How to evaluate the quality of your coffee. Part 3: Cupping
“Mmmm, what an aroma! I bet this cup tastes amazing as well!“
Cupping is the last and (for a lot of us) maybe the most excting step of the quality control. It uncovers the final layer of your beans. It seems easy to set up proper cupping table and make cupping notes. It is a very important decision in your buying or production process, which has an impact on your business. So do it right!
This article is the last part of the QC trilogy by Julia Rebecca Richardson. Get inspired by Julia, the coffee professional with years of experiences in Quality Control lab at a coffee import company.
Over to Julia:
cupping is a must
For a QC lab manager it’s important to cup offer, pre-shipment and arrival samples. If you’re a roaster, you cup also each roast to ensure it is up to your standards. Cupping gives you an understanding of your coffee and provides an important feedback. It helps to track progress or backtrack potential quality issues.
Production cupping table at Kaffa roastery, Oslo
Read more on this in article on How to store green coffee.
Coffee Grading System
To grade specialty roasted coffee, the cupping evaluation is a 0 to 100 scoring system. A general expectation is that specialty coffee will score a minimum of a total of 80 points, scoring less than 8 in any category indicates negative traits, and less than 7.5 in any category will generally disqualify a coffee. The categories can be divided up into 4 different steps as stated by SCAA:
Step #1 - Fragrance/Aroma
The score is based on a wet/dry evaluation. First done within 15 minutes of grinding the coffee, and then done when breaking the crust.
Step #2 - Flavor, Aftertaste, Acidity, Body, and Balance
When the cup has cooled to 160F/71 C or 8-10 minutes
Step #3 - Sweetness, Uniformity, and Cleanliness
As the cup reaches room temperature below 100F/37 C
Step #4 - Scoring
After all the samples have been evaluated, you tally up the score.
Total Score Quality Classification
90-100 = Outstanding - Specialty
85-99.99 = Excellent - Specialty
80-84.99 = Very Good - Specialty
< 80.0 = Below Specialty Quality - Not Specialty
Detailed version of cupping protocol: https://www.baristahustle.com/cupping-protocols/
The Espresso lab Roastery likes listening to the music during their QC procedures.
My Cupping Routine
CUPPING ROOM
I ensure the space is clean, distraction free, I do like a little mood music for the set up and introduction, but once the cupping starts, silence is best.
Equipment
Cupping table, cupping spoons, trays, cupping numbers, scale, grinder, kettles, cupping cups, timer, cloths.
TIP:
Invite colleagues, guests, buyers and friends to cup. Notify cuppers when you’re about to grind the coffee. You can create a cupping session on an online platform such as Cropster and invite guests, hand out SCAA cupping sheets or provide blank pieces of paper with pens for notes and scoring.
Cupping session with friends and colleagues.
REQUIREMENTS
Coffee samples are roasted within 24 hours of cupping.
Following the Golden Cup Standards, I use 11.5g of coffee per 200ml of water
My coffee table set up goes from most basic to most acidic, and sub-categorize washed first, honey in the middle and naturals always last.
I prefer to do cuppings blindly, even if we know the purpose of the cupping. I associate numbers with each coffee, and I hide the labels until the end of the cupping.
For buying and quality control purposes, I like to have the remainder of the roast in a tray with greens easily accessible, in case a client is interested in inspecting the roast or greens.
Preparation
how many cups
Depending on the size and purpose of the cupping, I usually do 2-3 cups per coffee sample. With cups of clean hot water at every other cup, followed by clean cloths, paper towels and spit cups.
ratio
I then weigh up 11.5 g of roasted whole bean coffee sample in cupping cups. I may make adjustments +/- in grams used, depending on whether the sample was roasted on a production roaster or a sample roaster, there is a different extraction.
Tip: To make sure you’re hitting the mark, I recommend investing in a refractometer such as VST or Atago, and aim for an extraction yield of 18 %-22 %. I use 200g cupping cups.
grinding
The coffee should be ground no longer than 15 minutes before water hits the cup.
Once the cupping table is set and the coffees are weighed, I then notify the guests and begin grinding. I personally use the Mahlkonig EK43 and purge the grinder with extra sample material between each different type of coffee.
SCAA recommends that the grind particle size should be slightly coarser than typically used for paper filter drip brewing, with 70 % to 75 % of the particles passing through a U.S. Standard size 20 mesh sieve.
DRY AROMA
While the guests do a dry sensory analysis of the coffee samples and make appropriate notes, I prepare the water. The water should be freshly drawn, odor free, not distilled or softened, with a pH between 7.0 and 7.4 and a level of buffer no higher than 70 ppm. Bring the water to approximately 200F/93C.
pour & time
Each cupping glass holds 200g of water, start your stopwatch and begin pouring until the lip of the glass or use a scale. Wait 4 minutes before breaking.
Cupping of arrival samples at Nordic Approachh.
Once the 4 minutes is up, take a cupping spoon and posture your nose close to the cup. Do 3 to 4 smooth motions of the spoon to break the crust. Take in a sensorial analysis, and take note. Clean the cup.
From pour to cupping, I typically wait approximately 8-10 minutes, 13 minutes being the absolute maximum. During this time, I may briefly discuss a producer or origin with the guests, some aspects of the coffee without giving away specific information about the cup.
And don’t forget to follow hygiene! Ensure that you clean your spoon between each sample. In the time of COVID-19 there are some adjustments to cupping rules. Read more about it on SCAA website.
NOW YOU CAN TALK
Enter your data, score the coffee and when everyone is done: have a good discussion!
I personally like to approach cupping as an opportunity to be humble and open for learning. There are times when you need to be with your calibrated team, and make focused, quick and important decisions. There are other times when you will be digging into the coffees and profiles and need more time to reflect, discuss and evaluate with co-workers. And there are times when you’re in a mixed crowd of experienced and newcomers. All should feel welcomed, appreciated and valued for their opinion, as everyone can offer a fresh perspective.
Morten and Kaya from Nordic approach cupping together and sharing thoughts about the samples.
Keeping data
Lastly, it is important to record and archive all the data. Keeping it in an organized and user-friendly document makes it easy not only for yourself, but for your teammates as well. You will find it helpful when looking back in order to be able compare how the taste developed from roast to roast. As mentioned before: Data tells the story.
Read more about Quality Control Routines:
