This note supports a short video where I show how I cup coffee at home, and why I keep the process intentionally simple.
Cupping is often presented as technical, performative, or something you need training to “do properly”. That framing never sat comfortably with me. At home, cupping serves a much narrower purpose.
For me, cupping is a diagnostic tool, not a scoring system and not a substitute for drinking coffee.
Why I cup this way
I’m not trying to identify flavour notes, assign scores, or prove anything.
What I want to know is:
- Is this coffee clean?
- Is it balanced?
- Does it feel heavy or thin?
- Is it bright or flat?
- Would I happily drink this again?
If I can answer those questions consistently, the cupping has done its job.
The cupping form
To support that approach, I use a very simple cupping card.
This cupping card is intentionally simple. It’s designed for home roasters and curious drinkers who want to compare coffees without chasing flavour notes, scores, or performance. If you can say “this is heavier”, “this is brighter”, or “I’d drink this again”, this card is doing its job.
There are no flavour wheels, no numeric scores, and no expectation that you’ll taste anything “interesting”.
The goal is comparison, not description.
Download the cupping form
You can download the cupping form here:
→ Download the Simple Cupping Form (PDF)
Free to use. Print, modify, or ignore as you see fit.
(If you print it, one sheet works well for side-by-side comparisons of two coffees.)
How this fits into the wider project
Cupping in this project:
- happens alongside drinking, not instead of it
- is applied consistently, even when the results are unexciting
- feeds understanding forward, rather than retroactively judging a roast
If you’re curious about cupping but put off by how complicated it’s often made to seem, this approach may be enough.
The video linked to this note shows the process exactly as I do it at home, no instruction, no optimisation, just observation.
Coffee. One roast at a time.