A note on cupping

We cup every new lot before it goes on the menu, and a few people have asked what that actually involves, so here’s the short version.

Cupping is just a standardised way of tasting coffee so you can compare lots fairly. Same grind, same water temperature, same steep time, no filter — you smell it, break the crust, skim the grounds off the top, then slurp it loudly off a spoon so it aerates across your whole palate. It looks strange if you’ve never seen it done.

We do it with whoever’s around that morning, not just whoever roasted it, because it’s easy to talk yourself into liking something you’ve just spent an hour dialling in. If two or three of us land on the same notes independently, we trust it.