Pronounce it like Daffy Duck, and you'll get the idea.

There are several accredited labs around the country giving Q-Grader and SCAA Cupping Judge courses. These involve passing the famous sensory test* -- now a lot harder, see below -- along with 4 aroma tests using the Nez du Cafe, five triangle tests where you pick out the odd cups from six groups of 3 cups of coffee, and 5 proper cuppings, each with six coffees, where you need to be within half a point on all the detail scores and one point on the overall to the scores representing the expert consensus. There are also tests in grading green and roasted coffee, and a written test. The accreditation is designed to guarantee the highest level of cupping competence,

I took the course, taught by Marty Curtis, the roaster guru, at Rob Stephen's, a former SCAA President's, lab in Massachusetts, called "Cofee Solutions." I failed one triangle test, and only got a low pass on the new tougher sensory and some of the aroma tests. That earned me the consolation prize -- CQI (coffee quality institute) Th-tar cupper. If I pass the remaining triangle, I'll be a Q-grader; if I get high passes on the sensory and two remaining aroma tests, I would also be able to judge the finals at the SCAA cupping pavilion. I figure with more practice, the final triangle test will be no sweat; but the beefed up sensories may be beyond me.

Colleen Anunu, the coffee buyer and roaster at Gimme, who is in her twenties, breezed through, scoring a super taster 90 points on the sensory. She is now an SCAA cupping judge. Gera Harrigan, the buyer and roaster at New Harvest, a Providence company, comfortably made Q-Grader; she needs a few more points on the sensory to get to SCAA cupping judge. The rest of us had problems. For the sensory and aroma tests, it helps too be young and female. For the cupping tests, it helps to be experienced in the coffees on the table. For the triangle tests, it helps to be both. I wouldn't have even gotten the consolation prize except for regularly being rescued by cups of the African coffees I love and know well.

I recommend the course to anyone who wants to cup regularly. If you aren't young and female, check your ego at the door. The course is intense: 12 hours a day for five days. You should practice cupping, grading, and the triangle tests for a few weeks before going. This course is designed for professional cuppers, so if you are not interested in sample roasting and cupping regularly, it is way over the top.

Despite the somewhat humbling outcome, I had a great time and learned a huge amount.

*In the new sensory test, the strength of the acids has been dropped down to 40% of the previous level. Instead of being the easiest, they are now the hardest to taste. If you put a one for strength in the final round, and it's a zero, you get dinged four points, not two. The combination of both of these changes makes the revised test a complete killer. I flunked totally several times, and only got up to 74 in the final retest. In the original format, I got 84 first time out.

Jim... congrats!
Honestly, that's a big accomplishment. CQI cert is worthy.
And for someone who doesn't have the advantages of full time employment in the industry (doing the exact work you're being tested on) that certification is an even bigger accomplishment.
Nice work.

Interesting report, thank you for sharing.

I would have been disappointed with the outcome on Monday, when I still thought I was god's gift to coffee. On Thursday, another Colleen, from Grumpy (I forget her last name), came in for a retest on one triangle set, and went around doing the "I'm a Th-tar Cupper" riff. It broke a lot of the tension, along with my inflated expectations, and I'm glad she passed her final triangle.

The Gimme Colleen, besides being a coffee person to watch, is also a budding music video star. She's the blond.

Last year I judged a flight in the cupping pavilion, and got the impression from the ribbons and info on their name tags (maybe completely wrong) that most of the finals judges were from larger, well established roasters, and had long SCAA committee work experience. So the people taking this course were a surprise. They were paying their own way, two were working at origin and looking to learn and communicate the high end auction coffee standards to their people there, the others had started as baristas at 3rd wave places and were looking to build a career in coffee. It's very different and hugely better than the "my big company is paying me to do this" group I had expected.

Vad wrote:Interesting report, thank you for sharing.

ditto!
This could explain why my wife can detect a 1-degree F temperature change, and I can't tell the difference.
Thanks again, Jim.
-Ed

decaf_Ed wrote:ditto!
This could explain why my wife can detect a 1-degree F temperature change, and I can't tell the difference.
Thanks again, Jim.
-Ed

I am at the beginning of the road, and would love to get more training in coffee. And this cupping info is coming handy. Here, in Czech Republic, I am afraid, there is no such established teaching authorities. But I will look further.

And who is preparing the coffee? How is your wife at it?

thanks for sharing your experience......the linked article on the sensory test was very interesting.

if anyone knows the concentrations of the low and high solutions (or even ball park figures), i'd be interested in making up some reference solutions akin to those in the test (3 each of sweet, sour, and bitter) at home to see how my taste buds fair on identifying the tastes. i'm definitely finding the jungle gym of flavors in each sip of espresso, french press, and brewed coffee a bit complex to tackle without really have a reference for each component.

Vad wrote:And who is preparing the coffee? How is your wife at it?

My wife, and the guests, have never made espresso (nor cappuccinos). I'm like a blind pilot, just flying based on what the passengers tell me.
-Ed

itsallaroundyou wrote: if anyone knows the concentrations of the low and high solutions (or even ball park figures), i'd be interested in making up some reference solutions akin to those in the test (3 each of sweet, sour, and bitter) at home to see how my taste buds fair on identifying the tastes..

It's a good idea to practice if you take this test. You may not add taste buds to your tongue, but you can train your brain to make the finer distinctions. However, I couldn't find the revised concentrations. I'll see if Joseph or Marty will share them.