Wine Tasting vs Coffee Cupping

Much like how a Chardonnay grown in France’s coolest wine region will be different to one from hot climate California, coffee is also shaped by its environment and how it’s produced. This results in a massive range of styles, making coffee tasting (or ‘coffee cupping’, to use the correct term) just as important to coffee experts as wine tasting is in our world.

So, let’s take a look at just how similar the processes for tasting actually are for these two seemingly very different drinks!

It’s important to make sure all your focus is on the flavours and aromas coming from the coffee. So you need to make sure the room is free of odours (cleaning products, perfume, cigarette smoke…) and that you haven’t been eating anything too stinky before the tasting!

Measure

To taste coffee like a true pro, you need to make sure each measurement of coffee you try is exactly the same. The recommended amount is 8.25g of coffee per 150ml of water in a standard cupping bowl.

Smell

As any coffee lover knows, it’s all about those delicious aromas. In fact, it’s so important in coffee cupping that you analyse the aromas twice – once just after the beans have been ground, and once after the coffee has been brewed and stirred. Get your nose up close and personal with the cup and get stuck in!

Taste

Scoop off any foam with a clean spoon and start slurping. Just like how room temperature can affect a wine, coffee changes as it cools. So keep tasting as it cools to see how the flavours transform.

Score

At the end of any tasting, a coffee cupper thinks about flavour, body, acidity, sweetness and overall balance, then scores it accordingly. Similarly to wine, you look for fruity, nutty, spicy and floral notes – but unlike wine, you also assess saltiness.

Just like with coffee cupping, rule number one in wine tasting is start with a clean slate. This includes everything from making sure the room is odour free and your palate is cleansed (chewing a piece a bread will do the trick!), to finding a clear surface – preferably white (so you can see the colour of the wine easily).

Measure

Consistency is key. Whatever size wine glasses you’re using, make sure you pour the same amount each time you taste. And only pour a small amount!

Appearance

The main difference from coffee tasting is this step right here. Assessing the colour and intensity of colour is a big part of wine tasting. Not only will the colour give you an idea of what it might taste like, the intensity when you tilt it over the white surface will tell you a bit about the body – a watery outline indicates a light body, while a dense colour tells you it’s full-bodied.

Smell

Aromas are important in wine tasting, but the process differs slightly to this stage in coffee cupping. Instead of getting your nose as close to the drink as possible, in wine tasting you start swirling the glass just below your chest. An intense, good quality wine will have aromas that spring out of the glass all the way from down there. If you find yourself having to stick your nose in the glass it’s a sign of a pretty basic, low quality wine (or you’ve got a cold!)

Taste

Sip the wine, taking in a little air at the same time, and see what flavours you pick up. At this stage you can identify how acidic and tannic the wine is (an acidic wine will fill your mouth with saliva, and tannins create that mouthfeel you get from a strong cup of tea).

Score

Having tried the wine properly, you then score it based on its appearance, flavours, tannins, body and acidity, and where it sits on the sweetness scale. The more complex the character and taste, the higher the quality of wine. Unlike coffee cupping, you can tell a bit about the age of the drink, as notes of oak, nut, toast, smoke and leather all tell you it’s been matured.

Essentially, it’s all about getting the most out of your favourite drink – taking the time to really take in and enjoy the flavours that you love so much. Coffee cupping may have more of a focus on aromas, while appearance plays a bigger part in wine tasting, but the processes are pretty similar. And they’re great ways of developing a deeper understanding of the nuances and intricacies you find in coffee and wine styles from different parts of the world.

Fancy having a go yourself? Our friends over at Rave Coffee have written an awesome step-by-step guide to coffee cupping at home that’ll give you that extra level of detail. And for everything you need to know about wine tasting, check out the Wine Basics pages in our Wine Guide. Enjoy!