Cupping Session At Boyd's

Cupping Sessions are definitely more fun when executed with good company! For over a decade I've always longed for that call from Master Roaster, "Bean Hunter", Cupping Extraordinaire Robert Francisco to come over for a SIP, SLURP and SPIT of his latest find both locally and abroad. Mind you this is non-profit and is purely for the love of the bean we all worship!

A cute roaster churning out a good batch always
makes my day!

Feast your eyes as the "magic" happens in less than 20 minutes, depending on the bean grade, and the overall result you wish to achieve whether it be light, medium or dark roast. Once the beans are roasted to its desired specificatioins it is up to Robert's seasoned sensory evaluation methods to give full justice to the end product.

Oh, and as a guideline, here is the proper way of coffee tasting (cupping) as advised by the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA). Happy slurping... Swallowing optional!

1) Visualize the coffee you are about to sample. Observe its overall appearance, color and texture.

2) Smell the coffee. Best done closing your eyes to devote full concentration on the brew you are about to partake.

3) Taste/SLURP away. Suck as loudly as possible to make sure that the coffee is aerated and distributed across your entire palate. Take note of flavor hints during the initial, mid and pre-spitting/swallowing. This is where you decide if it is good or bad, and which sample suits your palate.

Till our next tasting session! Thank You Robert for always sharing your knowledge on coffee and everything related to it from farm to cup. Just proves time and again, you've BEAN THERE, BEAN THAT!