Coffee cupping is a meticulous pro-cess of tasting coffee prior to its release to the market. Coffee brand Nescafe employs cuppers, as these expert tasters are called, to assess if the coffee is of the right quality.

• Acidity. This refers to the sharp, lively characteristic of coffee. Tasters look for that pleasant sharpness and vibrant quality of the beverage. Too little acidity, on the one hand, means less flavor, resulting to a flat-tasting coffee. Too much acidity, on the other hand, would result to an undesirable sour taste. A strong but pleasant acidity is characteristic of the Arabica beans used in Nescafe Gold.

• Roastiness. This refers to the degree of roasting applied on the coffee beans. Roasting is a critical part of coffee processing as it develop and brings out the full flavor and aroma of the bean. Proper roasting requires the right temperature and the right length of roasting time. Different varieties of beans also involve different levels of roasting. Arabica beans should not be roasted too dark in order to preserve the original characteristics of the beans. On the other hand, increasing the roast would increase the bitterness. Roasting the coffee too dark would make the coffee too bitter.

• Coffeeness. The coffeeness of a cup means good, clean, coffee aroma and the notable absence of any off-tastes in the coffee. A "grassy" taste means the presence of immature or unripe beans. A big no-no for coffee are chemical, rusty and moldy flavors Instead, cuppers are looking for a bold taste that’s a hallmark of good quality Robusta you’ll find in Nescafe Classic products. As for Arabica coffee, it should be devoid of earthy, fermented tastes. Cuppers also look out for any medicinal, rusty or moldy flavors. Off notes like groundsy, grassy, and stewed are caused by incorrect post harvest treatment methods of berries and incorrect processing of coffee beans