The Fourth Wave - Part 4: Q Auctions, the Cup of Excellence and SCAP
“Q” auctions, SCAP (Specialty Coffee Association of Panama) and the COE (Cup of Excellence) are virtual trading platforms much like Ebay online auctions. These online auctions give roasters a convenient “one stop shop” if you will. Third wavers and other roasters are willing to pay more for this convenience, prescreening and guaranteed quality. This saves on air miles, fossil fuels and is good for the environment, but it’s hard on someone’s ego when they want to tell everyone they are flying all over the world “finding” these expensive coffees. Ultimately, the quality and price of these coffees is determined by cupping.
Cupping can be a controversial and subjective tool. I’d like to quote Tim Castle in the Coffee and Tea Journal from August of 2000, “…is it really fair to judge the effort of the men and women who spent the last year producing a crop, by hand, with one perfunctory slurp and spit?...Is it, perhaps, the height of arrogance to reduce a farm’s whole production to a single swirl through the neck of a gaboon? Especially then to hawk (pun intended) “quality” in our packaging and advertising?”
It is imperative to cup for quality as long as consistency is applied. In my experience there are three uses for cupping. First, the importers or roaster cups a series of new crop coffees, checking for general quality and placement for specific customers. Second, the full time white coat cupper works for an institutional roaster meeting a specific taste profile. Third, cupping is used as a marketing tool to bloviate.
In almost three decades, I’ve cupped a ton of coffee and I’ve never encountered one that tastes like key lime pie, watermelon, champagne, or get this, blackberry cobbler. Some roasters and coffee consultants obviously have too much time on their hands, and this gives them very vivid imaginations. What’s amazing is these descriptions can be found in print, and they’re not part of the Fourth Wave.
Cupping can be a controversial and subjective tool. I’d like to quote Tim Castle in the Coffee and Tea Journal from August of 2000, “…is it really fair to judge the effort of the men and women who spent the last year producing a crop, by hand, with one perfunctory slurp and spit?...Is it, perhaps, the height of arrogance to reduce a farm’s whole production to a single swirl through the neck of a gaboon? Especially then to hawk (pun intended) “quality” in our packaging and advertising?”
It is imperative to cup for quality as long as consistency is applied. In my experience there are three uses for cupping. First, the importers or roaster cups a series of new crop coffees, checking for general quality and placement for specific customers. Second, the full time white coat cupper works for an institutional roaster meeting a specific taste profile. Third, cupping is used as a marketing tool to bloviate.
In almost three decades, I’ve cupped a ton of coffee and I’ve never encountered one that tastes like key lime pie, watermelon, champagne, or get this, blackberry cobbler. Some roasters and coffee consultants obviously have too much time on their hands, and this gives them very vivid imaginations. What’s amazing is these descriptions can be found in print, and they’re not part of the Fourth Wave.
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