A dedicated cupping space is a crucial element of a production roastery. It is the area where you and your team will evaluate production and sample roasts to gain valuable insight into your quality metrics and green coffee purchasing decisions.
A cupping area has specific requirements to be effective: be accessible, well-lit, scent-neutral, and out of the way enough to eliminate distractions during cupping. Ideally, it's close to a large three-compartment sink or water supply where a sink can be installed.
Recently, we moved into a new, much larger headquarters about a mile from our previous facility. Among the many decisions we had to make in the new building, the location of our cupping room was one of them.
We had a few options for where we would facilitate our cuppings, which happen 1-3 times each week. In this post, we'll explain the choices and why we went with our final decision.
Option #1: Front Kitchen/Cafe Space
The new building has a beautiful, open, airy cafe area on the south end of the building where our Coffee Campus is located. Our roasting, extraction, and sensory classes will be hosted just below this kitchen space and we're installing a few high-end espresso machines from Synesso for teaching and demonstration on the large counters.
PROS:
- Water is easily accessible with a sink and multiple dishwashers installed
- Lots of bright natural lighting
- The space is pretty!
- Far away from the office and production roastery
CONS
- Students and staff will sometimes be eating in this space, so scents from pastries and other foods might be a distraction.
- This is a common area, people will be walking through to get coffee, water, and whatever else they need
Related: Cupping Professionally
Green Coffee and Packaging Space
Option #2: Greens Staging and Packaging Area
Behind the kitchen is a large space we've reserved for green coffee and packaging equipment. It has tall walls on either side but is open to the main hallway connecting the office, the training area, and the kitchen.
PROS
- One of those walls is shared with the kitchen, water access should be easy
- We could place cupping tables in the room and leave them there permanently
CONS
- Even though it's separated from the kitchen by a wall and glass doors, aromas from food can still be smelled in this area
- Because it faces the main thoroughfare between the office and the cafe, there's a lot of foot traffic moving past this space, which could create distractions while cupping
The winning room
Option #3: Production Roastery
One of the biggest changes for us in the new building is that we will have a dedicated production roastery, separate from the classroom. This means that our Toll Roasting and Private Label Roasting programs will operate when we're teaching class. Instead of having different models of roasters, as the old classroom roasting space had, the new production area will have two MCR-20 machines, each with the capacity to roast about 140 lbs of coffee every hour.
PROS
- This is an enclosed and private space that no one else will enter during cuppings
- There are no other scents aside from green and roasted coffee
- Large windows provide plenty of natural light
CONS
- The farthest distance from water lines and the sanitation area means a lot of carrying dishes and carafes back and forth
Despite the distance from hot water towers and dishwashers, we've selected the production roastery to host our weekly cuppings, at least for the foreseeable future. For us, privacy and low scent were the biggest factors in selecting the right space.
Future Quality Assurance Lab
We have plans for the years to come. Within the next year or so, we may remodel a few of our smaller meeting rooms to create a purpose-built cupping and QC Lab. Tasting coffee is just one of the jobs of a sensory and quality assurance team. Other tasks include roasted coffee analysis, green grading, and recording moisture and water activity readings. A future lab space may be dedicated to all these jobs, including sample roasting.
Planning Your Cupping Space
If you're roasting at home, in a cafe, or in a shared facility with other businesses, you may feel that you don't have an ideal place to cup. As with so many things in roasting, it's important to not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Don't put off frequent, consistent cuppings because you don't have a dedicated room to do it. If you practice cupping enough, you can train yourself to ignore distractions, sounds, and even some extra environmental scents, and focus on the coffee.
Cup regularly, take good notes and calibrate with a colleague, friend, or partner no matter the space. Your coffee will be better for it.
Need a quick video refresher on how to cup, what tools we use, and what to focus on? Watch our video on How We Cup Coffee.
