Counter Culture Coffee Cupping Lab

Last week I took Thursday off and made the 2 hour drive down to Durham to attend the Comparative Cupping Lab at Counter Culture Coffee.

Besides a couple of at-home cupping sessions, this was my first 'real' cupping event. The class is a new offering and most of the attendees were employees of CCC shops (murky, Octane, and a few other shops were represented) as well as one or two CCC employees, like Chris Owens, formerly of Gimme! Coffee. I was the only home enthusiast attending.

The format was good: an in depth review of the history of cupping, a review of coffee processing techniques, and 3 flights of cupping each with 3 thoughtfully selected coffees.

There were coffees from all continents and a wide range of taste, acidity and body. The standout for me was an Auction Lot Kenya from Embu. I've been enjoying this one at home as a French press. Another notable one was a French roasted coffee (can't remeber where from). Notable not because I thought it was good, it's just that I was surprised to see a French roast at all from CCC. I supposed they have a demand to full from their customer base of coffee shops and grocery stores.

After the class, I was able to stick around and pull shots in the training lab. They have a dream coffee bar complete with a La Marzocco FB80 and a Synesso. There were also several of the top end grinders such as the Robur, Kony and a Super Jolly or two.

Here are some pics I threw together using an embedded Flickr slideshow for the first time.