SOME MORE The scale
How I score a cup
Four things, 1–5 each. Deliberately simple, so I actually fill it in every time.
| What | The question | 1 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aroma | Does it smell like anything before the first sip? | flat, papery | you notice it across the kitchen |
| Acidity | Brightness, not sourness. Does it lift the cup or just sting? | sour or completely dull | bright, clean, pleasant |
| Body | Weight in the mouth. Thin like tea, or does it coat? | watery | full, syrupy |
| Finish | What's left after ten seconds — and do I want another sip? | ashy, bitter, or gone at once | long, sweet, makes you pause |
The total out of 20 is a guide, not a ranking. A 14 with a wonderful finish and thin body is a different cup from a 14 that's solid everywhere and exciting nowhere — and the note says which.
What I try to hold constant
- Black first. Tasted without milk or sugar, even if I then add milk to drink it.
- Same cup. Plain white ceramic, pre-warmed. Thick paper mutes the flavour.
- Temperature. Noted twice: hot, and again after five minutes. Some coffees fall apart as they cool; some only make sense then.
- Water. Filtered, and written down — after a cartridge change the taste shifted for a week.
What I don't do
I'm not a professional taster and don't pretend to have their vocabulary. I don't cup blind and I don't repeat every tasting three times. If a note says a capsule was bitter, it means it was bitter that morning in my kitchen. Where I've had the same coffee several times, the note says so.