Tasting notes: Slurp And Sip!

When tasting coffee, the experience begins with aromas and fragrances, as discussed in our last article.  Expanding on the tasting experience here, we’ll talk further about professional coffee cupping and enjoying your morning cup even more!

Coffee grows on farms, typically in mountainous areas at higher altitudes on steep slopes., especially for specialty arabica coffees,  Each slope has its own micro-growing conditions, including the degree of inclination, which affects water run-off, as well as sun exposure resulting in different ripening times and therefore the final taste results.  Each of these sections of farms are designated with lot numbers.  

COFFEE FARMS SPAN OVER MULTIPLE MICRO-CLIMATES CREATED BY VARIATIONS IN SUN EXPOSURE, SLOPE DEGREE. AND ALTITUDE.

During an origin visit, a sample from each lot is prepared at a light roasting stage, more so than what would be commercially roasted.  This pre-caramelized coffee will showcase more delicate flavors and highlight any defects that may be present.

Professional cuppers can taste up to a thousand samples while visiting origin per season  A consistent grind size and water to coffee ratio, is followed for cupping in order to isolate just the coffee extractions themselves as differentiating factors.  

When preparing a professional cupping session, coffee grounds are placed in cups where hot water is added directly onto dry coffee grounds and allowed to steep, unfiltered.  A special spoon, similar to a soup spoon, is used to push back and then carefully remove any grounds that float to the top, while the remaining grounds sink to the bottom of the cup where they’ll stay during the cupping process.  

LOT CUPPING:

MULTIPLE CUPS PER LOT ARE PREPARED FOR SAMPLING TO ENSURE CONSISTENCY THROUGHOUT THE HARVEST AND DE-PULPING PROCESSES 

Three samples from each lot are prepared.  Cuppers take their one spoon and sample each cup in quick succession.  The redundancy in tasting the same lot ensures consistency, and gives the cuppers confidence in the taste profile throughout the full lot.  If a discrepancy is tasted, an additional nine cups are tasted.  Should one cup differentiate, the whole lot can be rejected for inconsistency.  

Cupping sessions can be for 5-20 cuppers, and pre-covid, each tasting out of the same cups, unimaginable to think of now! Each cupper applies a taste rating to the coffee lots. During a tasting, cuppers slurp the hot coffee over the tongue.  Aerating the liquid as it makes contact with taste buds which intensifies the tasting sensation.  Swishing it over the whole mouth coats all areas of the tongue, the front sweet, sides sour and back bitter.  The number rating scale ranges from 100 to 75.  Although there is varying degrees within each category below the typical guidelines are followed as set by the Specialty Coffee Association of America. These rating numbers dictate the price that coffee buyers are willing to pay.

SPECIALTY GRADE

90-100 Outstanding

85-89.99 Excellent

80-84.99 Very Good

BELOW SPECIALTY QUALITY

<80.0 Fair

Professional tasters spit cupping samples out, for two reasons.  First, if liquid is swallowed it will be retained in the back of mouth, tainting the next sample. And second, to minimize their caffeine or alcohol intake as professional tasting cuppers can cup hundreds of samples in one day before tasting fatigue sets in.

Broadly speaking, flavors consist of sweet, sour (or acidic) and bitter.  When mentioning acid as a flavor, it is not a reference to the pH.  Instead it is a description the sour feeling on the side of the tongue, often described as citric or green grape.  Bitter flavors often have a bad wrap., but without our bitter detectors the depth would be lost including chocolate, stout, and the “beefy” flavor umami.  

Lastly, and with the most impact, is body, or viscosity of coffee.  Coffee has quite a bit of oils in it, directly related to roasting degree.  Oils are released due to the weakening of plant cell walls during roasting, and migrate to the surface of roasted beans for weeks after roasting.  Oils convey a “mouthfeel”, mostly detected back of the tongue in the bitter detecting area.  

A lightly roasted coffee will have a thin body, often described as “fleeting” due to it’s quick disappearing presence.  A darker roasted coffee will have a “lingering” description, with the aftertaste often having two, three and sometimes more “stages” of flavor as it dissipates often described as buttery or velvety.

We love sharing our passion with you! Take a few extra moments during your next brewing ritual to take in those fine nuances. Smell, slurp and swish your coffee to discover your coffee’s aroma, fragrance, flavors and body. Enjoy!

In our next article we will share home brewing tips, including some very timely cold brew recipes.