We have run it since our first month, in April 2024, when four friends came and I explained far too much. Bulba slept under the table and nobody minded. Now the twelve places usually go within a week of the sheet going up.
What a cupping is
Cupping is how roasters taste coffee before they buy it or sell it. Maksim and I do it every week in the back room. On the first Saturday we bring it out to the front and let everyone join in.
It is a structured way of paying attention, with five bowls and a lot of noise.
The hour, step by step
Every coffee is ground into its own bowl, and you start by smelling it dry. Five coffees smell surprisingly different before any water touches them.
Then we pour hot water over each bowl and wait four minutes while a crust of grounds forms on top. At four minutes you break the crust with a spoon, lean right in, and get the strongest smell of the morning. People always laugh at this point.
When the coffee has cooled a little, everyone goes round with a spoon and slurps loudly. Slurping sprays the coffee across your tongue and up into your nose, where most of the flavour is. By the second bowl nobody is embarrassed.
Then we talk. If a coffee reminds you of your aunt's marmalade, that is a good tasting note, and often better than mine. Children are welcome with an adult, and they are often the best tasters at the table.
If a coffee reminds you of your aunt's marmalade, write down marmalade.
The surprise is usually the same one. Last month two people who said they only drink dark coffee went home with a bag of the lightest one on the table.
Draniki afterwards
Everyone who stays gets draniki, Belarusian potato pancakes, fried by Maksim in the back while I clear the bowls. It started as a thank-you and has become the reason some people come. Henk has not missed one since the shop opened.
Several of you have asked for a weekday evening, for people who work on Saturdays. We hear you. A weekday date is coming with the new Huila harvest, and we will announce it here first.
The next cupping is on Saturday 3 October at 10:00. Put your name on the sheet by the till or ask at the bar to book one of the twelve places.
Inés, behind the bar
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