There is a difficult CQI (Coffee Quality Identification) in the coffee certificate. In addition to the difficult test questions, the registration price is not cheap, but it still attracts many coffee practitioners to take the challenge.

Drinking coffee, swallowing coffee, pouring coffee, sipping (sucking) coffee, which way do you taste coffee?

In the annual coffee exhibition, you can see a bunch of cups in some booths, and the cups are filled with coffee without filtering out the coffee grounds. The fun thing is that many people line up to sip (suck) coffee. That's right, suck! And they suck very hard, louder than the Japanese eating ramen. What they are doing is actually the theme of today's talk. If you love coffee, don't miss this article.

No matter what you do with your coffee, you have to drink it in the end!

Cupping is a common task for soybean farmers in soybean production areas or importers to select batches.

Cupping is a very important task for roasters to test the quality of samples and the degree of roasting and flavor.

Cupping is a very important task for baristas to calibrate after extraction and brewing.

Cupping＝Coffee Cupping

Therefore, no matter what is done to the coffee, the action of cupping is closely related to the quality of the coffee. Therefore, the coffee quality appraisal work of the SCA Specialty Coffee Association has a systematic process and guidelines, in order to make the cupping The work is more objective and more acceptable to most people.

Although there are still many different opinions on the rules of cupping, SCA's coffee quality appraisal has been widely used in the coffee industry. Even in the communication language of coffee, cupping allows coffee practitioners to communicate flavor more easily. system.

Why cupping is the communication language of coffee

Professional coffee people often talk about "flavor wheel, astringency, balance, acidity..."

Communication between people requires a common language to achieve more efficient communication. How to communicate on the same topic, common terminology should be necessary. Therefore, in order to avoid ducks hearing thunder, SCA (Specialty Coffee Association) created a logical and regular coffee communication language, that is, the "coffee quality identification" system, so that most coffee people can communicate effectively and simply. Of course, this is "not an absolute" coffee language, just like Cantonese and Mandarin can be used, as long as the communication effect and purpose can be achieved, and don't take the word cupping too seriously. After all, consumers are not coffee professionals. It seems a bit too serious to emphasize cupping blindly. Enjoying a cup of coffee is the real thing.

What are the etiquettes for cupping?

Five cups in a group, one person in a group.

OK, the equation between coffee and temperament must have been drawn long ago. It is not unfamiliar that during the coffee evaluation process, the atmosphere on the scene is kept orderly and quiet except for the "slurping" sound of eating ramen. In order to maintain the concentration during the cupping, from several small aspects.

1. The smell that affects the cupping

During the cupping process, there are many smells that require the nose and nasal cavity to distinguish (dry aroma, wet aroma, slurping flavor), so gases other than coffee will more or less indirectly and directly affect the sample being cupped. For example, the intervention of perfume, shampoo, and fragrances related to aroma and volatile gases will affect the progress of the cupping, so when participating in sharing sessions and cupping sessions, don't make yourself "too fragrant"!

2. Hygiene

One cupping spoon is for one person, and don't put the cupping spoon into the spit cup to stir it, which doesn't look very appropriate.

So, because others also need to cup, you must pay attention to hygiene. Don't mix saliva with other cupping samples.

3. Order

When cupping, you need to wait patiently for the person in front to finish the cupping before going to the sample for cupping. Rushing will also affect the concentration of the cupping personnel. It is difficult to taste the taste when cupping, and at the same time, you have to think about whether you have smelled this taste before, which requires searching the brain memory bank. If you interrupt, the cupping personnel may not be able to accurately identify the flavor.

So, queue up in an orderly manner, don't rush, let the person in front finish the cupping of the group of samples, and then go to the cupping in order!

Conclusion:

The purpose of cupping is definitely not to distance coffee from consumers and practitioners. Therefore, in order to find a flavor range that most people can accept for evaluation, coffee quality appraisers with experience and practice are definitely not free. They must go through layers (20 layers) of difficult trials to become a qualified coffee quality appraiser. Flavor calibration is required every three years, and the ability to distinguish flavor and coffee details, the changes between hot and cold coffee, the detailed taste of coffee, and the characteristics of the sample and the reason for the score are required.