Coffee tasting

You don’t need special kit or a trained palate. Slow down, pay attention and describe what you notice in your own words.

Cupping score sheets on clipboards beside a Sensory Lexicon and a tray of roasted coffee beans

A simple way to taste

Try this with your next cup. Black is easiest to start with.

  1. Smell

    Before your first sip, smell the coffee. Is it nutty, chocolatey, fruity or floral?

  2. Sip

    Take a small sip and let it cover your tongue. A gentle slurp spreads it around and carries the aroma up to your nose.

  3. Let it cool

    Taste again as it cools. Flavours often become clearer and sweeter as the temperature drops.

  4. Describe

    Put it into words, any words. Compare it with things you already know, like fruit, sweets or baking. There are no wrong answers.

What to look for

Five things to notice in any cup.

  • Aroma

    What you smell, before and while you drink. Much of what we call flavour is really aroma.

  • Sweetness

    How sweet the coffee tastes without sugar: think caramel, honey or ripe fruit.

  • Acidity

    The bright, lively quality, like biting into an apple. Pleasant acidity tastes juicy rather than sour.

  • Body

    How heavy the coffee feels in your mouth, from light and tea-like to rich and syrupy.

  • Aftertaste

    The flavour that stays after you swallow, and how long it lasts.

Try two side by side

Tasting two coffees at once is the quickest way to notice differences. Try a washed coffee next to a natural, or brew the same coffee two ways. How processing changes flavour.

Brew guides

How professionals cup coffee

Buyers and roasters use a method called cupping to taste many coffees fairly and consistently. It’s how coffees are chosen, compared and checked.

What happens at a cupping

Every sample is prepared the same way, so the only thing that changes is the coffee. Under the Specialty Coffee Association’s (SCA) long-standing protocol, that meant coarse-ground coffee in a cup (about 8.25g for every 150ml of water), water at around 93°C, and a few minutes’ steeping before the crust of grounds on top is broken to smell the aroma.

Tasters then slurp from a spoon as the coffee cools from about 70°C, noting flavour, aftertaste, acidity, body, sweetness and balance at different temperatures, and checking that every cup of the same coffee tastes the same.

Exact recipes vary between labs and have changed over time, so treat these as typical rather than fixed.

Scores and “specialty” coffee

For many years, coffees were scored out of 100 on the SCA’s cupping form, and 80 points or more was widely used as the line for “specialty” coffee.

The SCA has since replaced its 2004 cupping protocol and form with the Coffee Value Assessment (CVA). It separates describing a coffee’s flavour from judging how much someone likes it, and records physical details and information such as origin and certification alongside.

Scores help buyers compare coffees, but no single number can tell you whether you’ll enjoy a cup.

Keep exploring coffee