Not unrelated to my recent posting about roasting Colombian for espresso, a 
friend and I were cogitating over our cupping results for the Colombian and 
two different CRs. In particular we lack a really good understanding about 
how to correlate our cupping results with the results obtained as part of an 
espresso blend in an espresso extract. 
I should say that we've been strongly advised by a professional roaster to 
develop our espresso blends using a process which first evaluates each bean 
as a filter extract. We're both using one cup Swissgold filters for this 
purpose.
As an example, today I cupped a CR which I'd roasted to just before (well 
maybe one or two snaps into) 2nd crack. It was always intended as a highnote 
bean for a blend rather than something to drink on its own. In the filter the 
result was nondescript, just mild and a little roasty with maybe a slight 
hint of perfume as the cup cooled. In the espresso the contribution seemed to 
be strongly fruity, something not detected in the filter extract.
Does anyone know of a good source of material on how to correlate cupping 
results with the effect on espresso blends? We'd appreciate some help on this 
one.
Cheers
Phil Jordan

Phil:
Tom sells a great book titled:
The Cuppers Handbook, Ted R. Lingle   Third Edition
It is full of charts, taste types and the like. I am still trying to figure
out some of the language in terms of coffee taste!
One of the reasons I suggested some of us new roasters could have longer
time roasters cup our stuff and post findings. I feel it may help in
discovering our own cupping abilities at least in some form.
ginny

Thanks for the reply Gin.
Re the book, the bit about "Third Edition" is throwing me when I try and find 
this book on Tom's site. Is it "the Coffee Cupper's Handbook " you mean (the 
one that Tom sells for $20.50)?
On the sharing roasts for cupping point I think that's a brilliant idea. 
However most of the people on this list are between 3,500 and 5,500 miles 
away from me, so I think the roasts might be stale when they got there. If 
there's anyone else in the UK however ......
Phil
On Wed, 14 May 2003 06:23:45 -0700, espresso gin wrote
<Snip>http://www.sweetmarias.com/maillistinfo.html

Phil:
Yes the book is the one, it said third edition on the cover so that's what I
wrote but it is the same, it is the most recent edition.
Great book.
Send me your snail mail off line and I will send you some coffee. UPS has
decent service for the UK at very good rates, Heck the coffee will still be
fresher than "the rest of the stuff out there".
regards,
ginny

Hi Phil,
Cupping for espresso is a sort of Hobson's choice. 
If you cup straight, it's impossible to tell how 
the acidity will translate in an espresso blend. 
For instance, Harar and Haimi are just as bright 
as many CRs in a straight cup, but can be drunk 
almost straight as an espresso, whereas CRs 
cannot. In general, bright and heavy bodied 
Africans (even Kenyas and Yrgs) do better as 
espresso than bright and light bodied Centrals. I 
am looking forward to seeing how the Miel will 
work -- maybe it will establish the rule of thumb 
that heavy bodied, bright coffees work well 
wherever they come from.
Also body/mouthfeel is very hard to predict. 
Brazilians and Indos that score the same in the 
cup can really vary as to how well the deliver the 
creamy-gooey-foamy feel one wants in a shot. I'm 
always astounded how Yauco, a fairly anodyne cup, 
and a washed coffee to boot, turns into the 
absolutely perfect (for me, anyway) espresso body. 
The problem with tasting espresso is that one can 
compare 2, maybe 3 shots at a time. More simply 
blows away the tastebuds. Also, a straight shot of 
something bright can be a real strain.
What I do is try my single origins 50/50 with a 
Brazil to get a sense of how they work for 
espresso. Then I blend version 1 in simple 
proportions, use it for week, and decide if it's 
worth pursuing. If it is, I'll roast version 1 and 
2, taste them side by side, as well as using them 
over a week, and come up with version 3. I'll keep 
doing this until I'm satisfied that I've gotten as 
close to the idea of the blend as possible.
"The idea of the blend" -- this is the most 
important aspect of espresso blending and cupping. 
Order the very best green and roasted blends out 
there, I suggest an alt.coffee search. Try them on 
for few days, and make notes of what you like and 
don't like. Or you may get a certain bean, fall in 
love with it, and decide on a blend that adds some 
appropriate background flavors to this "star."  In 
either case, you'll have a good idea of what YOU 
want out of an espresso. That will be your blend 
idea. Once you have that, cupping and blending 
become easy. I do maybe 5 to 6 different blends 
each year.
Jim
On 14 May 2003 at 13:35, Phil Jordan wrote:
<Snip>
--
This message was sent with an unlicensed evaluation version of
Novell NetMail. Please seehttp://www.netmail.com/for details.

Anodyne cup (N), circa 2003, the goats won't 
dance, but they won't wander off either.
On 15 May 2003 at 19:01, miKe mcKoffee wrote:
<Snip>

Jim
Once more, profuse thanks for your response.
Now, if I can only get my espresso machine fixed.... It went on the blink a
few days ago, and neither of the two groups is currently usable. Ho hum!
Cheers
Phil

On 27 May 2003 at 17:24, miKe mcKoffee wrote:
<Snip>
I just got it myself. I'd better keep my posts 
interesting, lest the server fall asleep.
Jim