When you participate in a virtual coffee tasting, the rules change a bit from an in-person tasting. One of the biggest changes is that you may need to source your own coffee and brew it.
Of course, to taste coffee you need to have coffee. If the coffee you’ll use for the tasting is not provided for you, you’ll need to source it yourself.
That might sound a little scary, but we’ve got some guidelines for you.
You might want to start searching for your coffee now, because it can take some time to find the right coffee.
Which coffees should you purchase for a coffee tasting?
For the cuppings to be as effective as possible, you’ll ideally want to use 3 coffees so that you can compare them.
You can choose coffees based on:
- Species/varieties
- Processes (washed, natural, honey or other)
- Country/region
- Altitude – very low -Robusta, low (900 mts) high (1,600 meters), very high, (2,100 mts)
- Roast (from light to dark)
- Flavors (chocolate, fruit, nuts, floral, spicy)
- Body
Since you need to buy several coffees, how should you choose them?
Try to select coffees that complement each other or contrast each other.
- You can choose coffees that are similar and thus complement each other. For instance, coffees from a certain country or region. Or coffees that are described as having high acidity. Or coffees that have chocolate notes.
- The second option – and our preference – is to choose coffees that are radically different and create a stunning contrast. You could cup a high acidity coffee next to a low acidity one. Or a coffee with chocolate notes alongside one with citrus notes. Or a low altitude one and a high altitude one.
For each cupping you’ll need just a small sample of each – about 15g of coffee. Feel free to reuse coffees for several cuppings.
For instance, if you choose a light-roast, fruity, natural-process SL-28 from a high mountain in Colombia, you can use the same coffee when you cup for altitude, flavor, body, roast, region, processes or variety.
Where can you purchase coffee?
If you have a specialty coffee shop or roaster nearby, that’s great! You may be able to get a good selection of coffees there.
However, if you don’t have any in your area, feel free to purchase coffee online. It may be the best way to get a wider selection of fresh coffee.
Download this information in PDF form: Guide to Selecting the Right Coffee.
Now you’re ready to brew
The next step is to brew your coffee for the tasting. To get all the steps for that, feel free to download this Guide to Brewing Coffee like the Pros instruction sheet.
We can’t wait to see you for The Virtual Slurp!
