Cupping is one of the core tasks of coffee industry practitioners. It is a way to help people fairly and systematically evaluate the flavor and characteristics of coffee. Cupping occurs throughout the entire coffee supply chain, not only in coffee shops on the consumer side, but also in midstream and upstream roasting plants, origins, etc. on the production side. So how do you do cupping?
The meaning of cupping
Cupping is a way for coffee practitioners to evaluate the flavor and characteristics of coffee. Cupping can be said to have a wide range of uses. In production areas, bean hunters use cupping to judge the quality of green coffee beans. In the roasting process, roasters use cupping to help adjust the roasting curve. In cafes, baristas use cupping to control the quality of coffee beans in the final process.
At Front Street Coffee, cupping has always been one of the cores of our work. We use cupping to test the roasting curve and make adjustments. We also use cupping to control store products. Because the extraction mode of cupping strives to be simple, it is an immersion extraction, with the least human influence factors and the best reflection of the quality of the coffee itself.
During the cupping process, one of the actions of the cupping staff is very eye-catching. The cupping staff scoops out the coffee liquid with a cupping spoon and puts it into the mouth, making a soup-like or sharp sound. We call it sipping. Today, we will talk about sipping and how to sip.
why sip
Although sipping too loudly during the cupping process always makes people feel slightly inelegant, the sipping action can atomize the coffee liquid, which not only increases the speed, but also enhances the post-nasal smell and taste perception of coffee flavor.
In coffee tasting, flavor mainly refers to the feeling produced by the combination of taste and smell. Taste can be thought of as several sensations experienced through tongue receptors, namely sour, sweet, bitter, salty, and umami.
The sense of smell is the aroma and taste felt through the nasal cavity. Unlike the sense of taste, which can only sense five kinds, the sense of smell can sense thousands of different aromas, but these aromas need to be volatile. If the surface of a substance does not release molecules into the air, it means that it has no fragrance. For example, when we eat strawberries, the taste of the tongue tastes sourness and sweetness, and the sense of smell behind the nose smells the aroma of strawberries. The two combine to form the experience of eating strawberries.
The same is true for coffee, so the purpose of sipping is to atomize the coffee liquid, increase the surface area of the coffee liquid, and improve the taste and smell of the coffee flavor.Many friends say that they cannot taste the flavor description written on the coffee bean packaging. Perhaps the way of sipping can help you further perceive the more subtle flavor of coffee.
Sipping method
First, use a cupping spoon to scoop out an appropriate amount of coffee liquid. Keep the cupping spoon as parallel as possible and put the coffee liquid into your mouth.Hold the cupping spoon against your teeth, and place your lower lip against the cupping spoon without leaving any space.Only allow the coffee liquid to be sipped from the upper lip. When sipping, use the muscles of the neck to exert force. The movements should be consistent, fast and without pause.
At this time, a sharper sound will be made, similar to the principle of whistling, but Front Street Coffee needs to remind you that the purpose of sipping is to atomize the coffee liquid, not to make a sharp sound. If the purpose of atomization can be achieved, even a small sound is acceptable.
You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
