A little about buying coffee beans...

... and it's not easy!

Those roasts that can't be saved no matter how long they rest have to be remembered! The results of tasting the coffee for flavors and aroma characteristics is called 'cupping'. It's usually done blind, meaning the taster isn't told what it is they're tasting so they aren't prejudiced by a favorite.

My simple +1 to -1 scoring system pales in comparison to the SCA/SCAA (Specialty Coffee Association and the affiliated Specialty Coffee Association of America) scoring system of 0 to 100 demanded of those completing their certification process. Their system evaluates the subtleties of specific flavors, aromas and characteristics of each coffee evaluated in cupping. But that takes training and that's not going to happen.

The cupping score (upper left) shown here, called a 'spider' diagram, is from Sweet Maria's and is the evaluation  they gave to these beans from Colombia. Inzá is a town (in the 'department' of Cauca), and Las Estrellas (from the stars) is probably the farm or co-op where the beans originated.

Along with the cupping score there's the flavor diagram that the cupper has to fill out indicating what categories had detectable flavors (to the cupper) of the 10 categories noted. The intensity is noted with a level of 0 to 5. Makes for an interesting indication of what the consumer ought to expect from the beans if they get the roast right.

In addition to these 2 diagrams are the Cupping Notes which are a real look into the cupper's world. Without these notes, the individual greens buyer really hasn't a clue what to expect from this particular lot. Here's the Cupper's Notes for this Colombia Inzá Las Estrellas coffee:

"The dry fragrance has a brown sugar and raisin smell at City roast level, along with a wide range of raw sugars. The sweetness found in wet aroma is very honey-like in both our light and darker roasts and supremely sweet. Getting right into the cup, acidity has both tea-like and fruited characteristics that have a mouth cleansing affect on the palate. This coffee's base flavors are very sweet and range from honey to raw panela sugar, a layered complexity that builds as the cup cools. The profile top notes come into focus as you move through the cup, especially in the middle City+ roasts, hints of golden apple, herbal tea, and a clove spice note in the aftertaste. The heavy dark chocolate roast flavors that come with Full City roast leave space for Las Estrella's fruited characteristics and mouthfeel is still quite buoyant at this roast level. Full City and Full City+ roasts make a great SO (single origin) espresso option too showing equal levels of bittering cacao tones and baked sugar sweetness, with a tart lemon zing that brightens up the cup."

And you thought wine snobs were bad!