How to Set Up a Cupping

CQC 2.07 The BH Cupping Protocol

Choose the coffees you want to cup. We recommend you cup no more than twelve samples at one time.
- Sampling more than twelve cups is feasible if you are performing ‘go / no-go’ checks for production roasting.
Assemble a sufficient number of cupping bowls with a capacity between 150–200 ml.
- Cupping bowls should be dry, odourless, and at room temperature.
Prepare between 2–6 bowls of each sample you wish to cup.
- One cup per sample is sufficient only if you are conducting a roast assessment.
- Cup on a brew ratio of 55 g/L (grams per litre).
- We recommend 10 g of coffee per sample, plus enough to purge the grinder before you begin to grind the coffee for each bowl.
Label the samples such that you are unaware of the identity of each after you have ground them and randomised their order.
- We recommend you use a label that can remain with each sample but be kept upside down (and out of sight) as you grind and arrange the samples on the cupping table.
Purge your grinder with a few beans taken from the sample you are about to grind for.
Grind your coffee on a setting that brings your best coffees to approximately 1.4% total dissolved solids after 8 minutes. (Refer to the BH Refractometry Protocols.)
- Every bowl should be checked with a scale to ensure it is accurate to within ∓1 g.
Position the samples around your cupping table, keeping them arranged in order.
Start a timer and begin to add hot water (just after a rolling boil) to each cup, weighing the water precisely for each bowl ∓2 g.
- Hot water should be odourless, have a pH between 7.0–7.4, and have a level of buffer no higher than 70 ppm.
Aim to fill bowls quickly but without making a mess.