Cupping
Cupping is the standardized way the coffee industry tastes and scores coffee. Ground coffee is steeped in hot water in identical cups, then evaluated on a fixed set of attributes — aroma, flavor, acidity, body, aftertaste, balance, and more — so that different coffees, tasters, and countries can be compared on the same scale.
Cupping is the engine underneath every competition on this wiki: it’s how juries at Best of Panama and Cup of Excellence narrow thousands of lots down to a handful of winners, all tasted blind.
The scoring form and protocol come largely from the Specialty Coffee Association, and licensed graders (Q Graders) are trained to apply it consistently.