Introduction to coffee quality: SCAA professional coffee cup evaluation system of American boutique coffee association

SCAA, as one of the most authoritative professional coffee organizations in the world at present, has established a professional coffee cup evaluation system which is a collection of methods, processes and standards for evaluating coffee quality. Although most cafes in China are not suitable for cup evaluation by this method at present, some methods and details in the process may be helpful for us to understand coffee taste and carry out cup evaluation. It took a lot of effort and an elephant to finally translate this information. The English translation is not good enough, but it may be wrong, but I would like to share it with my coffee friends, and I hope my friends who have stepped on English can help correct it in order to improve it.

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Scaa's coffee cup rating system

Purpose:

The American Specialty Coffee Association's Committee on Numbers and Standards recommends these standards for coffee cup reviews. These criteria will ensure accurate evaluation of the quality of most coffees.

essential appliance

Baking essential

environment

Cup evaluation is necessary

Special baking machine for cup evaluation

Good lighting

Balance (specification)

Agtron baking tester or other color measuring instrument

Clean, no disturbing odor

Cup evaluation cup (with lid)

grinder dosers

Cup evaluation table

Cup evaluation long spoon

quiet

hot water kettle

comfortable temperature

Tables and other textual material

Limit interference (telephone calls, etc.)

Pencil and clipboard

*Cupping Glasses Evaluation Cup/SCAA recommends a 5 or 6 ounce Manhattan or 'Rocks' glass. Porcelain soup bowls of 175-225ml are also available. The cups must be clean, odor-free and kept at room temperature. The lid can be of any material. * All cups must be kept the same size, size and material.

Sample Preparation

Roasting

Sample beans must be baked within 24 hours and aged for at least 8 hours. Roasting standard of sample beans should be light to light-medium roasting degree, which is approximate to: raw beans 58, coffee powder 63, error is +/-1(standard specification is 55-60 or SCAA agtron #55)

Baking should be done in 8 to 12 minutes, with no visible blackheads or burnt beans.

Sample beans should be cooled quickly with cold air (not water) after baking. When the sample beans are cooled to room temperature (75 ° F or 20 ° C), they should be stored in sealed boxes or bags until they are cupped to reduce contact with air and prevent contamination.

Sample beans should be stored in a cool place, but not in the refrigerator or freezer.

specification quantity

A suitable ratio is 150ml of water per 8.25 g of ground coffee, which is in the middle of the permissible range for the "golden cup" formulation. Determine the amount of water in the cup used, adjust the amount of coffee so that the error fluctuates within 0.25 grams.

Cup evaluation preparation

Prepare coffee beans and grind them before cup evaluation begins. The ground coffee should not stand for more than 15 minutes before soaking. If this is not guaranteed, cover the coffee powder and soak it in water within 30 minutes after grinding. Sample beans should be weighed to ensure that they meet the coffee capacity stated above. Coffee grinds are slightly coarser than regular follicular coffee grinds, and 70 to 75 percent of the coffee grounds pass through the U.S. Standard No. 20 Sun Net. Prepare at least 5 cups of each to ensure consistency of samples.

Clean the grinder by grinding a certain amount of coffee beans before grinding each type of green beans, and then grind each cup to the required capacity to ensure consistency in the amount ground in each cup. Pour the coffee powder into the cup and cover it immediately after grinding.

Water Pouring

The water used for cup evaluation should be kept clean and odor-free, but not distilled or softened. The ideal total dissolved solids is 125-175ppm, but it should be kept between 100ppm and 250ppm.

The water should be freshly boiled and maintained at a temperature of approximately 200℉(93℃) while brewing. * Water temperature should also be adjusted according to altitude.

Hot water should be poured directly onto the coffee portion and up to the rim of the cup to ensure that all coffee grounds are wetted. Allow the coffee grounds to rest for 3-5 minutes before sipping.

Sample evaluation

Sensory assessment has several purposes:

Determine actual sensory differences between samples

Describe the flavor of sample beans

Determine product trends

No assessment can do all of these things, but they all have something in common. It is important for the panelists to know the purpose of the assessment and the use of the results. The cup rating scheme determines the cup rater's perception of quality. The quality of specific flavor characteristics will be analyzed, using the panelists 'prior experience, and the samples will then be evaluated based on numerical evaluation. The scores obtained from different samples can be compared, and the sample beans with high scores should be significantly better than the sample beans with low scores. The cup rating form provides a way to document important flavor characteristics of coffee.

Fragrance/Aroma Dry/Wet, Flavor, Aftertaste, Acidity, Body, Balance, Uniformity, Purity Clean Cup, Sweetness, Defects, and Overall. Specific flavor profiles reflect positive ratings of coffee quality by cup reviewers, while defects reflect negative ratings of coffee flavor. The overall evaluation score is based on the personal feelings of the cup reviewer for flavor, reflecting the personal feelings of the cup reviewer as an individual. This is a quality rating scale from 6 to 9 on a 16-point scale in 0.25 increments. These grades are:

Quality Scale

6.00-Good

good

7.00-Very Good

good

8.00-Excellent

excellent

9.00-Outstanding

Excellent.

6.25

7.25

8.25

9.25

6.5

7.5

8.5

9.5

6.75

7.75

8.75

9.75

Theoretically, the above scale should range from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 10. Sample beans with a score lower than the lowest score in the table above are those with a quality below the fine grade.

Evaluation Procedure/The baked color of the sample beans should first be evaluated visually. This will be noted and may be used as a reference when evaluating specific flavor characteristics below. As coffee cools, coffee flavor changes, and the following assessment of each characteristic is based on this.

Step 1: Fragrance/Aroma

Within 15 minutes after the sample beans have been ground, remove the lid and evaluate the dryness of the coffee by sniffing the coffee powder.

After pouring hot water, keep the coffee surface intact and let stand for 3 to 5 minutes. Gently stir the top of the coffee 3 times with a long spoon to break the top and gently stir to allow the moist aroma of the coffee to pass through the spoon. Record the dry/wet fragrance score.

Step 2: Flavor, aftertaste, acidity, body, and balance.

When the coffee solution has cooled to 160 ° F (71 ° C), start evaluating the coffee solution within 8 to 10 minutes of filling. Sip the coffee into your mouth quickly, and try to get the coffee in your mouth into contact with your mouth, especially your upper jaw and tongue. Flavor and aftertaste should be evaluated at this temperature because coffee vapors emitted in the direction of the throat and nose have maximum intensity at this temperature.

As coffee continues to cool (160 ° F-140 ° F, 71 ° C-60 ° C), acidity, body, and balance will continue to be evaluated. Balance is the cup reviewer's assessment of the overall harmony of flavor, aftertaste, acidity, and body. As the coffee cools, the cup reviewer will evaluate the different characteristics several times (2 or 3 times) at different temperatures. Mark each score on a 16-point scale, and if there is a change (if the sample improves or decreases in quality with temperature), remark the score on the horizontal score line and draw an arrow pointing to the final score.

Step 3: sweetness, consistency, purity

When the coffee is cooled to room temperature (100 ° F, below 38 ° C), measure sweetness, consistency, and purity. For these characteristics, the cup evaluator may assign a score of 2 (out of 10) to each characteristic of each cup.

When coffee drops to 70 ° F (21 ° C), the cup rating should end, and the overall score will be given by the cup reviewer based on a comprehensive evaluation of the above characteristics.

Step #4-Scoring

After all the evaluations are completed, all the scores will be added up and the total score will be recorded in the handwritten column on the right.

Individual Component Scores

Characteristic scores are recorded on the appropriate form of the Cup Rating Form. For some positive features, there are some bi-directional marker meters.

Longitudinal gauges are used to record the intensity of performance of perceived characteristics and serve as markers for the scorer's record. A horizontal scale measures the relative perceptions of perceived characteristics based on the panelists 'empirical understanding of the sample.

Each feature has a more detailed description:

Dry/Wet These aroma characteristics include dry (referring to the aroma of ground coffee in its dry state) and wet (referring to the aroma of ground coffee soaked in water). The cup evaluation process can be divided into three steps: (1) smell the aroma of coffee powder placed in the cup before water injection (2) smell the aroma released from the surface of coffee after soaking (3) smell the aroma of coffee when it is soaked. Specific aroma descriptions can be recorded on the horizontal line below "qualities", dry aroma, breaking coffee surface and wet aroma during infusion will be recorded on the vertical 5-point scoring scale. The final score will reflect the three aspects of dried bean fragrance/wet fragrance of the sample.

Flavor/flavor reflects the main characteristics of coffee, which are "backbone" characteristics, ranging from initial aroma and acidity to final aftertaste. It is a synthesis of all taste perceptions from the mouth to the nose. Flavor should be evaluated by sipping coffee to fully mobilize the taste organs, and combined with evaluating the intensity, quality and complexity of the various aromas and flavors that make up the flavor.

Aftertaste/aftertaste refers to the length of good flavor (aroma and taste) that emanates from the palate or remains in the mouth after coffee has been spat or swallowed. If the aftertaste is short or unpleasant, you get a low rating.

Acidity/Pleasant acidity is commonly referred to as "brightness" and unpleasant acidity is commonly referred to as "sour". At best, acidity adds to the vividness, sweetness, and fresh-fruit characteristics of coffee, and is generally perceived and evaluated immediately after sipping, but coffees that are too sour or predominantly sour tend to be unpleasant, and excessive acidity tends to detract from the overall performance of coffee. Scores on the horizontal scorecard will record the relative perception of coffee acidity based on the cup reviewer's perception of coffee production characteristics and other factors (such as roasting, intended use, etc.). Coffee perceived as having strong acidity, such as kenya, or low acidity, such as mantelin, also received preference scores, although they differed widely in intensity performance.

Alcohol/alcohol is based on the tactile perception of coffee liquid in the mouth, especially the tongue and palate. Most high-alcohol coffees score high because more gum and sugar are extracted during extraction. Coffee perceived as having a high alcohol content, such as Sumatra, or coffee perceived as having a low alcohol content, such as Mexico, received correspondingly high preference scores, although they differed widely in intensity performance.

Balance/Balance describes how different aspects of coffee such as flavor, acidity, and alcohol reconcile, complement, or conflict with each other. If coffee lacks certain aroma and taste characteristics, or if certain characteristics are excessively strong, the balance score will decrease.

Sweetness/sweetness refers to the sweetness and pleasant richness of flavor that results from the presence of sugar in coffee. The bad flavours for sweet are sour, convergent and similar to green. This characteristic is not directly perceived as in sweetened soft drinks, but affects other flavor characteristics. Each cup receives 2 points, with a maximum total score of 10 points.

Purity refers to the absence of unwanted negative flavors from the first sip to the final aftertaste, the "transparency" of a cup of coffee. To measure this characteristic, note the overall flavor of the coffee from the first sip to the final swallow or spit. Any taste or aroma that is not coffee will degrade the quality of coffee. Purity is calculated by adding a score of 2 points per cup to a maximum score of 10 points.

Consistency/consistency reflects the consistency of the flavor of the 5 cups of coffee rated by the cup. If the five cups taste different, you will not get a high score. Each cup is scored on a 2-point scale, with a maximum score of 10 points if the 5 cups taste the same.

Overall evaluation / overall evaluation is a comprehensive and comprehensive evaluation of various characteristics of coffee by cup reviewers. A sample that scores high in many ways but is "not up to standard" will get a lower score. A coffee that is consistent with its origin characteristics and achieves the desired characteristics will get a high score. A typical example is that a single feature that is not fully reflected in a single score will get a higher score in the preference score. This step is the process of individual evaluation by the cup review team.

The defect / defect is the negative or weak flavor of coffee which is detrimental to the quality of coffee. They are divided into two kinds. Taint refers to the obvious peculiar smell in coffee, but it is not overwhelming and is commonly found in aroma. In the strength assessment, a "taint" will get 2 points. Fault refers to the peculiar smell in coffee, which is commonly found in taste. It can be overwhelming or cause unpleasant taste in coffee. A fault will get 4 points on the strength score. Defects should first be identified and classified (taint or fault), then described (e.g. "sour", "rubber-flavored", "fermented", etc.) and documented. The number of cups with defects will be recorded and marked, and a score of 2 or 4 will be given according to the strength of the defect. finally, the total score of the defect will be obtained by adding up the product of the score and the number of cups.

Final score Final Scoring

The final score is to get the "total score" by adding up the scores of the main characteristics of a single item, and then subtract the defect score from the total score to get the final score. The following scoring key is considered to be a better way to judge the quality of coffee based on the final score.

Total Score Quality Classification total score quality grade

90-100

Outstanding is excellent.

Specialty

Fine grade

85-85.99

Excellent excellent

80-84.99

Very Good is very good.

< 80

Below Specialty Quality

Below the grade of fine goods

Not Specialty

Non-boutique

Attachment: SCAA Cup Evaluation record form

Source:

Two bottles of water coffee world blog