Recently, I shared the highlights of the Port City Java public roastery tour, which included a fascinating lecture, a tour of the roasting facility, and a home brewing demonstration. It also included a lesson in coffee cupping, which I promised to write more about at a later time. Well, good news: that time is now!
What is coffee cupping?
Coffee cupping is the practice of observing the tastes and aromas of a cup of coffee. At Port City Java, cupping professionals taste test every single batch of coffee after its been roasted and brewed, to make sure it’s up to PCJ standards, so that the Breakfast Blend you drink in Porter’s Neck is just as delicious as the one you order on Front Street.
The process, however, is not as simple as pouring a cup and taking a sip. In many ways, coffee is as complex as wine, and a good coffee cupper is as knowledgeable as a sommelier. Even the act of cupping is similar to wine tasting, as you’ll see.
How does coffee cupping work?
During the tour, we got to practice cupping with two different types of coffee, which were labeled “A” and “B.” First, we used a spoon to push aside the grounds floating in at the top of each cup and took a deep sniff, in order to experience the coffee’s aroma. Next, we lifted a spoonful of coffee to our lips and slurped it as nosily as we could. Never mind manners—the slurping ensured that the coffee coated the back of our tongue, so we could experience more of the flavors.
We finished by sipping the coffee and holding it in our mouths, measuring the mouthfeel, texture, acidity, and levels of sweetness and bitterness. If you’re a professional—known in the coffee business as a Master Taster—you usually spit after this step, since it’s not uncommon to perform this process up to 60 times a day. Since I’m not a professional, I drank both cups—the first taste was too good to let it go to waste!
What did we taste?
Because most of us were fans of coffee and not Master Tasters, our vocabulary for describing what we drank was pretty basic. “Sort of flowery,” someone said. “Bitter,” another person offered. “I’m getting some blueberries,” a woman announced, which impressed all of us. “Um,” I said, “delicious?”
Master Tasters, on the other hand, pick up many more flavors, and hearing them describe the different subtleties dancing across their tongues is a bit like listening to a someone speak in an unfamiliar language. Rather than have me translate for you, check out this taster wheel, which I saw on display at the roastery.
A perfect cup.
While I probably don’t have a future as a Master Taster, I do have the next best thing—Port City Java’s coffee cupping professionals, who can make sure each bag I brew is just the way I like it. In other words: they do all the work, I drink all the coffee. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me!
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