Cupping

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Cupping
by Team 01639.Cupping brief introduction:
As we all know, coffee is not just a fantastic beverage but also a mystery. There're so many types of coffee which vary from region to region, country to country and crop to crop. And in view of achieving a better understanding about coffee, cupping has been regarded as the best method.
Why cup?
We use cupping to evaluate the flavour of each type of coffee, so as to understand the minor difference between types of coffee. Cupping is also used for evaluating defects or for blending.
How to cup?
- Preparation:
  In order to achieve the best result possible, you should prepare things carefully.
  - One of the most important factors of the cupping method is the conditions of the cupping room. The room should be naturally lighted with a humidity of 50 -70% so as not to affect the cuppers' sense of smell. The ideal temperature for the room is 20-25 Celcius degree, and the best time for cupping is between late morning or late afternoon.
  - There should be at least 6 cups of coffee for each sample, arranged like a triangle on the cupping table. At the top of this triangle, place a sample of green coffee and one of roasted coffee. On the table, there should also be a cup of room temperature water and a cup of coffee spoon.
- Cupping techniques:
  - Fragance and aroma analysis: The smell of the ground coffee before water is added is referred to as "fragance". After considering the fragance, add hot water to the cup and write down your initial observations of the aroma without disturbing the cups. (The cup containing coffee spoons should be added hot water at the same time, for sustaining the spoons at the same temperature as the coffee). Wait 1 or 2 minutes, then break the crust of coffee using one of the pre-heated spoons. Meanwhile, put your nose directly over the cup and evaluate the aroma, then write down any further information to the one you wrote before breaking the crust. After evaluating all the samples, stir each cup gently and scoop out any ground floating on the surface.
  - Flavour profile analysis: Wait until all the samples have cooled, then get started with the slurping. Bring the spoon up to your mouth and "breathe" the coffee in so that your entire tongue is filled with coffee. The coffee then falls into the back of the mouth, which creates a coffee "vapor", stimulating your sense of taste and also your sense of smell (as coffee vapor passes through both your throat and your nasal passage). Write down your obsevations of flavour, acidity, body and aftertaste, then move to the next cup. As too much caffeine intake could alter your cupping ability, if you're cupping more than 2 cups ,it's highly recommended for you to spit out the coffee after cupping each sample.