Coffee Cupping – The professional tasting of coffee

Professional coffee tasting assesses aroma, smell, taste, acidity (there are over eighty different types), body (the intensity of the coffee) and often also the quality of the finish.

Cupping – What does the coffee taste like?

What does it actually mean? CuppingAnd how does it work?
Here you will learn how real professionals taste coffee, what they pay attention to, and how to "cup" your favorite espressos at home.

The term Cupping derives from the English word Cup (= cup) and refers to the tasting of different coffee roasts.
On its journey from field to cup, coffee is roasted and tasted at numerous stages in small sample roasters. Cupping is a particularly reliable method for importers and roasters to assess the quality and therefore the price of green coffee.
For the roaster himself, cupping is also crucial in order to find the right roasting profile for each type of coffee.

How does a cupping procedure work?

There are different ways to prepare for and perform a cupping.
To assess the quality of raw coffee, a light, mild roast is used – often even lighter than conventional filter coffee.
It is important that all the characteristics of the coffee remain recognizable and are not overpowered by intense roasted notes.
However, when determining a roasting profile or comparing different finished coffees, the coffee is roasted normally.

It is then ground and brewed.
For a successful cupping, all samples should be prepared under the same conditions – i.e., same grind, same quantity, water temperature and tasting time.
First, the aroma of the ground coffee is assessed. About four minutes after brewing, the coffee is tasted: the crema is broken with a cupping spoon, the aroma and released flavors are described, then – as with wine – a small sip is noisily sucked in.
Smacking and slurping sounds are expressly encouraged, as this mixes the aromas with the air and allows them to reach the nose more easily.

Over 1,000 flavorings

Since the human tongue can only distinguish between sweet, sour, bitter and salty, the sense of smell plays a central role in coffee tasting.
Professional tasters assess the aroma, acidity, body and aftertaste (or finish) of each coffee.
The standard sensory vocabulary is defined by the International Coffee Organization (ICO).

Depending on the preparation method – whether espresso, filter coffee, ristretto or other variations – different characteristics are considered desirable or disruptive:
An espresso should not be too sour, a filter coffee not too bitter, and a ristretto as strong as possible.

Anyone who wants to perform their own cupping at home can learn more about the so-called Flavour Wheel orient yourself – with an aroma wheel that helps to precisely describe the diverse aromas of coffee.