Brew guides · 5 min ·
How we decide which coffees make the shelf
Every coffee on the list was tasted blind against a dozen others first. What a cupping table is, and how to run one in your kitchen.
Before we buy a single sack, the sample goes on the cupping table. Twice a month we lay out between ten and twenty samples, brewed identically, and taste them blind. Most don’t make it. The six on the shelf this season beat 64 others.
What cupping is
Cupping is the simplest way to brew coffee: ground coffee in a cup, hot water on top, nothing else. Because every cup is made the same way, the only difference left is the coffee itself.
Run one at home
- Weigh 8.25 g of each coffee into its own cup and grind it medium-coarse.
- Smell each dry cup and make a note.
- Pour 150 ml of water just off the boil and start a four-minute timer.
- At 4:00, push the crust back with a spoon and lean in — this is the strongest aroma you will get.
- Skim off the foam, let it cool for five minutes, then slurp from a spoon.
Taste them again as they cool. Coffees change a lot between 60 °C and room temperature, and the good ones get better.
Taste with us
The café runs an open cupping on the first Saturday of every month at 10:00. It is free, takes about an hour, and there are twelve places — book one through the contact form.
