tags: [] - coffee/tasting - coffee/tasting/cupping aliases: - Cupping coffee - Coffee tasting protocol - SCA cupping method

Coffee Cupping¶

Tags: #coffee/tasting #coffee/tasting/cupping Aliases: Cupping coffee, Coffee tasting protocol, SCA cupping method Related: Cupping MOC | SCA Cupping Protocol | Coffee Comparison | Sensory Science MOC | Defect Recognition Status: ✅ Complete

Overview¶

Coffee cupping is the standardised sensory evaluation method used across the specialty coffee industry to assess and compare coffees for fragrance, aroma, flavour, acidity, body, sweetness, uniformity, clean cup, and aftertaste. It was codified by the Specialty Coffee Association and forms the basis of professional green coffee grading, roast profiling, quality control, and competition assessment. Cupping uses a controlled, simple immersion method — ground coffee steeped in hot water in open cups, then tasted by slurping from a cupping spoon — to isolate the coffee's intrinsic character with minimal equipment-related variation. A standardised form (the SCA Cupping Form) is used to score each attribute on a 6–10 scale, producing a total score out of 100.

Equipment and Setup¶

Item	Specification
Cups	Identical; 207–266 ml (7–9 fl oz)
Coffee dose	8.25 g per 150 ml water (1:18.18 ratio) or adjusted to 1:18
Grind	Medium-coarse (coarser than pour-over, similar to coarse filter)
Water temperature	93 °C ± 3 °C
Cups per sample	5 (for statistical reliability of clean cup and uniformity scoring)
Evaluation period	Hot (fragrance/aroma), warm (flavour, acidity, body, sweetness), cool (aftertaste, balance)

The Cupping Process¶

1. Fragrance: Ground coffee is dosed into cups immediately before water is added. The dry grounds are evaluated for fragrance — the aromatic compounds released without water contact. Notes are recorded.

2. Water addition and crust formation: Water at 93 °C is poured over the grounds to the brim of the cup. The grounds float and form a crust. The cups steep undisturbed for four minutes.

3. Break: At four minutes, the crust is broken by gently stirring three times with the cupping spoon, allowing the nose to come close to the cup to inhale the released aroma. Aroma impressions are recorded immediately as the volatile compounds are most concentrated at break.

4. Skimming: After breaking, remaining floating grounds and foam are skimmed from the surface with two spoons and discarded into a waste bowl.

5. Tasting: The cups are allowed to cool to approximately 70–55 °C before initial tasting. Coffee is taken into the spoon and slurped forcefully to spray it across the full palate and into the retronasal passage. Flavour, acidity, body, and sweetness are evaluated.

6. Cooling evaluation: Cups are re-tasted at multiple temperature stages as they cool to approximately 21 °C. Defects — fermentation, phenolic, and mouldy notes — often become more apparent as the cup cools. Aftertaste and balance are evaluated at the cooler range. Clean cup and uniformity are assessed across all five cups.

Scoring¶

The SCA Cupping Form scores ten attributes: fragrance/aroma, flavour, aftertaste, acidity, body, balance, uniformity, clean cup, sweetness, and overall. Each attribute is scored on a scale of 6–10 in 0.25-point increments, with descriptors attached to score ranges (Good, Very Good, Excellent, Outstanding). Total scores of 80 and above qualify as specialty grade.

Key Facts¶

Cupping is the standardised industry method for coffee sensory evaluation; developed and codified by the SCA
Five cups per sample provide statistical reliability for uniformity and clean cup assessment
Water temperature: 93 °C ± 3 °C; dose: approximately 1:18 (8.25 g per 150 ml)
Evaluation occurs across three temperature stages — hot (fragrance/aroma), warm (flavour, acidity, body), cool (aftertaste, balance, defects)
SCA total score of 80+ = specialty grade; scores out of 100 across ten attributes

References¶

Changelog¶

Date	Change
2026-05-02	Compliance review: full rewrite — original had `../` wikilinks, numbered step-by-step instructional format, second-person language, Fahrenheit temperature, American English, no frontmatter or metadata, no copyright; restructured as encyclopedia article

This article is part of All-About-Coffee.com - The comprehensive coffee knowledgebase.