Page 27 - Seniorstoday June 2022 Issue
P. 27
Grinding Then comes the mouth feel which is a
The next morning the process of grinding combination of weight and texture of the
takes place. Now it’s essential to be mindful brewed coffee. Then comes the aspect
when it comes to the grind, it can’t be coarse of acidity, which is the brightness or
or fine the ideal grind for tasting would be sharpness that hits the palate.
medium. In medium grind as well there are
certain specs that needs to be followed. The Spitting
next part is, within 15 minutes of grinding A spoonful of coffee is tasted at different
the cupper has to evaluate the smell. temperatures. It begins with 70 degrees
Celsius, and two important attributes are
Tasting evaluated - flavour and aftertaste. Then it’s
There are two parts to tasting. One is the further allowed to drop down to 60 degree
fragrance, which means the dry state. The Celsius when attributes such as mouthfeel,
cupper smells the powder and then comes acidity and balance are evaluated. Balance
the wet state, when fresh boiling water is an equal measure of mouthfeel, acidity,
is poured into the cup for brewing the flavour and aftertaste, with aftertaste
cup of coffee and the aroma of the cup is representing the taste that remains in the
evaluated. palate after cupping/ tasting of the brew.
When water is poured over the coffee there So, the final evaluation is at a temperature
is a certain ratio that needs to be followed. of 40 degrees Celsius when the sweetness
In 8.25 grams of coffee powder 150 ml of and cleanliness of the cup is carried out.
fresh boiling water (93-96 degree Celsius) The overall evaluation of the cup is carried
is added. This temperature of the boiling out at around 20 degrees Celsius and this
water is ideal to prepare the liquor. The attribute is the only attribute when the
idea behind it is that it keeps water from cupper can evaluate based on his/ her
expelling all the oxygen. personal preference. The evaluation and
This brewing of the liquor takes place for scoring of all other attributes of the cup
about four to five minutes. This helps all should be such that they are in alignment
the aromatics to surface for evaluation. with other calibrated and tasted cuppers
Then comes breaking of the crust and around the world!
inhaling the aroma. While purchasing coffee, some buyers
look for balance of the cup while others
Deciphering flavours
To be able to decipher the flavours, one
needs to build their knowledge, which
develops over time. It’s about making an
association with various other flavours.
For instance, a cup of coffee may have a
flavour profile of mandarin, apricot, plums,
caramel, toffee, chocolate… It’s about
having an open mind to correlating the
already tasted ingredients and associating
and identifying the same in the cup.
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #36 | JUNE 2022 27
