Discover the fascinating world of specialty coffee through a guided tasting experience in Barcelona.
Whether you’re completely new to specialty coffee or already enjoy brewing and tasting different origins, this experience is designed to help you deepen your knowledge while enjoying exceptional coffees in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
DISCOVER COFFEE CUPPING
Coffee cupping is the professional method used by coffee producers, roasters, baristas and Q Graders around the world to evaluate coffee quality.
During this workshop, you’ll learn how to identify aromas, flavours and sensory characteristics just like coffee professionals do.
No previous experience is required—just curiosity and a love for great coffee.
What is Brazilian Coffee Cupping?
Brazilian cupping is one of the most widely used methods for evaluating coffee quality. It allows each coffee to be assessed objectively by analysing its sensory attributes and assigning it a final score.
It is considered one of the most reliable and comprehensive tasting methods in the specialty coffee industry.
How Does the Cupping Work?
Unlike a regular cup of coffee, cupping follows a standardised brewing method to ensure every coffee is evaluated under the same conditions.
Each coffee is examined at four different stages:
– Green coffee beans
– Roasted coffee beans
– Freshly ground coffee
– Brewed coffee
For the tasting, 8.5 grams of coffee are brewed with 150 ml of water at approximately 93°C (just below boiling).
Ceramic or glass cupping bowls, cupping spoons and evaluation sheets are used throughout the session to record each attribute.
What You’ll Learn to Evaluate
During the cupping session you’ll discover how professionals analyse each coffee by evaluating:
– Fragrance – The aroma released by the freshly ground coffee.
– Aroma – The aromatic notes perceived once hot water is added.
– Flavour – The overall taste, complexity and balance of the coffee.
– Retronasal Aroma – The aromatic sensations perceived when volatile compounds travel from the mouth to the nose after tasting.
– Aftertaste – The flavours that remain after swallowing.
– Acidity – Brightness and liveliness, an essential characteristic of high-quality coffees.
– Body – The texture and mouthfeel of the coffee influenced by its density and natural oils.
How The Cupping Process Works
Grinding the Coffee
The freshly ground coffee is evaluated for its dry fragrance before brewing.
Brewing
Hot water is poured over the coffee and left to steep for around five minutes. The crust is then gently broken to release the coffee’s aromas.
First Tasting
Once the coffee has cooled slightly, participants taste it using the traditional cupping technique, slurping the coffee to spread it evenly across the palate.
Final Evaluation
As the coffee cools further, additional flavours and characteristics emerge, allowing participants to appreciate the body, acidity and overall balance while identifying any defects.
Coffee is scored on a 100-point scale, with coffees scoring above 80 points officially classified as Specialty Coffee.
Specialty Coffee Tasting Experience in Barcelona
What to Expect
Our coffee tasting experience includes:
– A brief introduction to the history and origins of coffee (10 min)
– The global journey of Arabica coffee, with visual materials (20 min)
– What makes specialty coffee different? (10 min)
– Understanding the Coffee Taster’s Flavour Wheel (10 min)
– Introduction to Brazilian coffee cupping. What is and why is it used? (10 min)
– Guided coffee cupping session… Let’s Cup! (40 min)
– Final discussion, questions and coffee chat (10 min)
Price
€35 per person or €45 per person, including a complimentary bag of one of the coffees tasted during the session (approximately 200–220 g).
FORMULARIO BOOK YOUR SPECIALTY COFFEE TASTING IN BARCELONA
Planning to join us? Simply tell us:
– Number of participants
– Your experience level with specialty coffee
– What you would like to learn or experience during the tasting
We’ll help you choose the coffee experience that best suits your interests.
