Whether you prefer to go to your favorite coffee shop in the morning and order a great cup of coffee, or you prefer to prepare the coffee yourself anywhere, the coffee you taste has a long story that begins as a seed and ends with that shiny brown drink in your cup. The most prominent and important of these stages for us at Mared Coffee, as a specialty roastery, is the “tasting” stage, in which the quality of the crops is evaluated before they reach you.
What is a coffee tasting session (Cupping)?
In a coffee tasting session (Cupping), the quality of the crop is evaluated through the individual characteristics of the crop, from the aromas and notes of each cup, based on fixed and agreed-upon standards by coffee experts around the world. Experts consider these standards a unified and consistent method of communication among them with the aim of standardizing the evaluation and communication to determine the quality of the coffee. Coffee tasting sessions are considered an integral part of specialty coffee culture and the deciding factor in purchasing decisions at all levels, whether it is a purchase of crops by the ton or by the kilogram.
How is coffee evaluated?
In tasting sessions, a system developed by the International Coffee Organization (SCA) is usually followed to provide a standardized method for coffee experts to assess crop quality and identify potential defects. In this system, the crop is evaluated with a certain number of points ranging from 1 to 100 points. The crop must be in the range of 80 to 100 points to be called a "specialty crop," and any crop below 80 points is not considered specialized. Therefore, the coffee tasting session is considered the basis for differentiating between crop quality and ranking them in specific categories.
During the coffee tasting session, participants fill out a form containing a number of key points and categories such as aroma, flavor, taste, acidity, texture, balance and overall impression. You can view the form used by us at Mard Coffee Roastery here .
It is also important to know that coffee evaluation is a personal matter that largely depends on the preferences of the person doing the tasting. They may prefer one type of coffee over another, and it is not necessary for everyone to agree with their choice. Anyone can build their own system by tasting many crops to determine the style that suits them and that they prefer.
How are the taste samples prepared?
In a tasting session, all factors in the preparation process must be constant except for the variable we want to evaluate. For example, if we want to evaluate the quality of a number of different green coffee samples, we fix the water temperature, grinding degree, roasting degree, preparation time, and preparation method, and the only variable is the type of coffee, so that the focus is on the individual characteristics of each crop. We may often need to evaluate other variables such as different roasting degrees for one crop, for example!
Often during coffee tasting sessions, samples are prepared in a number of cups, and each sample in a cup is marked with a specific sign or number in order to distinguish between the different samples and evaluate them individually without mixing them up. The tasting process is carried out according to the following pattern:
- Preparation method: The tasting sessions rely on the infusion method of preparation, excluding other common methods such as distillation, pressing, etc.
- Coffee quantity: Typically 12 grams of coffee are used per cup.
- Grind size: The coffee is ground to a medium grind, and after grinding, the ground coffee is smelled to assess its dry aroma.
- Water: The water should be at a temperature between 93-96 degrees Celsius and be constant for all cups. Each cup should be filled to the brim, or by measuring the amount of water added and distributing it across all cups, and leaving each cup to soak in water for 4 minutes. During these minutes, the aroma of the soaked coffee should be evaluated.
- Breaking the surface: After the four minutes are up, stir the surface using a spoon three times. This breaking allows us to better assess the aroma of the brewed coffee. Don't forget to dip the spoon from one cup to another so that the aromas and scents don't transfer between the cups.
- Removing the tops: After breaking the tops of all the cups, remove the tops using two spoons, remembering to dip them in water between each cup.
- Tasting the coffee: Leave the coffee to cool for 9 to 10 minutes after pouring the water so that you can taste it better without getting burned on your tongue. To taste the coffee better, taste it by sucking, as sucking allows you to spray the coffee all over your tongue. Don't forget to dip the spoon in water between cups.
During the tasting process, try to focus on the following factors to better evaluate the coffee:
- Suggestions
- acidity
- sweetness
- Body
- aromatic
- After-ingestion flavors
