ROBERTSON QUAY: Think wine experts are the only ones who sniff and sip? For coffee buffs, cupping is the equivalent of wine tasting. Coffee roasters sniff, sip and slurp to assess and select coffees from samples they receive from brokers and growers around the world. Toby’s Estate offers public coffee cupping classes in their café on Tuesdays, for everyone from coffee noobs to nerds.

The process involves smelling and tasting different batches of beans and judging in terms of taste, body and aroma.

The cupping session is relaxed and educational, and one of the expert roasters will take you through a tasting of single origin coffees from around the world.

 You will also be able to distinguish between roasting techniques and altitude variation as Toby’s lead you through different processing methods and varietals of coffee, which in turn produce different flavour notes.

Apparently after you’ve been cupping for a while, you develop sensitivity to the tiniest differences between samples of coffee. The more you learn, the more you’ll be able to notice the different flavour and aroma notes in the coffee – with the amount we all drink, knowing more about coffee can only be a good thing.

Cupping at Toby’s Estate
8 Rodyk St, #01/03-04, Robertson Quay
Tel 6636 7629

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