So I just started roasting at home with a Behmor 1600 and am cupping the same coffee through the various profiles in order to identify the best one. I used SCAA standards for cupping (8.25g coffee per 150mL water) and it just didn't seem strong enough for me to taste very much. Should I increase my dry coffee weight or is there another course of action I should take? Thanks!

That cupping standard is designed for evaluating green coffee. It is meant to be used in conjunction with very lightly and quickly roasted coffee, so that the ripeness of the green coffee and any faults in it are obvious.

Cupping roasts are not designed to be tasty (although its currently fashionable to sell them commercially); nor are they a good guide to how the coffee will taste at your favorite roast level and brew method. For that, use production cupping -- just try the coffee prepped using the method you like. You should compare the different coffees and roast profiles in that context.

Mostly, a coffee that is riper and freer of defects in an evaluative cupping will beat its rivals in a production cupping as well. But the production cupping is about getting the best roast level and profile for a particular coffee in a particular brewing method.

So in short, use SCAA (evaluative) cupping to decide whether you want of buy more of a certain kind of green. Use production cupping to fine tune your roasts.

55g/Kg is low for immersion brewing, imo. You should be able to taste the coffee, though that's like 1.1% TDS at 20% which is pretty weak compared to most brew recipes. Production cupping is the place I find a refractometer most valuable. I use 68g/Kg @ 20% extraction for evaluation and production cupping.

I definitely prefer very light and quickly roasted coffee that roughly fits the SCAA cupping roast protocol. My espresso and dark roasts as well as other roaster's coffees are all evaluated on the same table as my light "cupping" roasts. There's a big difference between the super light roasts some are doing and others. I think it's much more than a passing fad, but few are doing it well and fewer still are consistent. I'll name Heart as among the better in the US at this style.

Mostly I'm saying it's worth putting other people's coffee on your table to prevent palate drift. It's easy to become accustomed to certain off flavors if they are in every cup.

endlesscycles wrote:...There's a big difference between the super light roasts some are doing and others. I think it's much more than a passing fad, but few are doing it well and fewer still are consistent. I'll name Heart as among the better in the US at this style....

+1 I'm a huge Heart fan and they do uber light better than anyone in the US. My favorite US roaster since discovering them when they supplied the coffee for the 2012 US & World Aeropress Championship in Portland. They pretty much were responsible for spurring my interest in the Nordic roasting philosophy