Single Origin Decaf Cupping

Sunday, April 22

Cuppers at the "labeled" table

The Single Origin Decaf Cupping hosted by my company, Artisan Coffee Imports, took place Sunday morning in a traditional conference room. (No tents or other adventures in a park!)  We had lower than expected attendance -- could it be that the very warm and clear night (after days of rain) kept most attendees out much later than originally planned? Very, very likely, I think!

Cupping the "blind" table

Nate Palmer - BJ's Coffee

Anyhow as the Germans say, the event was "klein aber fein" -- in other words small but high quality with about 8 guest cuppers. We cupped Bolivian, Ethiopian, Colombian and Sumatran coffees -- both the regular and the decaf. One table had the coffees labeled, the other was blind. I was surprised how difficult it was for me to pick out which was which on the blind table (I think I got < 50%). One of the Q-Grader cuppers who came said he was surprised by how little difference there was between the regular and the decaf versions of each offering.