What does the cup test mean? What are the procedures and steps? What are the standards? How to score

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One of the standard procedures used in the coffee industry to determine the quality of a coffee is the cup test. Each time Front Street decides whether to put a new bean on the shelf, it will go through multiple cup tests to determine that a certain curve of a particular bean is more suitable before it is finally determined. Cup testing is a standard in the industry. Coffee without cup testing cannot be determined for quality, adjustment and roasting curve.

Coffee cup testing is an important part of coffee tasting

Both coffee roasters and baristas must pass the cup test before selecting coffee beans to accurately select good coffee beans. Just like when the front street sells each bean, it goes through multiple rounds of cup testing to continuously adjust the roasting curve of coffee beans to roast the best flavor of each coffee bean. Front Street Coffee will objectively judge the sweetness, acidity, taste, flavor, aftertaste, aroma and other aspects of coffee beans, excavate the roasting characteristics of coffee beans, find out the advantages accepted by the market, and then decide whether to purchase.

At present, there are two kinds of cup testing processes in the world, which are formulated by The Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) or the Cup of Excellence (COE). Qianjie Coffee mainly uses COE cup testing process, and the following introduction will also take COE cup testing process as an example.

Coffee cup test precautions

Determine the grinding degree of coffee beans: 70-75% pass rate of Chinese standard No.20 sieve

Water injection temperature 94℃

Powder 11.3g

Water injection volume 200ml

Dry aroma must be measured within 15 minutes after grinding

COE cup test items

Aroma: It contains dry fragrance, wet fragrance and broken residue fragrance, which refer to the aroma of coffee beans ground into powder, the aroma after adding hot water, and the aroma of broken residue after 4 minutes.

Clean Cup: No spoilage, odors or flaws.

Sweet: In ripe fruit, the sweetness content will be quite clear, if overripe or underripe, the sweetness change can also be felt in the cup test.

Acidity: Good acids are bright and lively or juicy or can elicit sweetness. Bad acids are like unripe fruit, similar to acetic acid or fermented acidity.

Mouth Feel: The feeling of stickiness, grease, and quality felt in the mouth.

Flavor: The overall sensation of coffee in the mouth. Neutralizing acid, sweet, aroma and other factors were analyzed and scored.

Aftertaste: After sipping coffee, you can still feel the taste, touch and even residual nasal smell.

Balance: whether the various flavors are coordinated and whether the flavor is stable from high temperature to low temperature.

Overall: Score overall performance of aroma, flavor and taste.

Standard Discrimination of COE Cup Test

With a total score of 69 or less, commercial beans or industrial beans are slightly worse.

The total score is between 70 and 74 points, belonging to the general commercial beans.

The total score is between 75 and 79 points, which is generally called high-grade commercial beans.

The total score is between 80 and 84 points, which belongs to fine coffee.

With a total score of 85 points or more, it belongs to the COE competition level and is also the winner of the Cup of Excellence. It is currently recognized as the highest level in the international coffee industry.

Cup Test Process Practice

1. Grind the beans to be measured in a cup.

2. Smell the dry aroma and control it within 15 minutes.

3. Add water in large flow and let the coffee powder soak for 4 minutes until the coffee grounds form a shell, at which time you can smell the coffee wet fragrance.

4. After 4 minutes of soaking, with a spoon in the surface of the cup even a few times, break the residue shell, you can smell the broken residue aroma, and then skim the foam and residue shell.

5. Tasting and sipping, scooping out the coffee with a cup, sipping the coffee, feeling it in your mouth and spitting out the coffee, recording your feelings on the cup meter, scoring according to the requirements of the cup meter, gargling, rinsing the cup and spoon, and then tasting the next coffee.

Front Street Coffee will adjust the coffee beans according to the recorded information. The adjustment range can be the choice of roasting curve, the selection of brewing equipment or the use of brewing method to enlarge or narrow the advantages or disadvantages of coffee beans and present the best flavor when producing.

More fine coffee beans, please add private WeChat Qianjie Coffee, WeChat: kaixinguoguo0925