
Occasionally, the Friday-afternoon cupping at Kaldi’s Coffee Roasting Facility takes on a bit of a twist. Last month, that twist was a blind, triangulation cupping - an event we try to do every couple of months to test our palette skills.
What surprised me last month wasn’t that I identified five out of five inconsistent cups (booya!), but that I did not identify the correct coffee estates/farms in any of the sets (un-booya!). I have always pontificated the importance of regular cupping to our staff, and to have lost touch with the identity of our coffees was a bit embarrassing.
It is very easy to spend one week cupping every day, and then spend the next week or two not visiting the cupping table at all. Work schedules are tight, and having proper water, scales, coffee, and grinder to conduct a cupping takes a lot of time and the right location. To lose touch with your coffees, however, isn’t acceptable. So, with this thought in mind, I urge baristas to adopt a weekly cupping mandate!
Cupping weekly has several, often profitable, outcomes:
- Increased palette ability and vocabulary: Cupping on a weekly basis will allow you to be a better consumer of coffee. Notes in the coffee will make themselves more obvious. Coffees will change over time and you will get to know that change. Cupping with others (especially from other companies) will help to expand your cupping vocabulary, which can later translate to your customers by helping them select the correct coffees.
- Become an honest salesperson: It’s not too hard to sell coffee if you use the words “smooth” or “chocolate,” but do you really know what is behind these words? If you are a frequent cupper of your own coffees, you can find something interesting about each coffee and share that with your customers. Even better, coffees that are exciting and interesting to you will be at the top of your recommendation list, which will easily improve your coffee bean sales. Without an honest coffee knowledge, we’re going to stay stuck on the system of selling, “Light, medium, and dark” coffees.
- Allow yourself to be surprised: I didn’t incorrectly identify those coffees because I didn’t know what they tasted like, but because they tasted unique. Specialty coffees can no longer be identified by regional stereotypes. Our Burundi Kinyovu had caramel and slightly acidic notes, much like a typical Central American stereotype, while our Costa Rica Helsar de Zarcero had bright orange and creamy notes like an East African stereotype. Cupping often will help you taste the whole of coffee - similarities and differences across the world – and not just the words on the label.
If you believe me and want to become a more honest and profitable barista, take the mandate! Cup every week.
Labels: booya, cupping mandate, kaldi's coffee, palette, skills