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Coffee Cupping Your Way to a More Discriminating PalateJanuary 25th, 2009 By Andréanne Hamel and Luc Cloutier Do you consider yourself to be a true coffee connoisseur? If so, you might want to consider attending a coffee cupping event or even hosting one yourself. In fact, hosting your own event is a great way to stretch your taste buds while also socializing with some of your fellow café aficionados. What is cupping?Simply put, coffee cupping is a method that involves tasting and evaluating different types of coffee beans based on its characteristics. By tasting a variety of different beans from different regions, you can teach yourself to identify where the beans were grown and what sets beans from one region apart from the beans of another area. Although beans from various regions have their own unique characteristics, there are always those that will surprise you when you find out where they came from. Nonetheless, by keeping an open mind and comparing various beans at the same setting, you will refine your palette and be able to easily differentiate beans based upon some key characteristics. What are the characteristics evaluated at a cupping event?There are several different characteristics that are evaluated during a cupping event. These include all of the following:
The acidity of a bean, which is usually best determined when drinking a cup of coffee that is lukewarm, refers to the sensation the drink creates under the edges and at the back of your mouth. This is not the same as being sour, so it can be difficult to fully understand how to recognize acidity. In the simplest of terms, a sour brew is undesirable while acidity is what makes a cup of coffee come to life in your mouth. Just as with wine, a coffee's acidity can be elegant, round, edgy, wild, mild or intense. The aroma, or smell, of the brew is what helps give it a nutty, floral or fruity flavor. Without aroma, our tongues would only be able to tell if something was salty, sour, sweet or bitter. With aroma, on the other hand, you can pick up the subtle differences between various types of beans. The body, which is sometimes referred to as the coffee's "mouthfeel", refers to how it actually feels while in your mouth. More specifically, it refers to the thickness or weight of the drink while in your mouth - similar to how drinking whole milk feels different from drinking water. While sweetness may seem self-explanatory, this aspect of tasting is not as simple as determining whether the brew is sweet or not. Rather, it is about providing the right amount of sweetness to help the drink achieve the proper balance that allows all of its flavor to shine through. As the name implies, the finish is the final impression you are left with after sampling a particular type of bean. A coffee with a good finish to should be clean and refreshing, while maintaining its flavor for ten to fifteen seconds after taking a sip. How can I host a cupping event?Hosting a cupping event is quite simple. You don't have to run out and purchase one of the top espresso machines such as a Breville Café Roma espresso machine or purchase a traditional machine such as the Bialetti espresso maker in order to host a successful event. Rather, you simply need a tea kettle for boiling water, a few different types of coffee beans, a grinder, and cups. After grinding your beans to a medium-coarse ground, simply fill a cup with two heaping teaspoons of the ground beans and then add 6 ounces of 200 degree water. Allow the grounds to steep for two to three minutes while paying special attention to its aroma and then break the crust that has formed at the top of the brew before using a spoon to slurp a sample of the drink. Be sure to swirl the drink around in your mouth for a while before spitting it out into a different cup. Then, rinse your mouth out with water before sampling another bean. It won't take long for you to notice the differences each of the beans has to offer! |
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