ROASTING WORKS - CUPPING

Our sample roaster

Geoff Watts, our director of coffee, receives countless green coffee samples from growers and importers which he roasts in our 1/4lb, three-barrel, gas powered Gothot sample roaster and taste tests, or cups, for quality. This little roaster effectively mimics the production roasts of our bigger machines, allowing a clear idea of how our coffee will taste to the public. Cupping is a standardized way of evaluating coffees, developed by the industry in the late 19th century. It has remained the primary way that roasters, retailers, growers and importers “taste test” their coffees, although it is much more than just taste they are looking for. There are three basic, quantifiable qualities that one evaluates when cupping: body, aroma, and acidity. Impressions of flavor are also recorded and discussed.

After the coffee is roasted and ground, cups are laid out for each bean on a rotating table, 12 grams of ground coffee are placed directly into the cups, which are topped with water just below boiling. Since a single bad bean can change the flavor profile of a cup, 3 separate samples of each coffee are cupped simultaneously; this also allows tasters to get a feel for the consistency of the beans. Some coffee grounds float to the top of the steaming cups, and after 3 minutes, the taster takes a spoon and gives the brew a gentle stir while getting his nose as close as possible and inhaling deeply. This is called “breaking the crust”. After each cup, spoons are rinsed, notes are jotted down and the table is turned. Any remaining grounds are then skimmed off, and the tasting begins.

Guatemala Cupping Intelligentsia employees(L to R), Trey Elder, Bob Quinlan, Jay Cunningham and Geoff Watts cup coffees at a farm in the Fraijanes region of Guatemala.

Cuppers slurp coffee quickly from the edge of a spoon, allowing some air to combine with the brew, coating the entire mouth and giving an intense impression of the coffee’s flavor. The tasters may also “chew” the coffee, evaluating the body or perceived weight of the liquid in the mouth. Indonesian beans typically have low acidity and very heavy body, where a wet-processed Central American will be lighter bodied and bright with higher acidity. Sometimes a cupper will linger for a while comparing the different samples of the same bean, or return to an interesting coffee, experiencing it at different stages as it cools down.

Intelligentsia cups coffees daily. Our production roasts are cupped against the original samples. That way we can be sure that if we’re blown away by a sample, it is the same outstanding brew that will eventually reach our customers.