The coffee world's equivalent of a professional wine tasting is called "cupping", but don't expect to be invited to a local cupping and danish party any time soon. This is a practice best left to the professionals, if the preparation is any indication.
During a cupping session, individual coffees are ground and poured directly into small cups arranged around a large Lazy Susan affair. Hot (but not boiling) water is added, and the entire solution becomes a sort of coffee slurry. There's no fancy brewing or filtration involved- just coffee beans and water. The tasters spend much of their time absorbing the
fragrances of the selected coffees, then proceed to swirl and swish each cup's offerings with all the elan of their wine-tasting counterparts. In general, the tasters are looking for strong flavors and a good mouth feel. Copious notes are taken, since the economic future of a smaller plantation may hinge on the results.
But in the midst of all this research, I also discovered a life lesson or two. After the ground beans are mixed with water, a thin layer of residue often forms on the surface of the coffee. Tasters know that the coffee's most essential elements can be found underneath, so they will often place their noses directly over the coffee and "break the crust". It struck me how often we fail to do that in our own lives. We encounter new people every day, but we somehow forget to "break the crust" in order to discover their truest qualities. Sometimes it seems our lives run on their own relentless turntables, but it helps to savor the richness of every cup we're presented.
