The
best
ways
to
brew
coffee
are
usually
the
most
straightforward,
and
this
is
one
of
them.
Brewing
coffee
for
a
cupping
is a
bit
like
preparing
"cowboy
coffee"
in
the
bottom
of a
kettle-except
that
you
will
want
to
prepare
it
in
individual
cups
and
pay
much
more
attention
to
the
brewing
than
is
typical
for
that
method!
As
an
approximate
alternative
to
the
standard
cupping
protocol,
you
can
use
French
press
pots
for
brewing.
Materials
- Six-ounce cups, preferably porcelain or glass
(1 cup per coffee being tasted per taster)
- One soup spoon per taster
- One rinsing container (an auxiliary cup of water or a nearby sink)
- A convenient place to spit coffee (the sink or an extra cup, bowl, or container)
- One quart of cold, fresh water
- Coffee: one standard coffee measure (2 tablespoons) per type of coffee per taster
Instructions
- Grind your beans to a consistency akin to the coarseness of cornmeal (and like that used for professional, or "flat-bottom filter," drip coffee). NOTE: As we emphasize elsewhere, the use of fresh coffee-and therefore the use of a grinder one of the most critical elements to creating a superlative coffee experience. If you do not want to invest in a small blade grinder, be aware that you are sacrificing a great deal of flavor.
- For each coffee being tasted, place 1 standard measure of ground coffee in the bottom of a cup for each taster. (In the tasting room, coffee is weighed because different coffees are of differing densities. If you use a scale, measure out 10 grams of whole-bean coffee for each cup, then grind it.)
- Boil your water. Your water should be clear of foreign tastes and contaminants, and fresh. When the water has reached a boil, take it off the burner and wait for a split second to achieve the optimal just-off-boil contact temperature.
- Fill each cup with hot water. Do this in the same order you plan to taste the coffees to ensure proper brewing time. Leave a little room at the top of each cup, perhaps 1/8 inch.
- Wait two minutes, then break the crust. The carbon dioxide released from your beautiful, freshly ground coffee will have caused the grounds to swell into a granular, dry-looking arch. Bring your nose down close to the cup, and use the gentle edge of your spoon to break into the swollen grounds. This provides a full first impression of the coffee's aroma and is of paramount importance to the cupping ritual. Enjoy it. Remember to rinse your spoon between cups.
- Allow the grounds to settle. When the coffees are cool enough to taste, and all the grounds have settled to the bottom (this normally takes about 3 to 5 minutes), take your spoon in hand again. Dip it into the coffee, and...
- Slurp. Remember that you want to coat your mouth evenly with the coffee. This may take some practice. With each slurp, you are aerating the coffee and therefore releasing more aroma to your olfactory bulbs (the sense organs for smell, located just above your nasal cavity). Pretend you're drinking through a straw-precisely what your mother always taught you not to do at the table.
Recording
Your
Experience
We
suggest
keeping
paper
and
pencil
handy
during
a
tasting,
enough
for
everyone
who
participates.
It
is
best
to
write
your
impressions
down
while
they
seem
indelible
(because
they
aren't).
The
very
process
of
writing
will
help
you
recall
the
experience
of
individual
coffees.
It
also
encourages
the
beginning
taster
to
conjure
adjectives
and
discuss
the
experience,
which
is
what
it's
all
about,
and
which
they
otherwise
might
feel
too
shy
to
initiate.
Try
writing
at
two
separate
junctures:
about
aroma
at
the
breaking
of
the
crust,
and
about
your
impressions
of
the
coffee's
acidity,
body,
and
flavor
after
slurping.
Take
several
slurps,
to
clear
impressions
of
the
previous
sample
and
gain
a
good
feel
for
the
coffee
in
question.
Taste
each
coffee
at
varying
stages
of
cooling,
and
note
the
specifics
of
their
transitions.
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