A Fair Trade coffee cupping

Chef Gilson's pumpkin soup, made from local pumpkins.

I've tasted my share of wines, but I'd never attended a coffee tasting until last week, when I was invited to a dinner hosted by Green Mountain Coffee at Garden at the Cellar in Cambridge.

At the end of a meal that highlighted several Fair Trade and local ingredients, our host, GMC's Sandy Yusen, set two French presses on the table. While we waited for hot water to boil, she explained that coffee tasting is called "cupping," and at Green Mountain it normally involves sampling 10 cups of coffee to test for consistency from cup to cup. Green Mountain holds cuppings on the coffee farms where it sources its Fair Trade beans in order to teach the farmers how to improve quality and taste.

Sandy added 6 rounded scoops of freshly ground Sumatran Reserve coffee to the first press (or 2 Tbsp coffee per person) and passed it around so that we could sniff its "fragrance"--the smell of the ground coffee before hot water is added (as opposed to "aroma," which is the smell of the coffee once it is brewed). She then added 3 cups of water to the press (1 cup for every 2 Tbsp coffee), and we waited about four minutes for it to steep. In the meantime, she told us about the projects in Sumatra that have been funded by the Fair Trade social premium (a benefit that is paid to the coffee farmers' cooperative on top of the cost of beans)--including improvements to roadways, school systems, and access to clean water.

Then Sandy pressed the coffee and poured out a small sample of the Sumatran brew for each of us to taste. As with wine, tasting coffee involves slurping it to coat the tongue, and trying to detect notes that are floral, fruity, chocolatey or earthy. She explained that pieces of fruit often remain on the Sumatran beans, giving the coffee an earthy, raiseny, orangey flavor. Compared to the Kenyan Highland Cooperatives coffee we'd try next, Sandy described the Sumatran in beer terminology as a "stout"--a bean that can stand up to a dark roast. The Kenyan, on the other hand, is more of a hoppy IPA and takes a lighter roast. The flavor of the Kenyan brew can be described as more fruity and chocolatey.

Chef Gilson's tea-poached pears, made with Fair Trade tea.

When tasters sample coffee, she told us, they also talk about acidity or "brightness"--the same lively feeling you experience on the tip of the tongue when you eat an orange. As coffee cools, its acidity diminishes. Again like wine tasters, coffee tasters consider body (or mouthfeel)--is it thin like tea, or thick like syrup or cocoa?--and terroir, the regional characteristics that influence taste. In broad terms, coffee regions include Central & South American, associated with classic, smooth, balanced flavor; African, known for flavorful, bold, winey coffee; and Indonesian, which tend toward the sweet, mellow and aromatic.

At Green Mountain, the philosophy is that fairly traded beans from around the world are not only better for local people and for the environment, but they also result in better coffee. In order to spread the word about Fair Trade, they're hosting an event called Eat, Drink & Be Fair on Wednesday, October 21 at the Artists for Humanity Epicenter in South Boston. Four local chefs, including The Cellar's Will Gilson, will compete in a cook-off using Fair Trade ingredients.

For more information on hosting a cupping, visit CoffeeResearch.org. To learn more about Fair Trade, visit TransFair. And to find out where to buy Fair Trade products here in Boston (and hear about Boston's bid to become a Fair Trade City), check out Fair Trade Boston.

A view of the bar at Garden at the Cellar.