Cupping

The “why” behind the practice

Have you ever seen wine tasters slurp and listen to their palate, then promptly spit it out? We do that too. And behind the weird sounds and funny expressions is a very serious purpose. Cupping and tasting — the highly technical terms coined by the coffee roasting business — is the surest way to judge a bean’s quality. It’s our everyday homework, and the only way we can truly identify beans with distinctive flavors and aromas.

Here’s why we do it:

To ensure quality and accuracy of the coffee we buy or will potentially buy (samples)
To identify the flavor, acidity, and body characteristics that we use to describe coffee
To determine which coffees are best suited for a specific roast level, sold as a single-origin or added to a blend
To keep our palates sharp by continuously trying new coffees and staying up to date on trends

Here’s how you can try it:

Roast a sample of coffee (or more for comparison)
Grind ~10oz of beans on the “fine” setting
Add boiling water up to the brim of each cup
Fluff grounds with a spoon to smell aromatics
Remove the crust of grounds that forms on top as the coffee cools
Once it's dropped down to 130 degrees F, use a spoon to slurp up a taste
Run the coffee across your tongue
Identify its characteristics
Spit it out in the container of your choosing

Roasting

Coffee Bean Journey

Top Sellers

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Top Sellers

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The “why” behind the practice

Here’s why we do it:

Here’s how you can try it:

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