Feb 14th 2009: Our 3rd Cupping

Valentine Day...

This is the day we do our cupping for the 3rd times which using the branded coffee on the market. On this time of tasting, other than 4 of us, we invite 2 of our friends which not really into coffee and completely never observing coffee before to help us to give the more objective taste.

Since we have try the Kopi Aroma with the Single Origin and Robusta Blend separately, now we try to blend it together the Single Origin Arabica with the Robusta.

To compare with this we also do the cupping for Guatemala coffee which from 2 different brand, Starbucks and Guatemala Finca Isabel from Spinelli roasting house.

And we also have one of the famous blend from Bakoel Koffie from Jakarta, Indonesia.
Here is our result. 


Guatemala by Starbuck
Fragrance: Earthy, Spicy,
Aroma: Cocoa Smell
Body: Full body
Acidity: Medium acidic (3 out of 5)
Cupper's Point: Balance
Flavor: Cocoa

Comment: The coffee taste nice when its hot and begin to increase the acidity and bitterness when it cold. 

Guatemala Finca Isabel by Spinelli
Fragrance: Strong spicy smell
Aroma: Flowery (Jasmine)
Body: Medium
Acidity: Not acidic (2 out of 5)
Cupper's Point: Good coffee
Flavor: Mild and syrupy
Comment: This coffee is very nice, the acidity and the bitterness is balance.  Even the amateur taste this coffee is good. We score this is the best coffee over all from our 3rd cupping session.

Kaffie Fabriek Aroma Blend (Aceh Arabica/Toraja Arabica/Sumatra Java Robusta 30:30:40)
Fragrance: Earthy, Spicy,

Aroma: Earthy

Body: Full body

Acidity: Less acidic (1 out of 5)

Cupper's Point: Good coffee, suit for Asian touge

Flavor: Mild and syrupy
Comment: This is a very good blend and less acidic. And based on the process of this coffee, it was really natural process. Most of asian will like this, even the amateur coffee drinker.

Bakoel Koffie "Black Mist" blend

Fragrance: Lemony, Earthy

Aroma: Mild smell, earthy, and have a bit of tea leave

Body: Full body

Acidity: normal acidic (3 out of 5)

Cupper's Point: Not an outstanding coffee, just a normal coffee

Flavor: No much characteristic
Comment: There is no special characteristic on this coffee. The taste is not giving any impression and make it hard to describe. It getting very bitter when it cold.

Bakoel Koffie "Heritage 1969" blend

Fragrance: VeryEarthy (Woody)

Aroma: Flowery smell

Body: Full body

Acidity: normal acidic (3 out of 5)

Cupper's Point: Not an outstanding coffee, just a normal coffee

Flavor: No much characteristic, too mild
Comment: Same as Black Mist, there is no special characteristic on this coffee. The taste is not giving any impression and make it hard to describe.

Below is the comment for the Bakoel Koffie, Before the bean was grinded, we found that Bakoel Koffiee coffee bean has a lot of defect beans. We have to pick the bad beans before we grind it. It was not a very good coffee, since as we know the defect beans can effect the taste of the coffee on the time it was roasted. So we assume the characteristic of the coffee above is because of the defect beans which Bakoel Koffie didnt do the picking (QC) before roasting.

Disclaimer:

The comment from the cupping is very subjective on the coffee and the cupper itself. 

Feb 06th 2009: Our 2nd cupping

Our 2nd cupping on Feb 6th 2009 was done with product from the local roasters Koffie Fabriek Aroma Bandung and Pontianak Kopi. The coffees that we tasted were from 4 regions in Indonesia, mostly single origin and one blend.

Here is what we discovered;

1. Koffie Aroma - Toraja (Pure Arabica)

Fragrance: Woody, Smoky

Aroma: Earthy, Woody

Acidity: No acidity

Body: Full Body

Flavor: Smoky earthy flavor. However, less interesting than its Aceh cousin

2. Koffie Aroma - Aceh (Pure Arabica)

Fragrance: Smoky, Lemony, Earthy

Aroma: Earthy, Lemony, Citrus

Acidity: Mild

Body: Medium to Full

Flavor: Citrus and earthy flavor that shows the Sumatran heritage

3. Kopi Pontianak

Fragrance: Chocolatie, Woody

Aroma: Woody, Smooky

Acidity: Mild, low

Body: Less Body

Flavor: Bitter but one of authentic local thick coffees which goes well with lots of sugar

4. Koffie Aroma - Robusta blend (Java/Sumatra)
Fragrance: Herbal
Aroma: Smoky but less aromatic
Acidity: No acidity
Body: Medium to Full
Flavor: Bitter and strong cup

Coffee tip of the day:

Each region has its own charecterics which make it unique. It is also why each region has die hard fanatic where what their taste buds have been accustomed with certain flavor. How can you be an unbiased, decerning coffee drinker? Well... spend some time cupping yourself to taste the difference! You might be pleasantly surprised with what you find... :)

Jan 17th 2009: Our First Cupping

So you might wonder how do people decide which beans are are good, fair or exceptional...

Well, just like wine tasting, in coffee world people do "cupping" to decide bean's fragrance and taste objectively. Each coffee bean has distinctive flavor, acidity and body. And you can use many words to describe the qualities it possess. Simply put, more words there are, more complex the bean is, and it tend to be an exceptional bean.

So we decided to put 5 distinctive beans under our cupping test!

1. Toraja (Kopi Bali)

2. Cilemo 1st (our very own first roast!)

3. Mawar (Bali Mawar Kopi)

4. Bali Supremo (Kopi Bali)

5. Highlander espresso (Highlander Coffee)

Cupping is quite a simple affair...

The first step is to grind each of the bean in our cute and trusty bean grinder.

The second step is to put the grinds in to a cup.
(8.25g grind to 150ml water)

Then check the flavor of the bean.

Pour hot water (92-96 Celsius) and brew the coffee for 4 minutes...

Next Step is to break the coffee crust on the surface. And check the aroma of the coffee.

Remove the power from the cup using 2 spoons.

Scoop coffee using the spoon and quickly suck in to your mouth and savour the teste and fragrance.

This is what we found in our cupping...

Toraja

Flavor/Fragrance: slightly spicy, herbal

Aroma: charred, smokey, sweet

Body: light to medium body

Acidity: medium

Cupper Point/After Taste: slight acidity at first, but gets bitter after 1 min

Cilemo 1st
Flavor/Fragrance: woody, earthy, a little citrus
Aroma: woody, smokey
Body: full bodied
Acidity: mild
Cupper Point/After Taste: woody, mild acidity, bitter at first, it gets more bitter after 1 min

Mawar
Flavor/Fragrance: earthy

Aroma: woody

Body: full bodied, very strong
Acidity: mild
Cupper Point/After Taste: woody, bitter at first, after 1 min, it gets very bitter and completely looses acidity

Bali Supremo

Flavor/Fragrance: sweet, earthy

Aroma: honey
Acidity: mild
Cupper Point/After Taste: woody, bitter at first, after 1 min, it gets very bitter and completely looses acidity
Body: light

Highlander espresso

Flavor/Fragrance: balanced, ordinary

Aroma: citrus, rich
Body: light
Acidity: well balanced
Cupper Point/After Taste: balanced but ordinary at first, more bitterness but still well balanced after 1 min