Many believe that the exquisite flavor of a cup of coffee begins with the roaster’s skilled hands.
But at MIN-TE, the true battle begins when the coffee is still a greenish, unroasted green bean.
The most crucial and foundational quality control stage in the coffee world – Green Bean Cupping.
💎 What is Green Bean Cupping? An appraisal of “Rough Diamonds”
If roasting gives coffee beans a second life, then green bean cupping is like a jeweler examining a rough diamond. We must accurately judge its clarity, potential, and value before it is ever polished.
The entire process is rigorous and full of ritual:
Sample Roasting: We perform an extremely light roast on green bean samples with a single purpose: to strip away all disguise, to prevent roasting techniques from beautifying or masking, and to simply listen to the bean’s most原始, purest DNA.
Aroma and Slurping: From the dry aroma after grinding, to the wet aroma after water is added, then to a quick “slurp” from the cupping spoon… Every step is designed to capture its most subtle flavor signals.
Sensory Evaluation: We act like examiners, comprehensively scoring the beans across dimensions such as cleanliness, acidity, sweetness, flavor complexity, and body.
🤔 Why is it so important? Taking responsibility for the flavor in your cup
You might ask, why go to such great lengths at such an early stage?
✅ First Line of Defense, Eliminating Defects: This is our most stringent quality control checkpoint. Any green beans with unpleasant flavors like earthy, musty, or over-fermented notes are eliminated in the first round. We absolutely forbid any defective “genes” from entering MIN-TE’s roasting facility.
✅ Unlocking Potential, Pinpointing Flavor: It is among these myriad flavors that we search for the “rough diamond” that can be polished into dazzling brilliance. Is it a Geisha with citrus and floral notes, or a Bourbon rich in dark chocolate and nutty flavors? Only through cupping can we foresee its future.
✅ Guiding Roasting, Unleashing Potential: The cupping results serve as our “flavor blueprint” for the roasters. Should we use a faster ramp-up to accentuate its fruit acidity, or gentler heat to develop its sweetness? The answers are hidden within these cups of cupping liquid.
So, when you taste a cup of MIN-TE,what you’re experiencing is not just the art of roasting, but our commitment to meticulously selecting the best for you, right from the source.
For the flavor in your cup, we are willing to be the most discerning first tasters.