Coffee Tasting | How to Identify Single-Origin Bean Flavors Through Aroma Bottles and Cupping

Professional Coffee Knowledge Exchange

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Previously, I wrote three installments of coffee tasting steps for beginners, and today I continue with the update.

Coffee Beginner Level 1 | Top 10 Characteristics of American Coffee Growing Regions, Starting with Balanced American Beans to Learn Coffee

Coffee Beginner Level 2 | Which Beans Are More Acidic, Which Are Sweeter, Understanding Coffee Processing Methods

Coffee Beginner Level 3 | Experiencing the Fascinating Acidity of Coffee, Characteristics of African Coffee Growing Regions

After identifying the acidity of African beans, such as professional terms like [coffee floral aroma] [lemon acidity] [citrus acidity], some friends may wonder how I can write so many vocabulary words? In fact, the secret is smelling more [aroma bottles], corresponding aroma bottles + cupping to identify the flavors of single-origin beans.

1. Cupping Required Tools:

• Roasted bean samples
• Grinder
• Glass cups or porcelain bowls (cupping containers - containers of the same material must be used for the same cupping session, commonly 5oz or 6oz Manhattan Glass or Rock Glass. For white porcelain cups, recommended capacity is between 175-225ml)
• Cupping forms, empty bowls (for spitting coffee liquid), cupping spoons, electric kettle, timer

2. Basic Cupping Environment Requirements:

• Cupping table (essential)
• Clean, quiet, without interference from other aromas

3. Roasting (Preparing Cupping Samples):

Roasted beans should be completed within 8-24 hours before cupping, with beans resting for at least 8 hours after roasting.

Roast degree: Based on M-Basic (Gourmet) Agtron standard values, roast degree from light to light-medium, with bean values at 58, powder values at 63, Agtron color card scale is 55-60

Roasting time: More than 8 minutes but within 12 minutes, without scorching or cracking

Roasted beans must be immediately air-cooled, not water-cooled

When sample beans cool to room temperature (about 20°C), place them in sealed containers or airtight bags until cupping begins, minimizing air exposure and preventing contamination

Sample beans should be stored in a cool place, but freezing or refrigeration is not necessary

4. Determining Coffee Amount:

8.25g coffee: 150ml water. This complies with the Golden Cup's optimal brewing ratio. However, the coffee powder ratio can be adjusted according to the capacity of the glass cups used for cupping, with variations of approximately plus or minus 0.25 grams

5. Water Injection:

Grind sample beans immediately before cupping, completing water injection within 15 minutes after grinding. Coffee powder should not steep for more than 30 minutes after water injection

According to the aforementioned coffee ratio, adjust the water ratio based on the weight of coffee beans (not ground coffee powder)

Coffee bean grinding should be slightly finer than the particle size for regular paper filter brewing (for example, if usually ground to regular sugar granules, cupping requires approximately fine sugar granules), meaning about 70-75% should pass through a US 20 Mesh size sieve. To ensure more accurate testing, prepare 5 cups of each sample bean for cupping

Regarding Water Quality:

It is recommended not to use water with aroma or distilled water, soft water. The ideal total dissolved solids (TDS) in water is 125-175ppm, but not less than 100ppm or exceeding 250ppm (TDS too low means over-extraction, TDS too high means under-extraction). Brewing temperature is 93-94°C. Wait 3 to 5 minutes after water injection before starting cupping.

The above... doing so many standardized processes is mainly to control variables that affect flavor, allowing the flavor and mouthfeel of coffee beans to be more accurately judged through quantification (scoring). Cuppers can clearly point out flavor differences between different samples, providing a reference basis for assessing coffee bean quality.

Cupping Details - Grind Size

SCAA cupping standards define the grind size as 70% to 75% of particles passing through a 20-mesh sieve.

Note:

When changing to each coffee sample, the cupping spoon must be thoroughly cleaned, then rinse with ice water to avoid mutual flavor influence.

Following this method, taste each coffee sample several times in cycles until the coffee samples reach room temperature. Note that before tasting each type of coffee, try to forget the previous sensations as much as possible to experience the next coffee sample with the purest perception.

During the coffee tasting process, you can spit out most of the coffee liquid. However, at least swallow a small portion to experience the aftertaste sensation of the coffee sample.

Cupping Process

1. Grind the beans to be cupped (Grind size: BG: 3B)

2. Smell the dry aroma

3. Pour hot water (94°C) into the cup until full, while timing for 4 minutes

4. After 2 minutes, smell the wet aroma

5. After 4 minutes, break the crust

"Breaking the crust": Use a cupping spoon to push aside the floating coffee powder on the surface, allowing the trapped aroma underneath to burst out, confirming the coffee's aroma performance. Gently stir with the cupping spoon about 3 times and let rest for 2 minutes.

6. After 2 minutes, you can skim the crust

"Skimming": Use a cupping spoon to scoop away the surface foam. Clean the cupping spoon each time to avoid leaving bad flavors that affect the coffee.

7. Scoop up the coffee liquid with a cupping spoon and taste by slurping. Slurping makes the coffee liquid aerosolize in the mouth, allowing flavor molecules to present more clearly.

8. Spit the coffee liquid from your mouth into the spittoon.

Aroma bottles systematically categorize aromas through chemical oils that present different smells, correcting your coffee olfactory sense and helping with memory of specific aromas.

Currently, there are two major types of aroma bottles on the market. One is the 36-scent Le Nez du Café (literally translated as "coffee nose") manufactured by French Edition Jean Lenoir, and the other is the 100-scent Coffee Flavor Map produced this year by Korea's Scentone. The SCAA certified courses currently use the 36-scent version. Besides helping you remember specific flavors, its four major categories also tell you what different flavors coffee will have during the roasting process, providing complete coffee knowledge training. How many categories are there?

1. Enzymatic Group

(Fruits): Lemon, Apple, Apricot

(Vegetables): Potato, Cucumber, Garden Peas

(Floral Nectars): Coffee Blossom, Tea Rose, Honeyed

2. Sugar Browning Group

(Four Nuts): Roasted Almonds, Roasted Peanuts, Roasted Hazelnuts, Walnuts

(Three Sweets): Caramel, Black Chocolate, Vanilla

(Two Meals): Toast, Fresh Butter

3. Dry Distillation Group

(Spices): Pepper, Coriander Seed, Clove-like

(Beverage Ingredients): Black Currant-like, Maple Syrup, Malt

(Herbal Processing): Roasted Coffee, Pipe Tobacco, Cedar

4. Aromatic Taint Group

(Wet Earthy): Earthy, Straw, Medicinal

(Dry Irritating): Rubber, Leather, Smoke

(Pleasant Aromas): Coffee Pulp, Basmati Rice, Cooked Beef

Daily taste and smell training can be done by eating more fruits and smelling fruit aromas. For more in-depth taste training, use aroma bottles and freshly ground coffee powder to compare dry aromas, wet aromas, and flavors. Smelling too many aroma bottles can cause dizziness, so first smell the cap, then the oil, moving side to side to let the nasal cavity fully experience the aroma. Comparing smells will enhance discrimination ability. However, regardless of which aroma bottles you use, consistent practice will inevitably improve your olfactory discrimination ability.

After understanding the classification of the 36 aroma bottles, how do we apply them to tasting? Let's use several single-origin beans as examples:

Those dominated by floral and fruity notes: floral aromas are round and gentle, comfortable; fruit aromas are fresh, lively, and invigorating, reminiscent of oranges, peaches, and other tropical fruits, making the mouth water.

[FrontStreet Coffee Flower Butterfly]

Flavors: Citrus, jasmine, honey peach, grape, caramel, honey, charming high mountain tea aroma;

[Sidamo Horse Queen]

Flavors: Passion fruit, fermented wine aroma, strawberry, jackfruit

[Sun-dried Yirgacheffe Red Cherry]

Flavors: Strawberry, blenheim, sucrose

[Kenya Sun-dried Bourbon Hania]

Dry aroma has sun-dried fermentation, dried fruit and vanilla, caramel, mixed fruits, solid juice sensation, aftertaste has berries, rich jackfruit, coffee flower aroma.

Those dominated by caramelized and dry distillation flavors:

[Golden Mandheling]

Flavors: Quality herbs, clove, pine aroma, caramel, cream, nuts, dark chocolate

[Jamaica Blue Mountain]

Flavors: Chocolate, nuts, cream, brown sugar. Sweet, sour, and bitter flavors are balanced, moderately gentle acidity, slight fruit aroma.

[Yunnan Flower Fruit Mountain]

Flavors: Melon and fruit aroma, nuts, milk chocolate, cream, herbal, brown sugar, honey;

During cupping, we compare these flavors and score accordingly on the scoring form:

First: Fragrance/Aroma

Aroma includes two parts: dry aroma and wet aroma. The first impression and first item to be scored after grinding the beans is the dry aroma - coffee flower aroma, roasted hazelnuts, roasted almonds are all pleasant aromas. After adding water, the wet aroma that bursts forth when breaking the crust gives more imagination - honey, lemon, apricot fruits make one's mouth water.

Second Scoring Item: Flavor

Flavor is the first item perceived and scored when the coffee liquid drops to 71°C and slurping begins, including various taste flavors and retronasal olfaction; cuppers can include perceived flavors in the scoring items, including various tastes detected or drunk. It can be said that flavor is an extremely important scoring item, and also a basis for describing the characteristics of cupped coffee samples. More and better flavors will score higher.

Third Scoring Item: Aftertaste

Aftertaste refers to various tastes or aromas or textures that remain in the mouth after slurping. Good flavors linger longer, for example, sweetness, which after slurping and spitting out the coffee, still clearly remains in the mouth and even spreads, then this item will score higher. Conversely, no aftertaste, or very short, will score lower.

Fourth Scoring Item: Acidity

Good acidity is not like vinegar - it can be bright and lively and detect diverse acids like citrus, berries or sweet lemon. There are also melon-like sweet acids or crisp fruit acids of just-ripe apples. All these acids above are high quality; bad acids are like unripe fruits or vinegar, some undesirable acids like overripe fruits or spoiled ones, where fermented acids or rotten fruit acids can be detected. The higher the quality of acidity, the higher the score.

Fifth Scoring Item: Body

Body is not about measuring taste - this belongs to substances and textures felt in the mouth. Oiliness, viscosity, quality sensation all constitute body; for example, milk versus water, the former has much higher texture sensation, thick soup versus clear soup, the former's thickness and texture are far higher than the latter.

Sixth: Uniformity

This scoring is relatively simple - do the 5 sample cups have different tastes? Which cup has defects? If they are all consistent, then give a big 10 points!

Seventh Scoring Item: Balance

Balance refers to whether the various scoring items of coffee are balanced, for example, although the acidity is bright, does it still turn sweet? Although the texture is viscous, is it not astringent? Are the various flavors of coffee harmonious? If so, this item will score higher.

Eighth Scoring Item: Clean Cup

Cleanliness is very important and essential for specialty coffee. So-called cleanliness means no defective flavors of taints or faults (complete freedom from taints or faults). Coffee with spoilage, earthy taste, medicinal iodine taste, fermented acidity, rubber, onion, astringency and other bad tastes and textures all indicate insufficient cleanliness.

Ninth Scoring Item: Sweetness

Sweetness not only represents that coffee fruits were harvested at optimal maturity without unripe beans mixed in, but also represents excellent coffee quality. Only selecting just-ripe coffee fruits to process into green beans can achieve better sweetness. There are also many types of sweetness, such as sugarcane sweetness, caramel sweetness, etc., which can be noted during evaluation. Coffee generally contains sweetness, so as long as sweetness is perceived, this item will receive high scores.

Tenth Scoring Item: Overall

Excellent beans can correspond to a certain type of aroma bottle. If you don't have aroma bottles at home, you can actually try more fruits and smell flower aromas. Continuous practice will make it easier to identify different flavors~

Today's sharing ends here, hoping to help everyone~

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473