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Coffee tasting
Cupping is a technique coffee tasters employ to assess the distinctiveness of coffees. Cupping is a useful way to discover more about the characteristics of various coffees.
For cupping, a few types of fresh whole bean coffee are required for comparison along with grinder if possible a burr grinder. A tea kettle for almost boiling water, tablespoon, and porcelain cups measuring 8 oz for each coffee, silver spoon together with a cup for sputtering out the coffee are required for the purpose of cupping. Aroma is a chief constituent of taste; hence cupping should be done in the absence of strong, perfume-like smells in the air.
Cupping process
- Each coffee should be crushed to a medium-coarse ground akin to coarse sand or unrefined sugar.
- One should be cautious in not crushing coffee finely since it will become extracted excessively and taste bitter.
One should then pack the cup with 2 tablespoons heap of the ground coffee. Six oz. of almost boiling water should be added and soaked for 2-3 minutes. The coffee should create a layer or cap over the water. While soaking, one should assess the coffee for any disagreeable odor. Unpleasant odors are awful and could be a sign of old or stale coffee.
One should then carefully crack the crust by means of the spoon by shoving the grounds back revealing the water. One should observe fine-celled foam. The absence of foam indicates that the coffee may not be fresh. Following this one should sniff the coffee since a great deal of the aroma lies hidden under this crust. One should pay proper attention to the aroma since it is extremely vital to the taste. As one persists with breaking the crust, the grounds will settle to the base of the cup. One should fill the spoon with the brewed coffee evading the grounds that float.
After this the coffee has to be slurped into the mouth with some strength. This will combine air with the coffee and scatter it uniformly all through the mouth. After this the coffee should be swirled all over your mouth to obtain an excellent sense for the general taste.
One should then spit out the coffee and clean the mouth with water prior to tasting another.
Important traits
- While tasting coffee, the important traits that one should pay attention to are acidity, aroma, body and flavor.
- Acidity - Relates to the feeling of dryness in the rear and beneath the edges of the mouth. This is a required feature and must not be puzzled with sour which is regarded as inferior quality of coffee. Acidity produces a vigorous, intense taste and in the absence of it the coffee would taste dull.
- Aroma - Devoid of aroma, one could merely experience sweet, sour, bitter as well as salty aspect of the coffee. This is where one obtains the delicate variations for example floral, nutty or fruity.
- Body- Body pertains to the manner one senses the coffee in one’s mouth, its viscosity or heaviness.
- Flavor - This is the general assessment of the three traits listed above. Flavor can be full bodied or rich, multi-favored or complex, or balanced in which no single characteristic dominates over the other.