Coffee Analysts Hosts a Home Cupping Party

“Before we started, Dan and Spencer handed out our scoring sheets and explained that we would be blind tasting, unaware of the coffee’s origin. First we would smell the dry grounds for Fragrance. After adding hot water and waiting three minutes, we would break the crust with our round soup spoons and smell the Aroma. Then, after skimming off the floating grounds (dumping them in the coffee mug spittoons I provided), we would slurp a loud spoonful, spraying our palate, swirl it in our mouths, ruminate, then spit it out and note the Acidity (brightness, snap), Body (mouthfeel, heavy or thin), Flavor (most important for me), and Finish (how long it lingers). Then dip the spoon in water and move to the next cup. We would slurp repeatedly over 15 minutes as the coffees cooled.

They also gave us three handouts that, in retrospect, I wish I had distributed ahead of time: a Coffee Taster’s Flavor Wheel from the SCAA, an explanation of cupping skills, and — most important for our immediate task — useful vocabulary words for aroma, flavor, acidity, and body. The aroma could be floral, spicy, smoky, malty, pungent, or flat, while the flavor might be chocolaty, caramelly, earthy, pruny, cereal, cinnamon, or berryish. And that’s just a sampling.”

-An excerpt from A Home Cupping Party by Mark Pendergrast for Wine Spectator October 2013