Who has the final say on the flavor of specialty coffee?

"What do you think of this coffee?"

Coffee novice: "Sour, sweet, and fragrant~"

Coffee connoisseur: "This coffee has the sour taste of plums, the aroma of whiskey, and also the sour aroma of berries, mangoes, and citrus, plus a little chocolate sweetness. The aroma of whiskey will become more obvious after it cools down."

Wait... is this the same cup of coffee? Why does it taste so different to two people?

Who has the final say on the taste of specialty coffee?

The flavor of coffee is identified by a group of professionally trained and qualified "cuppers". Multiple cuppers systematically evaluate the flavor, taste, balance, aftertaste, etc. of coffee and give the coffee a score. This is called "cupping".

The purpose of cupping is to standardize the aroma and taste of coffee as much as possible. The method is to let cuppers who have received professional training in smell and taste evaluate the coffee's "dry aroma", "wet aroma", "flavor", "aftertaste", "acidity", "fatness", "consistency", "balance", "cleanliness", "sweetness" and "overall consideration" one by one according to the standard process used worldwide.

According to the grading standards of the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA), cuppers will give scores between 6 and 10 for each of the above items, with each score being 0.25 points. 6 to 6.75 is just okay; 7 to 7.75 is good; 8 to 8.75 is excellent; 9 to 10 is amazing! Basically, a score of 8 to 8.75 is already considered very good coffee!

People need to pass professional training and tests to get certified as cup testers. Not only are their senses of smell and taste sensitive, but they can also compare them to produce a score. This score is like the common language of the cup tester's world, used to describe the intensity and layers of flavors.

So how do you cup specialty coffee?

1. Grind coffee beans

First, we grind the coffee beans to be tested into powder. The particles of the powder should not be too coarse or too fine. The coffee powder should be able to pass through the Chinese standard No. 20 sieve (0.85mm) with a pass rate of 70% to 75%. This is because this is the coffee powder size that is currently recognized internationally to have the best extraction rate.

At this time, the cupper will start to smell the dry aroma of the coffee powder and record what aromas he smells, such as lychee, wine, osmanthus, etc. Just don’t write coffee aroma.

Ground coffee powder

Smell the dry aroma

2. Water injection

After smelling the dry aroma, we will add hot water to each cup of coffee powder. The temperature of the hot water is 94 degrees Celsius. Fill the cup with water. The ratio of powder to water is 1:18.18, and let the coffee powder soak for 4 minutes.

Oops! Why not hand pour? Isn’t hand pour the most common specialty coffee?

This is because there are too many variables that can affect the taste of hand-brewed coffee, and the craftsmanship of hand-brewed coffee is not within the scope of cupping. Therefore, we need to find a method that can brew coffee and bring out various layers of flavors, but is simple enough not to be affected by any technical aspects. That is to directly soak it in hot water!

3. Broken slag and wet fragrance

Some cuppers smell the wet aroma soon after pouring the hot water, some smell it 4 minutes after the coffee powder begins to settle and "break up", and some smell both. This is mainly because the aroma is affected by the temperature and the degree of coffee extraction by water.

Smell the wet fragrance

4. Remove the slag

The so-called "scooping up the grounds" means using a spoon to scoop up the unsettled coffee powder, foam, etc. on the surface of the cup bowl with two spoons in a handsome posture.

Slag removal

Then you can start drinking.

5. Sip

The way a cupper drinks coffee may not be what you think. He will take a spoon and scoop a mouthful, then "Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!" loudly suck the coffee into his mouth. You can imagine that if a child drinks soup like this, he will definitely be hung up and beaten by his parents! The reason is that this way of drinking allows the coffee liquid to be sucked into the mouth and then quickly atomized, and allows the coffee to have the largest contact area with the taste buds in the mouth, allowing the taste buds to fully experience the most layers of flavor.

6. Cupping Rating

Common flavors of specialty coffee include nuts, caramel, various fruit flavors, milk, wine, etc. Cup tasters also evaluate the level and quality of the sour taste, which is the "acidity" part. Although some friends don't like sour coffee, in specialty coffee, sourness is a taste worth tasting carefully.

"Oiliness" refers to the oil extracted from premium coffee. If there is more oil, the coffee will taste mellow, while if there is too little oil, the coffee will taste watery. However, oiliness also requires quality. If it is mellow, fragrant and not sticky, it is the best.

Consistency, balance, cleanliness, etc. are more professional considerations, which are far from the general enthusiasts, so we will not discuss them in depth here. Simply put, consistency refers to whether the samples in the coffee cup test have different tastes. Which cup has defects? Balance refers to whether the various evaluation items of the coffee are balanced. For example, the acid is bright but still sweet? The touch is sticky but not astringent? Are the various flavors of the coffee harmonious? Cleanliness is an important and necessary condition for fine products - that is, there is no defective taste of defects and contamination (complete freedom from taints or faults). Coffee with bad tastes and touches such as corruption, earthiness, iodine, fermented acid, rubber, onion, astringency, etc., all indicate that it is not clean enough.

Finally: Does specialty coffee with high cupping scores necessarily taste good?

The taste of specialty coffee is the result of independent evaluation, comparison and discussion by a group of cuppers. It is true that many coffee lovers may not be able to taste all the flavors and tastes. In addition to the fact that the sense of smell and taste have not been fully developed, it is also related to the coffee roasting, grinding and brewing techniques. In addition, professional cuppers often drink coffee, so their taste preferences and acceptance of various flavors will be somewhat "out of touch with the masses". Therefore, the editor would recommend that you try many ways to find the beans you like. Don't be too obsessed with the cupping score. After all, no matter how high the coffee cupping score is, it will be useless if it doesn't suit your taste~

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