Coffee Tasting at Home
How to set up coffee tasting at home explained
As a coffee lover, you have probably heard about coffee cupping before. If you are about to set up your own coffee tasting session, we have prepared a coffee cupping guide for you. Here are our top tips and step-by-step instructions on how to set up coffee cupping at home. We will introduce you to the coffee cupping basics: the coffee cupping equipment you will need, how to brew coffee for cupping and finally how to cup.
But first, let’s explain what coffee tasting means.
What is coffee tasting?
Coffee tasting, also called coffee cupping, means observing and evaluating the tastes and aromas of brewed coffee. Coffee cupping experiences can be very exciting and satisfying as you can compare different coffees and notice flavors and aromas you weren’t aware of before.
What is the purpose of coffee cupping and why do coffee cupping at home?
You may want to practice coffee cupping at home to increase your awareness, develop your taste and buy coffee you really like. Once you’ve defined your personal preferences in coffee, you can identify what type of coffee beans to look for, make better choices and make the most of your home brew.
What to know when setting up coffee cupping at home
Coffee cupping is actually very simple, you just need a few guidelines to get started and then a bit of practice.
2 tips before you start coffee cupping
Standarize
Our top tip for you, if you are beginning your coffee cupping adventure is: standarize. To be able to compare different coffees, make sure that everything is standardized, meaning you need a consistent grind size, the same size of cups, amounts of coffee and the same method of brewing.
Create your own coffee cupping protocol
The next tip is: create your own protocol. There are different coffee cupping protocols and procedures and they almost take the form of rituals. So you may come across different coffee cupping protocols, which can be a bit confusing. That’s why you want to create your own protocol, standarize everything and stay consistent.
So these are our top tips, now we will take you step by step through setting up a coffee tasting session.
A simple guide to making your own coffee cupping session at home
Here we will explain the home coffee tasting basics:
- What equipment you will need for coffee cupping at home
- Brewing coffee for cupping
- How to cup (taste) coffee
The coffee tasting equipment
- Kettle
You need just a simple domestic kettle to boil the water. Always fill it up with fresh water, ideally water low in minerals. - Scales
The scales are essential to weight the coffee, as you always want the same amount of coffee in each sample. - Sample tray
- Coffee grinder
- Spoons
There are special coffee cupping spoons, but you can use a normal tablespoon or teaspoon. - 5 – 6 cups
Sugar bowls make perfect coffee tasting cups, but you can use any cups, glasses or mugs as long as they are the same size. - Coffee
Sample size: a good amount of coffee for each sample is 15 – 20 g.
The number of samples: have at least 2 – 3 types of different coffees to compare. 5 – 6 would make a good range for your home coffee cupping.
How to brew coffee for cupping
The best way to do it is to brew coffee the way in which the brewing technique won’t impact the taste of coffee. Here is what we mean by that:
- Hide the coffee bags not to get influenced by the colors and design of packaging. Write on the bottom of each cup what coffee is in it (or slip under the cup a note on a small piece of paper which you won’t be able to see).
- Grind the coffee medium
- Weight the coffee and use equal amounts for each sample
- Pour hot water (200ᣞF / 92 – 94ᣞC) and leave it to steep for 4 minutes. Fill up all the cups to the top (or to the same level) to maintain the same coffee to water ratio in each sample.
The coffee to water ratio for coffee cupping can be: 60g of coffee per 1 liter of water or 15g of water per 250g of water (this will depend on how many people will be cupping). - Smell the brew before stirring
- Stir
- Scoop the crust and any floating bits
- Leave the brew for 10 minutes to cool down
Coffee cupping guide
A simple guide to coffee tasting
How do you do the coffee tasking? First, we will talk about how to cup coffee and next, what flavor notes and aromas to look for.
Coffee cupping basics
How to taste coffee for beginners
- Our first tip on coffee tasting is: trust your first instinct and record what you’ve observed.
- Slurp to spray the coffee into your mouth. You want to get the coffee to as large an area in your mouth as possible as different taste buds are in different places of your mouth. We do it this way because we taste through the mouth and tongue. The tongue detects tastes such as: sweet, sour, bitter and salty while the nose detects aromas. Although the slurping feels awkward at the beginning, it does get easier with time.
- Keep tasting the brew as it keeps cooling down, the taste will be changing as the temperature changes.
- Rinse spoons between each sample or use clean spoons
- Clean your mouth with water between each sample
But what should I look for in coffee? This is a very common question and here is some guidance on that.
Different taste characteristics in coffee
A very useful tool you can use for your home coffee tasting is a coffee cupping form. Coffee cupping forms are very useful as they help focus and remember about the specific coffee characteristics. There are different coffee tasting forms and coffee cupping log books, some are simpler, some shorter. Below is how you can build your own cupping form. Or you can buy a ready-made coffee tasting log book like this one:
A coffee cupping form
Here is a list of criteria which can be included in a cupping form and by which you can assess coffee. It’s a list of coffee characteristics with some brief explanations of what we are looking for in each category. The overall rating of a cup may consist of the following:
- Fragrance
The smell of dry coffee, before it’s brewed - Aroma
It’s the smell of brewed coffee. You will be looking at the intensity and the quality of the aroma. - Acidity
It’s the sourness of the coffee. In the acidity you will be looking at:
– How strong is the acidity
– The type of acidity – is it pleasant or not, is it the acidity which gives a feeling of freshness, is it tangy or sour etc. Be careful here as it’s easy to get confused between the bitter and sour tastes. - Body
It’s the presence in the mouth. The components of the body include: texture and feel in the mouth, how heavy or light it feels, richness and fullness. - Flavor
These are the tones of the coffee. There are flavor wheels which help to think and find tastes in coffee, but you don’t have to use them. Anyhow, the main types of flavors you can find in coffee are:
– Fruity flavors (raw fruits, berries, citrus, apple, cooked fruits, fermented fruits)
– Caramel and chocolatey tastes – these also help describe the type of sweetness - Sweetness
It’s the sweet mouthfeel of the cup. Here we are assessing how sweet the new is. - Balance
It’s when no single taste overpowers another - Aftertaste
It’s the flavor residing in your mouth, also called finish. What aftertaste do you have after swallowing and how long does it last for?
Apart from the above mentioned coffee cupping criteria, you may want to include the visual descriptors of the coffee beans: the roast color, the shees, purity and defects etc. as they have influence on the quality of the brew.
And our final piece of advice: as a beginner you want to define your preferences, so write down what you like and what you don’t like in each cup.
If you would like like to explore more about coffee tasting, here is more reading:
Summary
In this article, we’ve explained how to set up a coffee tasting session at home, how to brew coffee for cupping and how to assess coffee. We have also listed the accessories you will need for home coffee tasting. Coffee cupping experience can be a lovely way to enjoy your home brew. It can also help you develop better awareness and taste for coffee so you can make more of your daily cup.
What are your favorite tastes and aromas in coffee? What do you look for in a good cup?