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For coffee lovers, tasting is a pleasure, but for professionals it is serious work: for example, prior to buying lots on a coffee exchange. Clear rules have been developed for describing aroma and taste for evaluating a roasted single variety or blend (a mixture of different varieties).
Flavors card index
A wholesale buyer must evaluate the quality of a batch of coffee beans not only by the data on the place of origin indicated on it, but also by the cup of the drink brewed with it. Is it hard to be a taster? Study the main characteristics of the grains of different countries? Determine the characteristics of coffee in two or three hundred cups per day? Of course it's difficult. No wonder there is training in this specialty and certification of cappers. But in such a case, preference is given to people with great experience. Any defect will not escape the professionals - a slight aftertaste of chemistry, rancidity and acid, "smoke" or something reminiscent of animal odors.
To somewhat simplify the task of describing the taste, special tables have been developed. A dozen main indicators are marked in pre-prepared standard forms: each has its own scale. Connoisseurs are interested in aroma, aftertaste, acidity, sweetness, “body”. Usually include criteria:
- defects;
- balance;
- general impression
While tasting the drink, the cap-testers give points for each item, and as a result, they deduce the overall score.
Experienced tasting masters are able to distinguish not just "citrus" notes, they will indicate which ones - lemon, orange. They will describe not just "fruit taste" - but "dried fruit". Etc.
So simple
Interestingly, a special coffee maker and even an ordinary Turk are not needed for cupping. Ground coffee is brewed with hot water directly in the cup itself. But certain requirements are imposed on the time and degree of roasting, as well as on the grinding. However, there is no need to talk about a "global" cupping protocol. There are differences in the type of cup (it can be glass or porcelain), the position of the taster (for example, a rotating table with samples), the timing of roasting (just before tasting or earlier). There are variations in the need to provide trays of coffee beans at the time of tasting cups - the smell of dry coffee is assessed (this is either just ground coffee, or beans - even unroasted).
Tasting in the American organization SCAA (Statistics & Standards Committee) is aimed at the highest varieties of coffee, the so-called "Specialty coffee". There is a clear standard here:
- roasting a day before cupping;
- roasting for 8-12 minutes (light, below medium);
- the images are cooled in air to room temperature;
- sealed and stored in a cool, dark place
Grind the grains 15 minutes before tasting. Ground coffee is brewed in a cup not with boiling water, but with water of 93 degrees.
If you like it or not?
Only at first glance it seems that it is impossible to find objective criteria for assessing taste. The taster has been established in his profession for ten or more years: he has clear ideas about different acidity, bitterness, uniformity and other variations in taste sensations. Differences in the assessments of experienced tippers will not be "critical" for determining the quality of coffee: they will come to close opinions on most indicators.
Only a drink (and, consequently, coffee beans) that has reached at least 80 points can confirm the quality of "specialty". Three categories indicate the necessary and sufficient quality: up to 85 points - good coffee, up to 90 - excellent, above 90 - outstanding.
Comply with the formalities
Experienced tasters are believed to be right. However, in cupping it is important to avoid routine mistakes: do not mix up samples, put only clean standard dishes (175-225 ml), brew with water with low mineralization, make the same grind, etc. For 11 grams of coffee, approximately 200 ml of water is taken (8.25 g per 150 ml). The grind is coarser than for espresso.
Even the manipulations that a person carries out with coffee are regulated: to assess the taste, a sample is taken from a cup with a spoon 8 minutes after brewing, distributed over the entire mouth, and then it is simply spit out into a special glass. Like this: they don't drink coffee during tasting. The capper is given about 20 minutes to assess his sensations from a particular cup. The rules have been established: how to break the "cap" from the grind with a spoon in a glass with a brewed sample, how to move it and the foam, how to return to the sample as it cools.
Coffee beans, which are sorted according to their size, external defects, place of origin, cannot do without the most important stage of determining the quality: what it tastes like. The aggregate score and its detailing are not only needed by the buying agent. In specialized laboratories working for coffee producers and roasters, there is constant work to determine the taste characteristics of the product.
And if you taste it yourself?
Fortunately, coffee lovers don't have to personally sample thousands upon thousands of samples to find their favorite drink. Coffee industry for hundredsfor years it has already marked the brightest varieties with a "quality mark" - with a unique taste and an unforgettable smell. Cappers solve production problems: a description of the aroma and taste of a batch of coffee; determination of differences in samples; selection of the lot that is optimal for buying at auctions. It is also important to know what grains will be in demand for further cultivation of plants on the plantation.
Barista culture develops differently in each country. It's good when there is a favorite cafe nearby where they will brew excellent coffee. And you can always order a well-established brand for your home in the Coffeeynya: after all, high-quality Arabica has already passed all the necessary cupping. All that remains is to enjoy a cup of excellent coffee. It is also worth comparing its merits with coffee from other countries and manufacturers. Feel the floral, chocolate, nutty or caramel notes already noted by the tasters.
