1. Drying Cycle: In the first phase of the roasting process, the temperature of the beans rises to 212 degrees Fahrenheit, and the bean color changes from a bright green to a pale yellow.
2. First Crack: When the beans reach 320 degrees Fahrenheit, complex chemical reactions begin to occur, causing a cracking sound.
3. Roast Initiation: The beans swell to 140–160 percent of their initial size. Elements within the beans begin to caramelize, giving the beans their brown color.
4. Pause: In this phase, the audible cracking ceases, but the chemical reactions continue. The time of this silent phase will depend on the amount of heat applied by the roaster.
5. Second Crack: The dehydration of the beans has made them brittle, so now more cracking can be heard. Also, elements in the beans now begin to carbonize, producing the burnt characteristics of extremely dark roasts.
6. Stopping the Roast: Once the optimal amount of roasting time has elapsed, the beans must be cooled quickly. This is usually accomplished by introducing large amounts of cool air or water.

It will get you by in a pinch, but next time you reach for the big container at the grocery store, consider these tips:

• To maximize the flavor, it is always best to buy coffee in whole bean form and grind it just prior to brewing.
• If you don’t have a grinder, buy only enough ground coffee to last a week or two.
• Store coffee in a tightly sealed jar, preferably glass with either a screw or clamp top.
• Coffee can be kept at room temperature or refrigerated in an airtight container. Do not freeze coffee unless you will be using it over a long period of time.

The following is a list of recognized terms and their meanings that are widely used in the coffee trade:

Acidy: A favorable expression that suggests a pleasant sparkle or tang often attributed to the altitude at which the coffees are grown. Typically, as coffees are roasted longer, acidity and many of the other favorable flavor components that are found in specialty coffees are lost. Generally speaking, darker roasts require the use of cream or sugar to cover up the acrid flavors. Acrid flavors are typically bitter and unpleasant and are sometimes considered the opposite of acidic.

Winey: You may find that some coffees leave your mouth feeling tight, similar to a dry red wine. This can be overwhelming in some coffees, but often is attributed to a "clean" taste in our coffee descriptions. Often, winey coffees are interesting because they add a tactile dimension to the taste experience.

Body: A coffee with full body will be robust and round in the mouth. Often, full-bodied coffees don’t have a singular prominent flavor, but rather a heaviness in the mouth is perceived after swallowing. Body is actually microparticles of insoluble coffee fiber suspended in water. The amount and kind of insolubles vary from one coffee to another. Body is also known as mouthfeel.

What other tastes have you found in coffee?

At first glance, this may seem like an extremely scientific process, but cuppers have their own variations that work best for them. The more experience you gain as a cupper, the easier the process will become!

Perhaps most important is to remember practice and humility—the best cuppers are always eager to learn as much as they can about cupping.

You will need:
Fresh filtered water
Coffee measuring spoon (recommended 7 g)
5-oz glasses or small cupping bowls (3 per coffee that you are cupping)
Glasses for cupping spoons, water, etc.
Coffee trays
Cupping spoons
A cupping form (many varieties are available online)
Whole bean coffee, medium ground

Table Preparation
Place cupping bowls in groups of three, one set for each coffee you will be cupping. Using groups of three helps get a feel for the consistency of a coffee. In the center of the table, place a container of room temperature water and a container full of spoons.

Coffee Preparation
Coffees can be cupped for many different reasons. Importers may cup coffees at origin to make a determination about whether or not a certain coffee is worth buying.

At Rosetta, cupping coffees allows us to determine flavor profiles before purchasing or can allow us to determine the most appropriate roast for a particular variety. Also, it’s a quick and easy way to develop blends.

To prepare the cups, place one 7-gram scoop of coffee into each cupping bowl. While you are waiting for the water to boil, smell the coffee grounds and write down your observations. We find it is helpful to cup the bowl with your hands and place your nose between your hands to help amplify the fragrance (which refers to the smell of the coffee before the water is added).

Add the hot water, just off boil, to each of the cupping bowls for that round and to the container holding the cupping spoons. This raises the temperature of the spoons to match that of the coffee.

Smell the coffee without disturbing it, allowing a “crust” to form on top of the cupping bowl. After 3–4 minutes, place your nose directly over the crust and use a preheated spoon to push it down. This is the most potent burst of aroma that you will experience during the cupping session—this is the smell that will fill your house in the morning while brewing coffee. (The smell of the coffee after the water is added is referred to as the aroma.) Use the spoon to stir the grounds in the bowl as you smell them. This will also force most of the grounds to the bottom of the bowl and will allow you to continue to evaluate aroma. Write down the aroma you experience while the crust is breaking.

Rinse off the spoon in hot water and move to the next sample. After you have evaluated the aroma of all of the samples, remove any of the grounds that are still floating in any of the samples, as well as the bubbles that form on the top. Do not forget to rinse your spoon between samples to avoid cross-contamination.

Once the coffee is cool enough to sample, take some coffee in the spoon and slurp it vigorously to cover the entire tongue. It’s important to slurp as vigorously as possible because tiny droplets will not only cover the tongue, but will also coat the throat and the nasal passage. The nose is also a powerful tasting tool since much of the perceived flavor in coffee comes from aromatic compounds in coffee.

During this stage of evaluation, you should be considering the taste of the coffee, acidity, aftertaste and body. After trying each sample, write down your observations. Since coffees change as they cool off, try going back to the samples after they have cooled to just above room temperature. Really great coffees should be good not only initially, but also as they cool down.

Cupping should be a fun, learning experience for everyone in attendance. If this explanation doesn’t answer all of your questions, feel free to contact us.