Cupping Technique Part 2. This page will begin the preliminary information about the Cupping Technique published by SACC (Specialty Coffee Association – American Association of Specialty Coffee). Because the content is highly academic, you must first have a strong understanding of Cupping and basic principles!
SCAA has announced a set of Cupping standards consisting of four primary sections to allow Cupping to be deployed smoothly, scientifically, and with the most accurate results possible.
1. Cupping equipment and tools
Cupping cups made of glass
3. Preparation of samples
3.1. Roasting coffee
Coffee/Water Ratio (3.2)
3.3. Coffee grinding
3.4. Filling the water tank
4. Evaluation of a sample
4.1. Evaluation Methodology
Individual component scores (section 4.2)
4.3. Final score — This is the final score.
The first three parts, Contents Part 4, will be included in this post. Sample Assessment and Cupping Scoring will be presented individually, or you can download the original SCAA to study more thoroughly.
1. Cupping equipment and tools
Equipment for sample preparation includes a sample roaster, a color measuring instrument, and a blender.
Scales, Cupping Cups with Lids, Cupping Spoons, Evaluation Forms, Pencils, and Paper Clips are some of the tools used in cupping.
Environmental conditions: ample light, clean, no weird odors, room temperature 25–27 degrees Celsius, Phones and audio equipment should be used sparingly… To avoid being sidetracked during Cupping,
2. Glass Cupping Cup
The SCAA recommends 5 to 6 ounce (207 ml to 266 ml) glass cups with a 3 to 3.5 inch (7.6 – 9 cm) rim for the Cupping technique. A porcelain crucible with 175-225 mL can also be utilized. The cup must be odorless and clean, and the cover can be made of any material.
All cups used in the cupping technique must be equal in weight, size, and material.
3. Sample preparation in a cup
3.1. Cupping samples should be roasted within 24 hours and allowed to stabilize for at least 8 hours
With an Agtron colorimeter, measure the roast profile 30 minutes to 4 hours after roasting. It should be light to medium roast. The degree of roasting is determined using the Agtron scale, which has a 1 unit error:
- 63.0 on the Agtron Gourmet scale
- 48.0 on the Agtron commercial scale
The Colortrack: 62.0 scales or the Probat Colorette 3b: 96.0 scale can be used.
Some guidelines for the roasting of coffee for Cupping
- The batch roast should take roughly 8 to 12 minutes to complete.
- In the sample, there should be no burned seeds.
- Roasted samples should be let to cool completely in the air.
To avoid contamination, samples should be stored in sealed containers or waterproof bags until Cupping, once the temperature of the seeds has cooled to room temperature (about 20 ° C). sample.
Samples should be kept cool and dark but not refrigerated or frozen.
3.3 Coffee/Water Ratio for Cupping
8.25 grams of coffee to 150 ml of water is the ideal ratio.
In this ratio, determining the volume of water in the cup allows for a 0.25-gram mistake.
Because the structure of the coffee bean is broken after grinding, a lot of the scent is released, and the contact rate is high. The sample is only ground about 15 minutes before cupping. If this is not practicable, the model should be covered tightly and cupped within 30 minutes of grinding. According to the ratio above, the sample mass should be weighed in whole grain.
With 70% to 75% of the particles passing through a 20 mesh screen, the milling particle size should be slightly coarser than that utilized in the drip process (US Standard).
To determine the homogeneity of a sample after grinding, more than 5 cups must be evaluated for each piece. Each sample beaker should be cleaned by pre-grinding a tiny amount of material in a mill, then crushed individually for each beaker, ensuring that the sample mass is entirely consistent. After mashing, immediately place lids on top of each cup.
3.4. Pouring – pouring
Cupping water should be perfectly pure and odorless but not distilled or softened. Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) should be between 125 and 175 parts per million (ppm) (but should not be lower than 100 ppm or higher than 250 ppm). Before pouring over the coffee powder, use hot water that has just been boiled and cooled somewhat to around 93 o C (200 o F).
Pour hot water directly into the powder until it reaches the cup’s rim (without spilling), making sure to soak all of the coffee grounds. After pouring, leave undisturbed for 3-5 minutes before assessing.
This is the last step in the Cupping technique’s preparation. Because the manipulation of tasting and grading in Cupping is pretty hard, you must master the preparation step before moving on to Technical. P.3 Cupping