Tea Cupping: Professional Tasting

Cupping is the standardized method used by tea professionals to evaluate and compare several lots according to a fixed protocol, before deciding which ones to keep. It is not a pleasure tasting: it is a decision-making tool, the one used before a tea enters the Maison Bouali range.

A Standardized Protocol, Not a Pleasure Tasting

Unlike brewing at home, cupping follows fixed rules identical for every sample compared: the same amount of leaf, the same volume of water, the same temperature, the same steeping time, down to the gram and the second. It is this rigor that allows ten or twenty lots to be compared objectively, rather than relying on an impression that varies from one cup to the next.

The Three Stages of Cupping

A professional cupping always follows the same order:

• The dry leaf: appearance, color, evenness of the cut, proportion of buds, smell even before brewing.
• The infused leaf: once the water is removed, the wet leaf is examined, its color and scent, which reveal the quality of processing.
• The liquor: color, clarity, then taste on the palate, using the characteristic technique of loudly slurping the tea to aerate it and bring out all the aromas across the palate.

What We Look For at Each Stage

On the dry leaf, the evenness of the sorting and cleanliness (no stems, dust or foreign matter). On the liquor, the body, the balance between astringency and sweetness, the length on the palate and the consistency with the expected profile of the grade and the garden. A lot can look like the right grade on paper and disappoint in the cup, or the reverse: that is exactly what cupping lets us verify before buying.

Cupping at Maison Bouali

For our Indian range, we received twenty samples from different gardens. Each one was tasted before we selected the five grades that make up the range today, including our Arunachal Golden Tippy and our Arunachal SFTGFOP, both from the Donyi Polo garden. For Sri Lanka, the tasting is paired with an independent laboratory analysis on samples taken during transit, alongside the judgment in the cup.

Why It Matters to You

It comes down to whether this specific lot, from this specific garden, deserves its place in the range. A step we never delegate to an intermediary, in direct continuity with our direct sourcing.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is tea cupping?

It is a standardized professional tasting method used to objectively evaluate and compare several tea lots according to a fixed protocol (identical amount, temperature and time for all samples).

How does a buyer select a tea lot?

By examining the dry leaf, then the infused leaf, then the liquor, in that order, to check the evenness of the sorting and the consistency of the taste with the stated grade and garden.

What's the difference between professional and everyday tasting?

Professional tasting follows a fixed, identical protocol to objectively compare several lots. Tasting at home is free-form, meant for pleasure rather than comparison: see our guide on brewing black tea well every day.