Coffee Cupping 101: How We Taste, Score & Perfect Every OZO Coffee Roast

The Art of Coffee Cupping at OZO Coffee

Here at the Ozo Roastery, we understand that each and every coffee is special – a culmination of all of the love and hard work that has been poured into it as it was grown, harvested, processed, and sent on its way. As coffee roasters, it is both our privilege and responsibility to put in the same level of care and dedication to each coffee we source and ensure that every cup delivers the perfect profile of flavors.

Perhaps one of the most significant ways that our team commits to our coffees is through cupping – a tool that we carry with us through every stage in the coffee’s journey from origin to the final cup. Coffee cupping is a standardized tasting process used by coffee professionals to evaluate and compare the quality, aroma, and flavor profiles of coffee beans. This practice involves brewing coffee in a controlled manner and assessing its attributes through a guided sensory experience.

 

The Coffee Cupping Process

Conducting a coffee cupping is quite simple, though for our purposes, it’s vital that we cup in a controlled environment with a standardized process. Here’s what we do:

Selection and Preparation of Coffee

Coffee beans are roasted to a light or medium profile to preserve their natural characteristics. The grind size is consistent, resembling coarse sea salt.

Weighing and Brewing

A standard ratio of coffee to water is used, typically 8.25 grams of coffee to 150 mL of water. The water temperature should be around 200°F (93°C) for optimal extraction.

Fragrance and Aroma

Participants first smell the freshly ground coffee to assess its fragrance. After adding hot water, the coffee grounds release additional aromatic compounds, providing more insights into the coffee’s profile.

Breaking the Crust

After four minutes of brewing, the “crust” of coffee grounds is broken with a spoon, releasing a burst of aroma. This is a critical moment to note olfactory impressions.

Tasting

Using a cupping spoon, participants slurp the coffee—yes, slurp! This aerates the coffee, allowing it to spread evenly across the palate for a thorough sensory evaluation.

Scoring and Discussion

Coffees are scored on attributes such as aroma, flavor, acidity, body, and aftertaste. Notes are compared to identify standout characteristics or potential flaws.

Cupping: From Origin to Final Cup

There are a few different contexts in which cupping is the best way to experience a coffee:

At Origin: Building Relationships & Evaluating Coffee

In order to foster relationships with producers across the globe, we visit the farms and Co-ops that we source our coffee from as often as we can. On these origin trips, we spend our time continuing to grow our relationships with our current partners and seeking out new ones that share our vision for what coffee can be.

Cupping is an essential part of these trips where we have our first opportunity to taste and get to know the coffees that a farmer has produced in the past growing season. Here we will score them for the first time and work with the farmers to find the perfect coffees for OZO’s lineup. When we don’t have the opportunity to visit a farm or producer that year, samples can be mailed to us for evaluation at our roastery – but either way, we do our best to stay as connected to our coffee’s origins as possible.

Pre-Shipment & Arrival: Ensuring Quality & Consistency

After contracting a coffee, we usually receive samples of it at two points during its journey – a pre-shipment sample and an arrival sample. These samples are roasted carefully in small batches and cupped to ensure the quality is maintained as the coffee travels from origin to the United States. A standardized cupping and scoring system is imperative to compare how the coffee may change over this period. Once we approve our samples, the coffee hops on a truck headed for Boulder, Colorado.

Profiling: Creating the Perfect Roast

After much anticipation, the coffee arrives at our warehouse and roastery. It’s traveled thousands and thousands of miles at this point, and we’re ecstatic it’s made it safely. Now it’s time for our first production roasts.

Some coffees will play a pivotal role in building the flavor profiles of our classic blends like our OZO Blend and our Isabelle Blend, while others will be the perfect additions to our single origin lineup. Using as much information as we can gather about our new coffee – varietal, elevation, origin, density, moisture content, processing, etc. – we start to build a roast profile.

At this point, we have a pretty good idea of the qualities and flavors we’re looking for in the coffee, but now it’s our job to find the best way to highlight them with our roasting strategy. And you guessed it – our first roasts go straight to the cupping table. We’re not satisfied until we feel sure that we’re giving the coffee every opportunity to shine. Then and only then will the coffee leave our cupping lab and head out into the world.

QA/QC Cupping: Continuous Quality Assurance

As our profile is developed and we celebrate the release of another stunning coffee, our job is far from over. We’re committed to this coffee from the first sip to the bottom of the last bag.

As the green coffee ages, it also changes, which means we have to dedicate time to quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) cuppings. These cuppings allow us to ensure each roast is up to our standards. Anything out of alignment with the profile we’ve developed means it’s time for us to take some extra time and find the best way to adjust in order to ensure quality.

Coffee Cupping for Enthusiasts: Try It Yourself!

Though cupping is primarily used by coffee professionals for evaluating, scoring, and developing coffee profiles, coffee cupping is accessible to any coffee enthusiast who wants to develop their palate or even just experience and appreciate the nuances of tasting different coffees.

Whether you’re sourcing beans, refining your roasting technique, or simply enjoying a cup at home, understanding the process of coffee cupping can elevate your appreciation for every brew. You can try your hand at cupping at home – or check out a local roaster for public cupping opportunities!