I've been out for a while - whatever happened to the cupping thingy that
Tom was putting together (where you bought a package of 4 or 6 anonymous
coffees and you cupped it and gave your evaluations on the list)? I was
around for the first one - are any more planned?

Mike,
Check out Tom's web site. He is offering 8 oz. sample packs that are supposed 
to be an everchanging offer. They won't be anonymous unless you just plain 
don't look, but it sounds like a great opportunity to try different coffees 
at a very reasonable price.
Terry
<< I've been out for a while - whatever happened to the cupping thingy that
 Tom was putting together (where you bought a package of 4 or 6 anonymous
 coffees and you cupped it and gave your evaluations on the list)? I was
 around for the first one - are any more planned? >>

<Snip>
mv> I've been out for a while - whatever happened to the cupping
mv> thingy that Tom was putting together (where you bought a package
mv> of 4 or 6 anonymous coffees and you cupped it and gave your
mv> evaluations on the list)? I was around for the first one - are any
mv> more planned?
Not yet.
-- 
Tim Culver
Chapel Hill, NC ... popper ... trespade ... press pot

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
I presented my first blind cupping today, it was a good time!   I was =
set up for 7 but actually 9 showed up, so we had to make do with some =
cappuccino cups for the extras.  It was at a local coffee shop, for the =
employees, most of which really don't have to much coffee experience.
We set it up to give them an opportunity to compare several coffees from =
 different origins. We used Sumatra, Costa Rica, Mexican, JBM Moy Hall, =
and just for fun- the Vietnamese Robusta :).
Over half of the people got the Costa Rica and Sumatra correct, and =
several guessed the Mexican correct also. No one got the JBM or the =
Robusta correct, most often it seemed those two were mixed up.  People =
picked the JBM to be the Robusta!  I didn't expect it to get top =
ratings, but nor did I expect it to be confused with Vietnamese =
Robusta!!
I did not get to much of a chance to visit with the employees afterward, =
as they went on into a shop meeting.  But I will have a chance to talk =
with them tomorrow and find out more about their impressions.  
Just listening to some of the comments, sumatra was the most =
controversial.  Some People loved it, some people hated it.  One of the =
guys, who had no idea what he was tasting, said " I've never tasted =
earthy before, but now I know what earthy tastes like! Yuck!".  
My only dissapointment was that I was so busy getting everybody set up, =
I did not get to cup with them-  That was a mistake on my part, did not =
have enough hot water!   So I was trying to get the watched pot to boil =
faster!!  I think it would have been beneficial to cup wtih them, and as =
I tasted a flavor see if they could taste it to, and visa versa.  It =
would have provided for more discussion I think. Really a lot of fun =
though, hope they let me do it again!  
Scott Jensen

Hi all,
Today on www.coffeegeek.com a new article on cupping appears. It was written
by Geoff Watts of Intelligentsia and has some downloadable pdf forms for
scoring.
Never having done this, I found it very interesting. For those of you that
do, is that how you do it?
Joe
RK Drum #9,RK Gear Motor #?,Solis Maestro +,*$ Proteo Barista,Spidem Trevi
Digital +

With all my experience home roasting even I am a bit confused, but I 
think I got it figured out so let me share what I have so far.
Cupping is not as straight forward as you may think, it just boils down 
to this though.
A cup is generally about any cup you can get out of your cabinet. It can 
be anywhere from 5 oz to 22 oz, or maybe even bigger.
Don't be confused by what they tell you on the coffee pots. The 
manufacturers haven't got the term settled yet either.
Then you have the tasses, which seem to be about 4 oz, and shorts which 
you get from dem spresso machines. They can be about 1 oz, or maybe 1.5 
- 2 oz. You must be careful here because a short can have as much 
caffeine in it as a 22 oz cup!
I don't know how they do THAT.
Well, some of them spresso machines weigh 50 lbs, so maybe bigger IS better.
Crema is the stuff you put in the short after it is either whipped or 
steamed. It could be called 'milk, but we are now using coffee terms.
That turns the short into a kappa chino.
You (maybe just me) don't want to try steaming or whipping milk first 
thing in the morning though. Best to get the first 'cupping' under your 
belt before you try to get fancy.
Hope this helps,
PeterZ