this is coffee

A Cupping Bowl (Photo P. Straith)

We had a great turnout at the Cup of Excellence cupping on Saturday, Feb. 21st.  A room full of people hovering over bowls of coffee and barking out flavor descriptors always generates a lot of attention and questions, which we welcome enthusiastically.  I will try to address some of the more common queries here.

What are you guys doing?!

Coffee Cupping is a sensory skills exercise practiced by serious coffee drinkers and coffee professionals in an effort to broaden our knowledge and perfect our craft.  We prefer ours to be fun, focused and free.  Due to demand, we require advance sign-up.

How often do you do this?

As roasters, we cup every new coffee when we get samples from growers or importers, or when we are developing a new blend or roast level for new coffees.  Our public cuppings are every Saturday at 10:00 AM and give us an opportunity to cup current roast profiles for coffees in inventory with a new group of people every week.

How do I sign up?

You can email us with a request to hold a spot for you or register for an account (free) at NovaRoast.com and sign up for our newsletter.  Information about our cuppings is emailed to Nova Roast customers who are given first priority for spots at the table.  You can also find us on Facebook, become a fan and we will post scheduling there.

What if I don’t know anything about coffee?

Then you are exactly the kind of person we want at our table.

What if I know a lot about coffee already?

Then you are exactly the kind of person we want at our table.

What is the Nova Roast-Easy Chair connection?

After 13 years, the Easy Chair Coffee Shop has evolved into much more than an espresso bar/specialty coffee shop.  We have an extensive food menu, a loyal following of customers from Virginia Tech and Blacksburg who rely on our late hours for meetings, study groups, or just for a place to hang out.  Through Nova Roast, we have been able to focus our expertise and devotion to our coffee roasting program to try to reach a wider audience.  If you have a French Press, Chemex, AeroPress, Vacuum Pot, high quality espresso machine or home roasting equipment, then we would like to be your roaster.  If you have ever driven past several big, corporate coffee establishments to find the hole-in-the wall shop pouring perfect espresso shots, then we would like to be your roaster.  If you care about truly sustainable and rare coffee of extreme quality, then we are your roaster.

Nova Roast will conduct a  comparison cupping of Cup of Excellence winners from Colombia, Nicaragua and El Salvador and one Golden Cup winner from Rwanda.  A very rare chance to sample these coffees side by side.  Space is very limited, so please sign up quickly.  Email us at customerservice@novaroast.com to reserve a space.  Cupping will take place in the reading room at the Easy Chair Coffee Shop, University Mall in Blacksburg.

Easy Chair 0900 on Valentine’s day. Come on in and slurp the sleepies right out of your eyes. We’ll be cupping at least three of our new offerings and I’ll even break out a Cup of Excellence El Salvador to taste. Give me a heads up if you plan to come in so we can have the bowls set up for you.

Tuesday evening the 3rd of February I will be leading a coffee cupping at Deet’s Place on the Virginia Tech Campus. Don Harvey, my past boss who, while I was at VT allowed me great leeway in growing my roasting and coffee knowledge and skills, worked with me to start a coffee college series of four classes held throughout each school year. We are in our third year now and Tuesday night we will be cupping two flights of coffee.

Prior to cupping I will explain the process of cupping, which is the industry’s term for the sensory evaluation of a coffee. I will give a very rudimentary talk on sensory perception and some specific things to look for when cupping coffee. We will then take our lesson to the lab.

The first flight will be coffees from Indonesia, Africa, and Central America. With this flight we will simply be noting the common threads and distinctive flavors found throughout each of these coffee producing regions. The second flight will be Selva Negra Estate coffee from Nicaragua roasted to three different roast levels. This portion of the lab will focus more on how the roasting process changes the flavor profile of a coffee - for good or for bad. For this class to be successful, you have to be ready to speak what your senses are telling you and participate fully in the ensuing discussions. The class is open to everyone, and we’ve yet to turn anyone away, but please let us know if you’re coming so that we have enough cupping bowls set up. Hope to see you there.

Brian

Cupping at La Minita, during Brian's visit.

Nova Roast coffee roasters will host an open cupping this Saturday, January 24th, at 9:30 AM at The Easy Chair Coffee Shop in Blacksburg, VA.  This is an excellent opportunity to learn about coffees from several different origin countries.  Through this exercise, the beginner to the fanatic will be better able to discern the difference between truly specialty grade (rare coffees of extreme quality) and other coffees on the market.  We will discuss directly traded coffee versus “fair trade.”  We will explore the effects of roast level, water quality, grind and water-to-coffee ratios.  Space is limited, please email us to reserve a spot.  Bring an open mind and a love for the brew.  This event is free, but you will be very, very tempted to purchase some coffee on your way out!