Quick answer: Cupping is the coffee world’s standard way to taste and compare beans side by side. Weigh 8.25 g of coffee for every 150 ml of water, grind it coarse, smell the dry grounds, pour water at about 93°C, wait 4 minutes, break the crust and smell again, skim, then slurp from a spoon as the coffee cools. Taste each coffee at hot, warm and cool temperatures and write down what changes.
Cupping looks fussy from the outside: rows of bowls, loud slurping, spitting into cups. In practice it is the simplest brew method there is. No filter, no pressure, no technique to get wrong. Every coffee on the table is brewed the same way, so the only thing that changes from cup to cup is the coffee. That makes it the fastest way to train your palate and to choose between two bags of beans.
What you need
- A scale that reads to 0.1 g. The ratio matters more than anything else.
- Identical cups or bowls, about 200–260 ml. The SCA standard uses 207–266 ml glasses or bowls. Small soup bowls or matching glasses work at home.
- Two spoons, ideally deep soup spoons, plus a glass of hot water to rinse them between cups.
- A grinder and a kettle. Use filtered water, not distilled or softened water.
- A timer and a notebook. Notes made during the cupping are far more useful than ones written from memory.
The cupping numbers at a glance
| Setting | Standard value | At home |
|---|---|---|
| Ratio | 8.25 g coffee per 150 ml water (about 1:18) | Measure your cup’s volume once with water, then scale the coffee |
| Grind | Coarse: 70–75% passes a US #20 (850 µm) sieve | A little coarser than drip, finer than French press |
| Water temperature | 200°F ± 2°F (92.2–94.4°C) | About 30 seconds off the boil |
| Steep before breaking | 3–5 minutes (4 minutes is typical) | Set a timer at the first pour |
| Roast for formal cupping | Light to medium, rested 8–24 hours after roasting | Use whatever beans you want to compare |
These figures come from the SCA’s cupping standards. In November 2024 the SCA replaced its 2004 cupping form and protocol with the Coffee Value Assessment (CVA). Its Standard 102 now covers sample preparation. If you are training for a certification, read the current standard. For tasting at home, the method below works the same way.
How to cup coffee, step by step
1. Weigh and grind
Weigh whole beans for each cup, then grind each cup separately. Grind within 15 minutes of pouring the water. Ground coffee loses aroma quickly, and the dry smell is part of the evaluation. If you are comparing several coffees, purge the grinder with a few beans of the next coffee first so one sample doesn’t flavour the next.
2. Smell the dry grounds (fragrance)
Put your nose close to each cup and smell. Note anything that comes to mind: nuts, chocolate, flowers, fruit, spice. Don’t worry about being “right”. At this stage you are only building a reference point.
3. Pour and wait
Start the timer and pour water to the brim, making sure all the grounds are wet. Don’t stir. A crust of grounds will form on top. Leave it alone for about 4 minutes.
4. Break the crust (aroma)
At 4 minutes, hold your nose just above the cup and push the back of a spoon gently through the crust, stirring it back three times. This releases a burst of aroma, usually the most intense smell of the whole session. Rinse the spoon before moving to the next cup.
5. Skim
Use two spoons to lift off the foam and floating grounds. Most grounds sink after the break. What stays on top tastes bitter and gets in the way.
6. Slurp as it cools
Wait until the coffee is safe to sip, usually 8–10 minutes after the pour. Take a spoonful and slurp it hard so the coffee sprays across your palate. The noise is normal: slurping pulls in air and carries aroma to the back of your nose. Taste each cup several times as it cools from hot to warm to room temperature. Many coffees get sweeter and more acidic as they cool, and defects often show up only when the coffee is cool.
What to taste for
- Flavour: the overall impression. Use the flavour wheel to move from broad words (fruity) to specific ones (red apple, blackcurrant).
- Acidity: brightness or sharpness. Pleasant acidity tastes like fruit; harsh acidity tastes sour.
- Sweetness: how much the coffee tastes of sugar, honey or ripe fruit.
- Body (mouthfeel): light and tea-like, or heavy and syrupy.
- Aftertaste: what stays after you swallow or spit, and whether it is pleasant.
Compare cups rather than judging one in isolation. “This one is sweeter than that one” is easier and more reliable than “this tastes of caramel”.
Common beginner mistakes
- Guessing the dose. A gram too much or too little changes strength and makes cups hard to compare.
- Grinding too fine. Fine grounds over-extract in the bowl and taste bitter, and they won’t sink after the break.
- Tasting only while hot. Heat hides flavour. Keep tasting as it cools.
- Cupping too many coffees. Start with two or three. More than that blurs together until your palate is trained.
- Strong smells nearby. Skip perfume, and don’t cup right after eating spicy food.
A simple first cupping
Buy two coffees that should taste clearly different, for example a washed Ethiopian and a natural Brazilian, or one Indian estate coffee in two processes such as washed and honey (see how processing changes flavour). Set up two cups of each so you can check that your notes are consistent. Follow the steps above and write one line per temperature. After a few sessions, the differences will be easier to name, and that is the skill professional cuppers build.
Frequently asked questions
What is the coffee to water ratio for cupping?
The SCA standard is 8.25 g of coffee per 150 ml of water, about 55 g per litre or roughly 1:18. That is slightly weaker than a typical filter brew, on purpose, so flavours are easy to compare.
Why do cuppers slurp so loudly?
Slurping sprays the coffee across the whole tongue and pulls air up into the nasal passage, where most flavour is actually sensed. It also cools the coffee on the spoon.
Do I need special cupping spoons?
No. Any deep soup spoon works. Rinse it in hot water between cups so you don’t carry one coffee into the next.
Is cupping the same as Q Grader training?
Cupping is the core skill, but professional grading adds calibrated scoring, defect identification and exams. Read our Q Grader guide if you want to go further.
Keep learning
Sources
- Specialty Coffee Association, Coffee Standards (cupping ratio, water temperature, grind, roast timing).
- Specialty Coffee Association, The SCA officially adopts CVA standards (4 November 2024).
- Royal Coffee, How to set up and run a coffee cupping (cups per sample, 4-minute break).
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