Five Senses Coffee Blog

Let the cupping begin!

We’ve settled into our new home in Rwamagana and have the first day of calibration under our belts as well as our first sneak peak at some of the samples. In between cupping, palate training exercises, and score sheet discussions we have a chance to get acquainted with some of the 30 odd judges from around the world.  The brand spanking new cupping lab is a short 15 min drive away and is one of four proposed to be built in select coffee regions around Rwanda.

On the jury we have two talented Rwandan cuppers from the national jury (both girls ) and also two from Burundi.  Burundi borders Rwanda and is on track to have their first COE competition in 2012. The national jury recently had the gruelling job of narrowing down 150 samples to the 45 samples we are now left with, which we will narrow down to this year’s auction lots.

Our first real day of work starts tomorrow. It’s actually exhausting and challenging to cup so many samples that are very, very similar. It’s not as easy as identifying the great ones and bad ones. They are all great; it’s about dissecting them on a much deeper, less superficial level. Can’t wait!

COE Cupping