Qu'est-ce que le cupping ? Qu'est-ce que le cupping ?

What is cupping?

Cupping is a coffee tasting method that originated in Brazil and is used by professionals around the world.

Based on the SCA (Specialty Coffee Association) precise protocol, cupping is the essential method for green coffee buyers and roasters to assess the quality and aromatic profile of a coffee with the greatest possible precision. 

Let's now look at the different steps of cupping. 

  1. Grind the coffee coarsely, place it in cupping bowls (12 grams per bowl) and smell the freshly ground coffee. This step is called the "dry aroma".
  1. Pour boiling water(between 90 and 94°C) over the entire grounds and up to the rim of the bowl. From this step, a maximum of 17 minutes must pass until the end of the session.
  1. After 4 minutes of brewing, break the coffee grounds crust that has formed on top using the back of the spoon then smell the aroma that emerges. 
  1. Remove then the foam and excess grounds remaining on the surface using two spoons and smell again. This is the "wet aroma" step. 
  1. Wait 6 to 8 minutes for the coffee to cool and "open up": if it is too hot, you will not yet detect its aromatic profile.
  1. After 12 minutes, it's time for tasting. Fill your spoon and slurp  to aerate and spread the coffee over your palate. It is recommended to go around the table several times to taste the coffees 2 to 3 times at different temperatures (hot, warm and cold). This allows you to see the evolution of the coffee.
  1. The scoring! Each coffee tasted is reviewed then evaluated. 

After the methodology, the practical guide…

We have just seen the methodology for performing a cupping but all this does not tell us how to discover, describe or even analyze our coffee. 

So here are the details of the characteristics found in coffee once cupped. 

  • Aromas, these are the scents identified at the dry aroma and wet aroma. They come from everyday terms such as fruits, flowers…
  • Flavors, once the aromas are determined, we can start tasting and identifying the flavors present in the coffee. The idea is to measure the levels of acidity, bitterness and sweetness of the coffee.
  • Body, it refers to the tactile sensation in the mouth, the texture that the coffee leaves on the palate and on the tongue. 
  • Finish, this term corresponds to the persistence of the coffee in the mouth, i.e. the aftertaste that remains on the palate and the tongue once the coffee is swallowed (or spat out). 

At Shoukâ

 At SHOUKA, cupping will be a primary tool for controlling the quality and aromatic profiles of our coffees.

We already use cupping to select our green coffees. Thus, the potential of each coffee is studied as precisely as possible.

Thanks to the different notes attributed to the coffee, it will be easier to determine the extraction method to favor for each coffee.

Cupping will also serve us to validate the roasting profiles of each coffee and ensure that our choice is indeed the most relevant.

Did you know?

Coffee beans for a cupping are usually less roasted than the coffee put on sale.

Furthermore, the vast majority of coffees available in supermarkets have not been roasted for cupping.

Although it is entirely possible to do a cupping with coffee that is a bit too roasted, you will have more difficulty differentiating the aromas and flavors.

Written By : Shoukâ

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