Cupping coffee within your Roastery or at a client should be a regular occurrence. To maintain and check your consistency and quality standards you need to taste the coffee. It is also important to keep a small retention sample for up to 8 weeks of that particular roast batch as it will give you the ability to check when a client may complain. Cupping is a Non negotiable and should be done on a daily basis. Just like a barista should calibrate their espresso machine and Grinder so to does the Roaster need to 'Calibrate' their palate.
Consistency & taste is key to the success of a Roastery. Also try not to Cup alone. It's great to Cup with coffee colleagues & customers. Getting second and third opinions helps you to also hone your tasting skills and keep you at the top of your game. Remember to also use good quality water and not just tap water unless you have a good filtration unit. Do not use distilled or RO water as the water does contain enough elements and minerals to react correctly with the coffee.
The key focuses here would be:
● identifying of roast defects
● the tools or steps required or needed to help you fix the problems.
● cupping and specifically looking at taste balance attributes and how to bring coffees together according to a client's expectation.
