Page 83 - #60 English

Know Your Coffee
every coffee, compare the flavors, and build yourself a
One of the more obvious factors in coffee buying reference of high quality taste experiences that can be
is to know your coffee. You simply will not be as effec- offered to consumers. You should also do palate exer-
tive of a coffee buyer if you are unfamiliar with the cises, like tasting 5 different varieties of apples next to
nuances found in various coffees. My first suggestion is each other, in order to expand your descriptive vocabu-
to become exceptional at cupping, tasting, and palate lary. Apples may not seem related to coffee, but the
development. Cup numerous coffees from as many ori- practice of differentiating and describing variations of
gins and different roasting companies as possible. Taste the same product can be highly valuable.

My next suggestion is to taste both good AND bad Relationships
coffees. Understand legitimate green coffee defects and
what they taste like. Many defects are hard to detect Sadly, simply knowing how to cup and find great coffees
visually, and most are impossible to pick out after the is not the only thing to consider in buying green coffee. If I can
coffee is roasted. By being familiar with defect flavors, tell you the absolutely most important aspect of green coffee
you can easily know when to reject a sample or negoti- buying, it will be relationships. The Specialty industry has grown
ate a lower price. A lot of defective coffee flavors are and thrived through developing long term relationships be-
simply overlooked until you know what the specific tween buyers and sellers, farmers and roasters, and even one
flavor is. Once you know some of these flavors they professional to the next professional. If you are not good at
will be obvious and even distracting when tasting a cup. maintaining positive relationships, this is the skill you need to
Lastly, some of the existing certification programs learn IMMEDIATELY!Good relationships lead to opportunities
such as the Q Grader and SCA Coffee Buyer certifica- in having access to certain coffees, and sometimes better pric-
tions can be useful in learning about regional flavor and ing. A good relationship does not mean letting the other person
defects. Unfortunately though, just obtaining these have an advantage over you (that is simply bad business), but
certifications does NOT make you a great cupper. These instead it means that both parties benefit in some way.
programs will give you an education and systems to
follow, but the only way to be a great cupper is through
experience. Experience can only truly be gained by
For example, I have good relationship with a coffee
doing these things over time. The amount of time it
importer, because I respect their methods, they send
requires to be great depends on how motivated you are
me the type of samples I like, and we both communicate
and how often you are tasting. This time spent in tast-
quickly and effectively. I don’t always buy the coffees they
ing is extremely valuable however, as you will know
send, but I have a process and I do standard things like pay
your coffees and the process of identifying great coffees
on time and share my thoughts on their products. I also only
will be like muscle memory.
commit to the amount of coffee that I KNOW I will buy.
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