Cupping is a specialized coffee-tasting method. Because it’s an easy way to taste multiple coffees at once, cupping is favored by coffee professionals. But anyone can do it!

If you’d like to cup at home, you just need one or more coffees, a cupping spoon, and a few uniform-size cups in the 6- to 8-oz range.

Add 12 grams of ground coffee to each cup and pour hot water directly onto the grounds, filling the cup all the way to the top. An aromatic crust of coffee grounds will form on the surface. After four minutes, break the crusts with a cupping spoon. Then use the cupping spoon to dip into the coffee, which you slurp from the spoon.

It sounds totally weird but – well, yes it is totally weird. But fun! If you have never cupped before, I recommend checking out an online article or video tutorial – luckily there are tons! I’m working on my own educational materials but while those are in the works, just do a google search for “how to cup coffee”.