Cupping Protocols and Scoring
What you must know
The SCA cupping form has ten boxes: Fragrance/Aroma, Flavor, Aftertaste, Acidity, Body, Balance, Uniformity, Clean Cup, Sweetness, and Overall. Every attribute is scored from 6.0 to 10.0 in increments of 0.25, where 6 = good, 7 = very good, 8 = excellent, 9 = outstanding, and 10 = exceptional. Uniformity, Clean Cup, and Sweetness are scored at 2 points per cup across five cups, giving a maximum of 10 each. Defects are deducted at 2 points per defective cup from the total.
Standard protocol: 8.25 g of coffee per 150 ml of water at about 93 °C, medium-coarse grind, a light-to-medium sample roast rested at least 8 hours and cupped within about 24 hours. Evaluate dry fragrance, then wet aroma, break the crust at 3–5 minutes, skim at 6–8 minutes, and taste as the cups cool.
Worked example
Aroma 7.50, Flavor 7.75, Aftertaste 7.50, Acidity 7.50, Body 7.50, Balance 7.50, Uniformity 10.00, Clean Cup 10.00, Sweetness 10.00, Overall 7.50. Sum = 82.75. No defect cups. Final score 82.75 = Very Good, and therefore specialty, provided green grading also passed.
Traps
- Scoring in 0.1 increments. Only 0.25 steps are valid.
- Handing out 10s for Flavor or Balance. 10 is reserved for flawless, exceptional coffee.
- Treating Balance as an average. It scores how the attributes interlock and support each other.
- Forgetting that one defective cup drops both Uniformity and Clean Cup by 2 points.