor", namely the synergy between the aromas and flavors of coffee. the thought here is to live the amount of acidity , bitterness and sweetness and to associate them with concrete terms. it's also the harmonious combination of those three flavors that contributes to obtaining a balanced cup . This balance depends on the kinds of coffee (regions, nature of the soil ...) but also methods of treatment (washed, nature, honey) and roasting selected. The acidityis often related to the term "bright" and contributes to the vitality, sweetness and fresh fruit notes of a coffee.
One can for instance find notes of citrus, apple or red fruits pertaining to a positive acidity which provides all its character to the coffee in question, without it taking precedence over the remainder and turns to the sour. Bitterness is additionally positive when it refers to notes of cocoa or grapefruit, for instance . As for the sweetness , it's for instance characteristic of so-called natural coffees (but not that), offering notes of sweet and matured fruits typical of this method of fermentation. Again, the wheel of flavors is beneficial to place in words what you detect during a cup.
The body
The body refers to the touch within the mouth, the feel that the coffee leaves on the palate and on the tongue. Is it a rather creamy, viscous, light, syrupy texture? Are you facing a juicy coffee, with a texture on the brink of that of a tea? Or, on the contrary, ahead of a silky coffee, with a velvety and generous body? for instance , a Sumatra coffee will usually offer a thick texture, a particular consistency when an Ethiopian coffee will rather leave a sense of lightness within the mouth.
The final
This term refers to the persistence of coffee within the mouth, the after taste that is still on the palate and tongue once the coffee swallowed (or spit). Indeed, the coffee remains on the taste buds with the oils it contains and counting on the coffee, the ultimate are often powerful as delicate, lasting many minutes as disappear almost instantly.
CUPPING: A TOOL to differentiate SPECIALTY COFFEES
The Specialty Coffee Association has developed an evaluation grid to work out if a specialty can be said. Evaluated first visually consistent with different criteria, importers of green coffees and Q graders then evaluate the taste qualities of coffees through cupping
The rating system is as follows:
- 90-100: Outstanding - Specialty
- 85-89.99: Excellent - Specialty
- 80-84.99: Very good - Specialty
- <80.0: Below Specialty Quality - Not Specialty
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