What Is Coffee Cupping, and Why Should You Do It?
Learn to appreciate the subtler flavors of your coffee by cupping like a pro—you can do it at home.
Photo by Alex Farnum
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At our Beverly Hills café, Aharon Vaknin encourages all of his customers who purchase coffee beans to “cup” their coffee at home using the pour-over method or French press method.
Even though professional coffee cupping is more rigorous, detailed, and time-consuming than wine tasting, coffee can and should also be evaluated, or “cupped” at home by you and me and everyone who buys good quality coffee beans and would like to appreciate them beyond the “aaahhhh” moment of waking up with that first heavenly sip.
Before you cup your coffee, do not wear any lotions, colognes, or perfumes that might distract your senses. Have a notepad handy and take notes on aroma, taste, mouthfeel, and aftertaste. Use the SCA Coffee Cupping Flavor Wheel for reference.
Use good water at the right temperature (SCA standard is 200°), make sure the beans are ground properly, and brew your cup. We love our OXO Gooseneck kettle to keep the pour even and the water at the right temperature.
Start by sniffing and smelling the coffee aroma. Aroma correlates to the taste and flavor profile. Do you smell toasted almonds? An herbal earthiness? If you have brewed our Ethiopia Dry Natural beans, I can guarantee you will smell strawberries or papaya!
Next, slurp. You don’t want to burn your tongue with your first slurp, so be sure the coffee has cooled a bit!
The idea behind the slurp is to taste the coffee across the whole mouth, and also to continue to evaluate the aroma. A proper tasting technique will ensure aromatic runoff, or something Willem Boot, founder of Boot Coffee Campus describes as a “retro-nasal tasting technique.”
What do you taste, smell, and detect? A hint of baker’s chocolate or milk chocolate? An aftertaste of lemon rind? (Good coffee can often have a lemony hint. This is considered “bright” but should not taste sour.) Or does your coffee have a clean aftertaste?
Cup Like a Pro
- Plan to cup your coffee in three to five 5-oz cups for each coffee you cup, to ensure uniformity.
- Weigh coffee beans. The SCA cupping ratio is 8.25g of coffee to 150 ml of water.
- Purge your burr grinder with a small amount of coffee, then grind beans with a texture slightly coarser than for drip.
- Pour grinds into and evaluate aroma of (dry) ground coffee in cups.
- Pour water (heated to SCA standard 200°) in each of the cups as you start a timer. Make sure each cup has the same amount of water.
- After 4 minutes, break the crust with a spoon, push crust aside, and evaluate aroma. Repeat for a total of three times for each coffee.
- You may use two spoons to skim off the grounds, foam, and oils.
- After another 4 minutes, fill your spoon with the liquid, slurp the coffee, and aspirate over your tongue to taste. Spit into cup, dip spoon into clean drinking water. Repeat this step 2 more times, with a 4- 5-minute interval between each time.
Because of the way we roast our coffee, there is one flavor note Aharon Coffee will never have: the taste of charcoal. Charcoal flavor almost always can be detected in dark-roasted coffee, and it is one of the reasons Aharon advises coffee drinkers to steer clear of it.
The slurp will also inform you as to the coffee’s mouthfeel, or texture. Is the coffee bold and rich? Smooth, with a medium mouthfeel? Or is it light-bodied? Does the coffee have a balanced, harmonious play of flavors?
The wonderful thing about cupping at home is that it can give you a great appreciation for the coffee you have invested in. We believe coffee should do more than just make you feel great—it should also bring you great joy and fun.
Happy cupping!
Essential Coffee Gear
First, Do Not Boil Water
Important: Boiling water is not a friend of coffee! Depending on your preference, you want water that’s between 195 and 202 degrees, and to control that temperature, you need one of these highly precise Bonavita kettles, which warm the water quickly and pour quite elegantly.
Scales: Not Just for Geeks
Okay, we know what you’re going to say: Seriously, a scale? I am not a coffee geek! Fair enough. But if you want to make better coffee, you need to know precisely how much coffee you’re using, and the Hario is going to tell you that, measuring beans to 0.1 grams. Trust us, within days of starting to do this, it’ll seem entirely natural, and the idea of using a scoop will sound ridiculous. Bonus: You can use it to measure things other than coffee, like artisan flour.
Grind It Right, Right?
Nothing beats freshly ground coffee, and with this grinder from Bellevue, WA–based Baratza, you can choose from 40 grind settings to truly become an expert on how coarse or how fine you want your grounds.
Easy Espresso: AeroPress
When it comes to roughing it, most of us draw the line at giving up morning coffee. Luckily, there’s the AeroPress, invented by the same entrepreneur behind the Aerobie, the magical flying disk. This innovative coffee maker has garnered thousands of rave reviews for its ability to brew perfect americano or espresso in 30 seconds. Easier and more reliable than a French press, it uses air pressure to press boiling water through coffee grounds and straight into your cup. Cleanup takes about a minute, and the durable pieces store neatly in a travel bag, making the AeroPress the perfect camping gadget to bring along for a cuppa.
Slow and Simple: Chemex
Time-tested and beloved by baristas and home brewers alike, the pour-over offers a pure expression of a bean’s flavor profile. Designed in 1941 by an eccentric chemist, timeless.
The Convert: Breville Barista Pro
A perfect all-in-one solution for the at-home barista, this unit takes up minimal counter space, and looks good doing it. We’re huge fans of the integrated burr grinder—which saves additional space—as well as the smart grind adaptor feature. The best part: It’s ready to brew mere seconds after firing up.
Cold Brew, Overnight: Hario Coldbrew System
Stop paying $6 for iced coffee. It’s not rocket science: Throw some ground coffee in the filter of this unit and you’ll have wonderful coffee all week long, for a tenth of the price of store-bought brew.
The Virtuoso: La Marzocco Linea Mini
Used in many commercial contexts, the Ferrari of espresso machines boasts a dual boiler system for keeping the brew head and steam wand ready for action simultaneously. You’ll coax wonderful shots out of this unit, but like a Leica rangefinder camera or a vintage manual race car, it requires finesse to see top results. Isn’t that part of the goal?
Pretend You’re in a Fancy Café
Your pour-over coffee game is about to get even better. For the fancy coffee aficionado, this sleek model features a beautiful glass dripper which rests on a brass stand with an American walnut base. The stand adjusts to the height of your mug or pot.
A Smarter Sip
Smart technology comes to the teahouse with this mug that keeps your coffee consistently toasty warm at your desired temperature. Sitting with your drink for a spell? Keep your mug resting in the battery-powered base to ensure the warmth stays in check. Want to take it to go? The Ember comes in a travel mug version, powered by a portable battery (although it won’t stay warm for as long as the desktop version). Originally available in white, we love the matte black finish for its neo-noir vibe.
