Daily Demitasse

The bridge between coffee consumers and the Specialty Coffee Industry

Coffee Cupping at Counter Culture

January 14, 2012 by Jennifer | 5 Comments

Photo credit: CCC Website

I’ve wanted to go to a coffee cupping for a long time. Yesterday I finally revisited Counter Culture for their public coffee cupping. Believe it or not, it was my first one. I’ve been to “tastings,” but not like this.

This version of a cupping was the most basic and completely blind. I thought it was great since this was the first time most of the group had even heard of a cupping. In case you’d like to know the entire cupping process, go here. I’m just going to talk about what we did.

Café Sense | Trailer from Vittles on Vimeo.

Kim, one of Counter Culture’s coffee buyers, introduced the class and we passed cupping forms around the table.

There were three coffees with ten cups each of ground coffee, lined up across a back table.

Coffee 1: OOOOOOOOOO                  Coffee 2: OOOOOOOOOO                     Coffee 3: OOOOOOOOOO

First, we smelled the fragrance, which refers to the smell of dry coffee.

  • Coffee 1: citrus, sweet, and flowery,
  • Coffee 2: sweet earthy, milk chocolate
  • Coffee 3: citrus, savory, smoky, dark chocolate

Next, they filled each cup to the rim with water just off boil. This time we smelled the aroma, referring to wet grinds, while the coffee brewed for four minutes. Coffee notes became more pronounced at this point.

  • Coffee 1: sweet, citrus, and a little earthy.
  • Coffee 2: citrus, more earthy
  • Coffee 3: dark chocolate, spice

Then, we each got a (soup) cupping spoon to break the “crust” of the grinds on top of the coffee, like in a French Press after the grinds float to the top, before you plunge it .

  • Coffee 1: Pastry sweet
  • Coffee 2: dark berry, sweet, flowery
  • Coffee 3: spice/savory
The rest of the crust was taken off the top before the tasting. We were then instructed to taste the coffees in order so one coffee’s aftertaste didn’t affect another coffee’s notes.
Finally, it was time to slurp!  Barely dipping the spoon into the cups – to avoid any left over grinds that settled at the bottom - slurping helps the coffee hit the entire inside of your mouth. Everyone got a kick out of this. I even heard some impressive slurps.
While tasting the coffees, we started with the brightness, or acidity of the coffee. A good acidity is like lemon making you pucker.
  • Coffee 1: Brightest
  • Coffee 2: Bright but not overwhelming
  • Coffee 3: Brightness was an afterthought
Flavors:
  • Coffee 1: dark berry, herbal tea
  • Coffee 2: smoky, savory, chocolate
  • Coffee 3: dark chocolate, veggies/tomato
Body, is this case, refers to how the coffee feels in your mouth – light, heavy, gritty, etc.
  • Coffee 1: medium-light
  • Coffee 2: medium
  • Coffee 3: heavy
And finally, the aftertaste of each coffee – the flavor that lingers the most.
  • Coffee 1: earthy, citrus
  • Coffee 2: earthy, chocolate
  • Coffee 3:  veggie stew
Once the group was satisfied with their cupping notes, it was time for the coffee reveal.
Turned out that the coffees was really one coffee but roasted 10 points darker than the last on the agtron. It was their Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Haru. Counter Culture actually sells this coffee in the light roast we tried (Coffee 1).
Overall, it was a great experience and fun to see so many non-industry people enjoy the cupping, decyfering what they smelled, tasted, and eagerness to know more about coffee in general after the cupping and during the Roastery tour.

 

I highly recommend checking out your local roaster to see which ones offer public cuppings. This is a great way to meet other coffee lovers, expand your palette and learn more about coffee in general.

QOTD – Have you ever been to a coffee cupping? Share your experience with us in the comments. If you have not been to one, do you plan to?

Author: Jennifer

Coffee Advocate, Barista, Freelance Copy Writer. Bridging the gap between coffee enthusiasts and the specialty coffee industry.

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  • http://www.coffeeall.com/blog jwade

    I don’t really know much about the cupping process, but it looks interesting. That’s a lot of small cups of coffee in the photo. 

    • http://dailydemitasse.com Daily Demitasse

      I have included a link, at the beginning of the post, that explains the entire process. We just didn’t a mini version.

  • Anonymous

    I think you have made a great summary of the cupping process. Participating in a cupping is a great way to learn about coffee. Many people still do not realize the great variety that exists in coffee flavors and quality. By attending a local cupping event you are sure to learn a great deal.

  • swagv

    I’ve been to a number of cuppings, just not CCC’s. They didn’t exist when I lived near where they are now.

    And I’ve made no mystery about this, but CCC is the coffee industry’s most religious proponents of shoehorning industry practices onto consumers — rather than accommodating customers one iota. And they’re clueless at how badly they do this.

    • http://dailydemitasse.com Daily Demitasse

      I’m sorry you had a bad experience, but they were very engaging with the group and answered all our questions without being pretentious. Yes, they have a certain level of passion and belief in what they do. It’s what makes CCC their brand.

      Would you consider giving them a second chance? The industry has grown and changed for the better over the past year or so.

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