What Preparation Steps Are Needed Before Coffee Cupping? What Are the Cupping Steps?

FrontStreet Coffee's Guide to Cupping Preparations

Here is everything FrontStreet Coffee lines up before a cupping session:

Required Equipment:

1. Roasted coffee beans

2. Coffee grinder

3. Water kettle

4. Cups

5. Cupping spoon

6. Cupping form

The Eight Steps of Cupping:

1. Grind each coffee and distribute the grounds into the cups, then cover them with paper or plates

2. Give the grounds in each cup a gentle shake and smell the dry aroma

3. Pour hot water over the coffee and let it steep for 3-4 minutes until a crust forms on the surface

4. Break the crust and smell the wet aroma

5. Skim the floating grounds off with a cupping spoon

6. Slurp the coffee into your mouth, let it coat your palate, then spit it out

7. Record your impressions on the cupping form and score it according to the form's criteria

8. Rinse your mouth, clean the spoon, and move on to the next coffee

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

A cupping session is only as good as the beans you cup, so pick coffees with plenty to say. A great starting point is FrontStreet Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry, a light-to-medium roast from Yirgacheffe — the origin that pioneered all-red-cherry natural processing — with ripe fruit aromatics, a clear fermented note and berry character up front, citrus acidity and creamy smoothness as it cools, and a finish of ripe, juicy grape.

For contrast in the same flight, try FrontStreet Mozart from Costa Rica: a raisin honey process that ferments the coffee fruit slowly as it dries, giving it Kyoho-grape sweetness plus pineapple and osmanthus aromas; at a medium-light roast it shows concentrated raisin, rose, and winy fermented notes. Round out the table with the FrontStreet Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon from Brazil — natural-processed, medium roasted, and famously versatile (pour-over, French press, moka pot, or espresso machine), with nuts, cream, cane sugar, and a gentle fruit acidity that makes it an excellent reference point for scoring balance and sweetness.