For the purpose of ensuring only the best coffee for our consumers, coffee testing prior to acquisition as well as tasting the produced coffee represents an important segment of everyday activities at Grand Kafa. Cup testing is a technique used by cuppers to evaluate the flavour, fragrance and aroma of a coffee.

To understand minor differences between the coffee growing regions, it is important to taste coffee from all around the world. Cupping is also used to evaluate defective coffee or to create coffee blends.

Coffee cupping technique:

Coffee table preparation

In a coffee cupping session, the table is usually set up with six to ten cups per coffee.  The cups are fashioned in a triangular manner (same as bowling pins). A sample of the roasted coffee, a sample of the green coffee, a cup of room temperature water and an empty cup containing the cupping spoons are all placed on the table. Both the green sample and roasted sample should be covered until the cupping session is over and the coffee fragrance, aroma and flavour profile have been documented. After this time, the coffee samples could be uncovered and additional comments can be written based on appearance. This method will help reduce the common "eye cupping" techniques.

Coffee sample preparation

To prepare the coffee samples, two tablespoons of freshly roasted coffee are placed in a 1.5 dl cup. Ideally one should use 55g of coffee per litre of water. The grind should be between 1 mm and a drip coffee size. The coffee should be roasted light. The roast is usually stopped about 30 seconds into the first crack long before the start of the second crack. This allows the cupper to fully evaluate the coffee for defects and for the sweetness and aroma that are burned off at darker roasts. The roast should be similar for all of the coffees evaluated. During an important coffee cupping session, the roast similarity can be determined by using the colorimeter or visually by grinding a portion of each sample and lining the coffee samples up next to each other on a white sheet of paper.

Coffee fragrance and aroma analysis

While the filtered water is boiling, the cupper should smell the ground coffee and note his observations. The smell of the ground coffee, before water is added, is referred to as the fragrance. Then boiling water is poured into each cup and at the same time hot water is poured into the cup containing the spoons so that the spoons stay at the same temperature as the cups containing the coffee samples. The cupper should smell each cup without disturbing it and write down his initial observations of the coffee aroma. After 1-2 minutes, the cupper breaks the crust of the coffee using one of the preheated spoons. He puts his nose directly over the cup and pushes the coffee down. This is the most potent burst of aroma the cupper will have during cupping and is the best time to evaluate the coffee aroma. As he breaks the crust, he stirs the cup a little to help the coffee sink to the bottom of the cup. Any further description of the aroma is added to the description written before breaking the crust. The spoon should be rinsed in hot water and used for the next sample. Due to the high density of the lightly roasted coffee most of the grounds will sink and the rest of the grounds that continue to float should be scooped up and prepared for the next phase.

Coffee flavour analysis

After the coffee has cooled sufficiently, the cupper takes some coffee into the spoon and slurps it strongly to aspirate it over the entire tongue. It is important to aspirate strongly since you are trying to cover the entire tongue evenly. Aspirating strongly will also cause tiny droplets of coffee to be distributed into the throat and into the nasal passage. The nose can act as another important tasting tool. Most of the flavour observed in a coffee is a result of aromatic compounds present in the coffee. This effect can be demonstrated by plugging the cupper’s nose while drinking coffee. While the nasal passage is blocked, the coffee will taste similar to instant coffee due to its lack of aroma. When the nasal passage is opened, a full spectrum of flavours will immediately become evident.

After each coffee taste test, the cupper writes down his observations of coffee taste and body. Then he moves on to the next cup and compares different cups. As the coffee in each cup cools, it is often possible to detect new flavours. It is important to cup a coffee when it is both warm and when it has cooled to room temperature. If you are cupping more than two cups of coffee, it is advisable to spit out the coffee after evaluation. When cupping several coffees, it is possible to have too much caffeine, which can unfavourably influence and alter the cupper’s cupping ability.

Coffee cupping conditions

The condition of the cupping room is very important to the results achieved during coffee cupping. The room should have natural light since dim light is said to depress the sense of smell. Ideal temperature of the room would be between 20-25°C and humidity of 50-70% since excessive dryness reduces the sense of smell. The cupping environment should be quiet and no discussion should occur during the coffee tasting process. The best time for cupping is in the late morning or late afternoon, when enough time has elapsed since the previous meal and before the cupper is too hungry. Any mental distractions including sickness, lack of sleep or stress can affect the cupping results.