Cupping (more underqualified instruction at FEDEPMA)

A while ago, we taught a coffee preparation (barista, sort of) course at FEDEPMA. The goal was always to follow up the black coffee and espresso training with a cupping, which is basically a wine tasting, but for coffee. Last Thursday, we finally had the chance to lead FEDEPMA's first cupping.

Even though I'm writing this entry, Stacy deserves most of the credit for the cupping, and most photos that don't include her are hers too, save for the notably bad shots. Trust me, you'll see what I mean when you get to the second pic. Also, our friend Judith deserves a big thanks for sending cupping docs and suggestions from DC...

The cupping table at FEDEPMA.

For non-geeks, cupping is a great way to learn how to describe the flavors and other characteristics of coffee, and it's particularly helpful for someone preparing coffee in a coffeeshop or selling the beans to tourists. If you can say something more about a coffee besides that it tastes good, you can have greater confidence talking to customers. So one of the thoughts behind the cupping was that it will help FEDEPMA employees speak to tourists and future customers at their cafe (still not built).

More importantly, though, cupping can serve as a means of quality control. If a farmer or head of a processing facility cups frequently, he can notice changes in the quality of his beans, and if he or she finds a defect, he can search for the cause, and try to correct it. Hopefully, Pedro and the other coffee employees at FEDEPMA will keep cupping, and it will help them grow and process better, more consistent coffee.

Anyways, this is how we did it, photo essay style:

Figuring out the process

There's more than one way to cup a coffee. Professional cuppers score coffee on a scale of 1-100, and use a very detailed form to evaluate the coffee. The FEDEPMA employees are not professional cuppers, and neither are we. This weekend marks the first time that I needed more than one hand to count the number of times I've cupped coffee.

Stacy set about making our own, simplified cupping form, that would be a bit more useful for FEDEPMA. I helped a bit with the Spanish. As with the espresso and black coffee course, figuring out the best way to translate colloquial coffee talk was at times a bit challenging.

The FEDEPMA cupping form. Why didn't I just take a screenshot? Because that would have been the smart thing to do.

We were also a bit limited by our equipment, and went about a not-at-all rigorous trial and error effort to determine appropriate procedures and the correct ratio of coffee to water, considering FEDEPMA's limited supply of cups (we opted for cappuccino mugs).

The cabaña kitchen table is also the experimentation station.

Once we figured out the procedure, and wrote some great accompanying docs for the presentation, we led the cupping at FEDEPMA. What follows are a simplified version of the steps, leaving out the table setup part. Also, you're supposed to write something down every time you smell or taste, throughout the ordeal.

Los Pasos de la catacion

1. Measure out the coffee for each sample. Somewhere in the background, start heating water. The amount of coffee should be an exact weight. Since the scales at FEDEPMA are terrible, we used two very level tablespoons of whole beans, which I guess is around 12 grams. Important thing is that it's the same every time.

Two samples per person, check.

2. Grind those beans. Then smell them.

Ready for sniffing.

3. The water should be boiling by now. Take it off the stove, let it cool for 30 seconds, then slowly pour it into the cups, in the same order you ground the coffee. Then smell the coffee again.

Echando agua.

Wearing Ted King t-shirts makes you feel like a faster cyclist, fact. Even if that feeling is depressingly far from the truth...

Get in there.

Falling asleep in this position is not recommended.

4. A crust of wet coffee grounds will form on the top of the cup. After 3-4 min, break it with your spoon, pushing the grounds towards the bottom of the cup. Keep your nose close, smell the break.

Doña Loida has respecfully asked that you refer to her as Loida "THE CRUSTBREAKER" Margarita from this point forth.

5. Clean the excess grounds from the top of the cup. Two spoons work well for this.

Clean, I guess.

6. Taste the coffee. Don't take a sip from the cup - there are a lot of grounds at the bottom. Grab a spoonful, and slurp. Do this several times. Ponder the coffee's taste, aftertaste, brightness, and body.

La encargada del taller de catacion.

Juan tastes melon. Seriously, Juan couldn't stop talking about how the coffee tasted like melons.

Tasting, taking notes, keeping track of international coffee prices via text message. Pedro demonstrates proper multitasking technique.

The cup is for spitting.

7. Discuss. Compare your notes. You weren't supposed to be talking during the cupping, so now's your chance to share your observations. This is a great time to practice sounding like a pretentious coffee snob.

Comparing apuntes, and staring off into the distance. Lunch looms on the horizon.

The crustbreaker ponders. I think Pedro's making fun of her or me, but since he's speaking Tzutujil, I really have no clue.

Otto may be Guatemalan, but he gesticulates like an Italian.

somebody made a funny.

lots of adjectives.

Anyways, that's cupping at FEDEPMA. This week we're teaching the coffee prep course again. Today, while trying to figure out a way to heat up the water (kitchen space was occupied), we had two small gas leaks before finally settling on this:

Seriously, if that doesn't qualify as the most bushleague setup you've ever seen, please do share.