Our October cupping session is going to be help on Saturday the 9th of October at 6:00pm until 7:30pm. There are limited spaces available and the first twelve people will be joining us. Please RSVP through our contact page or by phone at 775.461.3113.

Cupping is a coffee tasting technique used by professionals to evaluate coffee aroma and the flavor profile of a specific coffee. To understand the minor differences between coffee growing regions, it is important to taste coffee from around the world side-by-side.

Cupping is also used to evaluate a defective coffee or to create coffee blends.

Coffee Table Preparation

In our coffee cupping session, the table will be set up with 3 to 4 differing coffee samples. These are fashioned in a triangular manner. At the top of this triangle will be place a sample of the roasted coffee and a sample of the green coffee. In the center of the table there will placed a cup of room temperature water and an empty cup containing the cupping spoons. The roasted sample and the green sample will be covered until the cupping session is over and the coffee aroma, fragrance, and flavor profile have been documented. After this time, the coffee samples will be uncovered and additional comments can be written based on appearance. This method will help reduce the common "eye cupping" technique.

Coffee Sample Preparation

To prepare the coffee samples, we will placing 2 tablespoons of freshly roasted and freshly ground coffee in a 6 oz cup. The coffee used will be a light roast. This allows us to fully evaluate the coffee for defects and for the sweetness and aroma that are burned off at darker roasts.

Coffee Fragrance and Aroma Analysis

The next step is to smell the coffee grounds and write down your observations. The smell of the grounds (before water is added) is referred to as the fragrance.

Then we will be adding hot water--just off the boil--to each cup. Smell each cup without disturbing it and write down your initial observations of the coffee aroma.

After four minutes, we will break the crust of the coffee using a cupping spoon. Put your nose directly over the cup and push the coffee down. This is the most potent burst of aroma you will have during cupping and is the best time to evaluate the coffee aroma. As you break the crust stir the cup a little to make sure all of the coffee is covered in water and to help the coffee sink to the bottom of the cup. Add any further description of the aroma to the description you wrote before breaking the crust.

Coffee Flavor Analysis

After the coffee has cooled sufficiently take some coffee into the spoon and slurp the coffee 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 powerful tasting tool. You want all of your Olfactory senses working together.

After each coffee taste test, write down your observations of coffee taste, acidity, aftertaste, and body. We will then move on and try to compare the different cups.