Archive for October, 2007
Brewed’s First Cupping!
On Saturday we hosted our first Educational Cupping! We had 9 participants and cupped 5 different coffees.
Our friend Branden led the event by giving a short presentation on the importance of cupping coffee. He also talked a little about coffee and where it’s grown, how it is processed, the variety of trade, and the differences in roast.
We decided the best way to approach our first cupping was to sample a little bit from everywhere…..so we chose Guatemala Huehuetenango Finca Vista Hermosa (Victrola Coffee Roasters), Colombia Huila Monserrate Excelso (also Victrola), Sumatra Blue Batak (PT’s Coffee Company), Kenya AA Mwiria (also PT’s), and for fun threw in a wild one in Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Biloya Selection One (also PT’s).
After the presentation Branden walked everyone through the steps of cupping. Sniffing, smelling, inhaling, breaking crust, inhaling, slurping, slurping, slurping! We’re looking for contrasts in aroma, fragrance, body, acidity, and overall flavor. Cupping coffees side by side is the best way to get to know and understand the profile of the coffee. The coffees we selected had a lot to offer….from deep earth and tobacco to wild blueberry and pineapple.
For the frosting we all chose a coffee from the table to press. It was a nice time of hanging out and talking about the coffees that stood out the most.
We wanted to provide a little memento for our participants so we sent them home with some whole beans and burlap coffee sacks that Victrola kindly donated.
We had a blast hosting and are anticipating our next cupping to be in about month. Stay tuned! If you are interested in attending any of our cuppings send Josh a line at jmarsceau@gmail.com.