A cupping score only means something if the person assigning it was trained to apply the protocol consistently. That’s what separates “85 points” as a real, comparable number from “85 points” as a number someone decided sounded credible. See what a real score should come with →
Tostar Café’s founder, Napoleón Contreras, is a CQI-certified Q Grader — a credential built entirely around this kind of rigor. The exam covers sensory evaluation, aroma identification, triangulation exercises (correctly picking the odd sample out of three), organic acid recognition, and both green and roasted coffee defect classification. It’s a real, examined skill, not a title anyone can claim.
Why This Matters Before You Buy
A cupping score only means something if the person assigning it was trained to apply the protocol consistently. That’s what separates “85 points” as a real, comparable number from “85 points” as a number someone decided sounded credible. See what a real score should come with →
This Is the Same Discipline Behind a Q Grader Certification
Tostar Café’s founder, Napoleón Contreras, is a CQI-certified Q Grader — a credential built entirely around this kind of rigor. The exam covers sensory evaluation, aroma identification, triangulation exercises (correctly picking the odd sample out of three), organic acid recognition, and both green and roasted coffee defect classification. It’s a real, examined skill, not a title anyone can claim.
Why This Matters Before You Buy
A cupping score only means something if the person assigning it was trained to apply the protocol consistently. That’s what separates “85 points” as a real, comparable number from “85 points” as a number someone decided sounded credible. See what a real score should come with →
Professional cupping assigns numeric values to a fixed set of attributes — body, acidity, sweetness, aftertaste, and others, following standards defined by organizations like the Specialty Coffee Association — and plots them, often as a radar chart. That chart, plus the sum of the scores, is what actually produces a defensible cupping score, not a taster’s general impression.
This Is the Same Discipline Behind a Q Grader Certification
Tostar Café’s founder, Napoleón Contreras, is a CQI-certified Q Grader — a credential built entirely around this kind of rigor. The exam covers sensory evaluation, aroma identification, triangulation exercises (correctly picking the odd sample out of three), organic acid recognition, and both green and roasted coffee defect classification. It’s a real, examined skill, not a title anyone can claim.
Why This Matters Before You Buy
A cupping score only means something if the person assigning it was trained to apply the protocol consistently. That’s what separates “85 points” as a real, comparable number from “85 points” as a number someone decided sounded credible. See what a real score should come with →
A Cup Profile Isn’t a Flavor Description, It’s a Scored Chart
Professional cupping assigns numeric values to a fixed set of attributes — body, acidity, sweetness, aftertaste, and others, following standards defined by organizations like the Specialty Coffee Association — and plots them, often as a radar chart. That chart, plus the sum of the scores, is what actually produces a defensible cupping score, not a taster’s general impression.
This Is the Same Discipline Behind a Q Grader Certification
Tostar Café’s founder, Napoleón Contreras, is a CQI-certified Q Grader — a credential built entirely around this kind of rigor. The exam covers sensory evaluation, aroma identification, triangulation exercises (correctly picking the odd sample out of three), organic acid recognition, and both green and roasted coffee defect classification. It’s a real, examined skill, not a title anyone can claim.
Why This Matters Before You Buy
A cupping score only means something if the person assigning it was trained to apply the protocol consistently. That’s what separates “85 points” as a real, comparable number from “85 points” as a number someone decided sounded credible. See what a real score should come with →
Cupping is the coffee industry’s standardized way of tasting — a controlled protocol, not just “trying the coffee,” built so two different people in two different countries can compare notes on the same lot and mean the same thing.
A Cup Profile Isn’t a Flavor Description, It’s a Scored Chart
Professional cupping assigns numeric values to a fixed set of attributes — body, acidity, sweetness, aftertaste, and others, following standards defined by organizations like the Specialty Coffee Association — and plots them, often as a radar chart. That chart, plus the sum of the scores, is what actually produces a defensible cupping score, not a taster’s general impression.
This Is the Same Discipline Behind a Q Grader Certification
Tostar Café’s founder, Napoleón Contreras, is a CQI-certified Q Grader — a credential built entirely around this kind of rigor. The exam covers sensory evaluation, aroma identification, triangulation exercises (correctly picking the odd sample out of three), organic acid recognition, and both green and roasted coffee defect classification. It’s a real, examined skill, not a title anyone can claim.
Why This Matters Before You Buy
A cupping score only means something if the person assigning it was trained to apply the protocol consistently. That’s what separates “85 points” as a real, comparable number from “85 points” as a number someone decided sounded credible. See what a real score should come with →
What Cupping Actually Measures
Cupping is the coffee industry’s standardized way of tasting — a controlled protocol, not just “trying the coffee,” built so two different people in two different countries can compare notes on the same lot and mean the same thing.
A Cup Profile Isn’t a Flavor Description, It’s a Scored Chart
Professional cupping assigns numeric values to a fixed set of attributes — body, acidity, sweetness, aftertaste, and others, following standards defined by organizations like the Specialty Coffee Association — and plots them, often as a radar chart. That chart, plus the sum of the scores, is what actually produces a defensible cupping score, not a taster’s general impression.
This Is the Same Discipline Behind a Q Grader Certification
Tostar Café’s founder, Napoleón Contreras, is a CQI-certified Q Grader — a credential built entirely around this kind of rigor. The exam covers sensory evaluation, aroma identification, triangulation exercises (correctly picking the odd sample out of three), organic acid recognition, and both green and roasted coffee defect classification. It’s a real, examined skill, not a title anyone can claim.
Why This Matters Before You Buy
A cupping score only means something if the person assigning it was trained to apply the protocol consistently. That’s what separates “85 points” as a real, comparable number from “85 points” as a number someone decided sounded credible. See what a real score should come with →
What Cupping Actually Measures
Cupping is the coffee industry’s standardized way of tasting — a controlled protocol, not just “trying the coffee,” built so two different people in two different countries can compare notes on the same lot and mean the same thing.
A Cup Profile Isn’t a Flavor Description, It’s a Scored Chart
Professional cupping assigns numeric values to a fixed set of attributes — body, acidity, sweetness, aftertaste, and others, following standards defined by organizations like the Specialty Coffee Association — and plots them, often as a radar chart. That chart, plus the sum of the scores, is what actually produces a defensible cupping score, not a taster’s general impression.
This Is the Same Discipline Behind a Q Grader Certification
Tostar Café’s founder, Napoleón Contreras, is a CQI-certified Q Grader — a credential built entirely around this kind of rigor. The exam covers sensory evaluation, aroma identification, triangulation exercises (correctly picking the odd sample out of three), organic acid recognition, and both green and roasted coffee defect classification. It’s a real, examined skill, not a title anyone can claim.
Why This Matters Before You Buy
A cupping score only means something if the person assigning it was trained to apply the protocol consistently. That’s what separates “85 points” as a real, comparable number from “85 points” as a number someone decided sounded credible. See what a real score should come with →
What Cupping Actually Measures
Cupping is the coffee industry’s standardized way of tasting — a controlled protocol, not just “trying the coffee,” built so two different people in two different countries can compare notes on the same lot and mean the same thing.
A Cup Profile Isn’t a Flavor Description, It’s a Scored Chart
Professional cupping assigns numeric values to a fixed set of attributes — body, acidity, sweetness, aftertaste, and others, following standards defined by organizations like the Specialty Coffee Association — and plots them, often as a radar chart. That chart, plus the sum of the scores, is what actually produces a defensible cupping score, not a taster’s general impression.
This Is the Same Discipline Behind a Q Grader Certification
Tostar Café’s founder, Napoleón Contreras, is a CQI-certified Q Grader — a credential built entirely around this kind of rigor. The exam covers sensory evaluation, aroma identification, triangulation exercises (correctly picking the odd sample out of three), organic acid recognition, and both green and roasted coffee defect classification. It’s a real, examined skill, not a title anyone can claim.
Why This Matters Before You Buy
A cupping score only means something if the person assigning it was trained to apply the protocol consistently. That’s what separates “85 points” as a real, comparable number from “85 points” as a number someone decided sounded credible. See what a real score should come with →