Percolate
Cupping is the standardized way professionals taste coffee. You smell the dry and wet grounds, break the crust, then slurp and score four axes — aroma, acidity, body, and flavor — plus an overall score. Doing it the same way every time turns vague impressions into a repeatable taste profile you can trust.
Cupping is the standardized tasting method the coffee industry uses to evaluate and compare coffees. Instead of brewing each coffee differently, you prepare them identically — same dose, same grind, same water, same timing — so any difference you taste comes from the coffee itself, not the brew. The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) protocol formalizes this so a buyer in one country can score a coffee the same way as a roaster in another.
You do not need to be a professional to benefit. Cupping at home trains your palate fast because it removes variables and forces you to taste deliberately. Pair it with knowledge of roast levels and processing methods and you will start predicting what a bag will taste like before you brew it.
Use identical cups or glasses, one per coffee. A common starting ratio is about 8.25 grams of coffee per 150 ml of water (roughly an 1:18 ratio), but the key is consistency, not a magic number — use the same ratio across every cup in the session. Grind slightly coarser than drip, and have a scale, a kettle, and a spoon ready.
Smell the dry grounds first. Pour water just off the boil (around 93°C / 200°F) over each cup and let it steep about 4 minutes. A crust of grounds will float to the top. The setup is simple on purpose — the discipline is in keeping every cup the same so your scores mean something when you compare them later.
These four axes are the backbone of a tasting note. Work through them in order, the same way every time:
Scoring each on a simple 1 to 5 scale, plus an overall score, is exactly the structure Percolate’s cupping log uses, so your notes stay comparable across every bag.
After you break the crust and smell, skim off the floating grounds with two spoons. Then slurp a spoonful sharply — slurping aerates the coffee and sprays it across your whole palate, which is why cuppers do it loudly and without apology. Move the coffee around your mouth before you swallow or spit.
Crucially, taste the same coffee at several temperatures. Hot coffee hides some flavors; as it cools to warm and then near room temperature, acidity, sweetness, and faults become easier to perceive. A coffee that tastes flat hot might bloom with fruit as it cools. Take notes at each stage rather than trusting a single sip.
One cupping tells you about one coffee. The value compounds when you log every cup the same way and look back across many bags. Patterns emerge: maybe you consistently score bright, washed coffees higher, or maybe heavier-bodied naturals win you over every time. That is your taste profile — built from real data, not a guess.
Recording aroma, acidity, body, flavor, and an overall score for each bag on your shelf lets Percolate match you to roasts, origins, and processes you will actually like. Re-cup the same bag as it rests and as you dial in your grind, and you will also see how a single coffee evolves over its life — which is half the fun of drinking specialty coffee attentively.
What is coffee cupping?
Cupping is a standardized tasting method roasters and buyers use to evaluate coffee. Ground coffee is steeped in hot water in identical cups, the crust is broken and smelled, and the liquid is slurped and scored on fixed attributes so different coffees can be compared fairly.
Do I need special equipment to cup at home?
No. You need a few identical cups or glasses, a scale, a grinder, a kettle, and a spoon. The Specialty Coffee Association protocol uses a set ratio and grind, but even a simplified version — same dose, same water, same timing each time — gives you reliable, comparable results.
What are the four things cuppers score?
Most home tasting focuses on aroma (how it smells), acidity (brightness or liveliness), body (weight and texture in the mouth), and flavor (the specific notes you taste), plus an overall impression. Professional forms add sweetness, aftertaste, balance, and more, but those four cover most of what you need.
How long does coffee need to steep for cupping?
In the standard method, you let the grounds steep about 4 minutes, then break the crust and smell, skim the foam, and begin tasting as the liquid cools. Coffee reveals different qualities at different temperatures, so taste it hot, warm, and near room temperature.