How To Host A Casual Coffee Tasting At Home

When you look at the coffee wall inside our shop, you see beans from all over the world. Some carry notes of dark chocolate and toasted almond, while others taste like juicy blackcurrant or sweet chamomile.

If you want to train your palate and figure out what flavours you actually enjoy, you do not need expensive gear or a professional coffee background. You can easily set up a fun tasting session right on your kitchen counter with a few friends.

While professional coffee cupping usually involves strict measurements, precise water temperatures, and timers, doing a relaxed version at home is just a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Next time you drop by The Roasterie, grab four or five of our small one hundred gram bags representing different origins. Tell us what you are planning, and we will grind all the beans for you right on our commercial grinder so you do not even need one at home.

Here is how to set up a simple tasting session on your kitchen counter.

What You Need On The Counter

Keep things completely effortless. Use whatever you already have in your cupboards.

  • Four or five different one hundred gram bags of coffee from our counter
  • Bowls or mugs that are roughly the same size
  • A soup spoon for everyone
  • Hot water
  • A notepad and pen for your tasting notes

Step By Step Countertop Tasting

1. Smell The Dry Grounds

Pour your freshly ground coffee into your cup. Before adding any water, lean close and smell the dry grounds. This gives you your first impression of the coffee. You might notice dry cocoa, sweet floral aromas, or warm spice right away.

2. Add Hot Water

Pour hot water directly over the grounds in each cup, filling them near the top. Let everything sit untouched for a few minutes while a crust of floating coffee grounds forms on the surface.

3. Break The Crust And Smell

Take your soup spoon and gently push the floating crust back a few times while leaning over the cup. This releases a big burst of aroma. Give your spoon a quick rinse in a warm glass of water between cups so you do not mix the flavours.

4. Skim The Top

Use your spoon to gently scoop off the remaining floating foam and grounds from the top so you have clear liquid to taste.

5. Slurp And Compare

Once the coffee cools down enough so you do not burn your tongue, dip your spoon in and slurp. Slurping sprays the coffee across your palate, which helps you pick up subtle flavour notes.

As you sip, write down whatever comes to mind on your notepad. Do not worry about using formal coffee terminology. Just write down if it reminds you of berries, chocolate, bread, nuts, or citrus. Once you have your own thoughts on paper, head over to our website and check our official tasting notes for those exact beans to see how close you got.

A Fun Game To Try With Friends

This is just a fun thing to do before a dinner party or on a rainy Saturday. Wine and maple syrup do not get to have all the fun when it comes to tasting flights, and it is a cool way to start training your (taste) buds.

You can compare your notes with everyone at the table and see who guessed closest to what was in the cup. You might find out your friend loves a bright African origin, while you prefer a smooth, chocolatey Papua New Guinea.

We change up our coffee lineup at the shop all the time, so whenever you swing by, there is always something new on the wall to take home and try.

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