Meet Sunalini Menon

In a tea-growing country, Menon was the first coffee taster in her continent!

Coffee is not just a delicious beverage sold around the world. It has had an impact on many lives, which makes it hard to count how much this industry influences worldwide.

A perfect example of this, is Sunalini Menon, a woman who is considered one of the most influential people in the coffee universe!

The first lady of coffee

Sunalini Menon was born in India, a place where coffee culture didn’t exist until some years ago. On that time, people in India only drank tea or related drinks. Menon was graduated as a dietetic specialist, and one day she saw an opportunity that changed her life.

But many years ago, a child Menon was visiting her uncle in Munan. He had a job as a tea taster and every day he spent most of his time watching tea decoction and taking notes.

Menon was so interested in her uncle's job that she tried for herself. When she spit the tea product, she was amazed: that was horrible! What kind of people enjoy a drink that uses a disgusting source? Due to this taste experience, Menon realizes the importance of the tasters to improve the products quality.

While she was looking for a job in dietetics, she saw a casting for coffee tasters in an Indian coffee company. Such a rare announce! Who loves coffee more than tea in India? Intrigued, Menon decided to take the test.

On the first sign, she was the only female candidate, but that didn’t decrease her confidence. Menon was brilliant, and since then her professional office is related to coffee tasting, making her the "First Woman in Coffee" in whole Asia.

Sunalini Menon today

Since then, she trained her senses to evaluate the quality of Indian coffee against the European one. Menon was convinced that Robusta coffee could lead the coffee market even when Arabica and other coffee products have an advantage.

After 20 years as an Assistant Coffee Taster in the Indian company, she assumes a role leading the Cupping department. But on that time, Menon discovered that she had enough experience to start a new way in the area. That's why she started her own coffee tasting business to support Robusta coffee. She attended to many courses around the world, winning some important partners.

Nowadays, Sunalini Menon is one of the big bosses in coffee tasting. As the only female in this charge, she becomes a coffee star, being an example of excellence and hard work for other women who want to join the coffee business.

Here at Coffland Corp, we support this kind of coffee stories because of their passion and integrity. Would you like us to share another inspiring story? What's yours?

Sunalini Menon is an example in the cupping profession.

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Cup of Excellence: An Award for the Best in the Coffee Industry

In the Cup of Excellence, the best coffee farms around the world are tested!

This week we are dedicating our entries to cupping: the science behind tasting your morning cup! Coffee tasting is a way to evaluate the quality of the beans before it passes to the last production management when it's sold to the client.

Farmers work too hard bringing only the best harvest, and the roasters select the beans due to its natural properties. Because of that, the coffee market is still fussy about the product consumed by the drinkers.

As a way to inspire the coffee industry, every year it celebrates the Cup of Excellence. In this competition, tasters around the world reunite to test the selected coffee products. Here at Coffland Corp, we want to invite you to follow this brilliant event where your favorite beverage it's the only starring. Keep reading and find out how this works!

What is Cup of Excellence?

This competition was born in 1999 when it was necessary to improve the standards of the coffee industry. On that time, in Brazil, producers around the world picked the best coffee samples, discovering a new possibility on the market.

Every year, regarding harvesting, the coffee producers from almost any coffee-grounding country meet to prove that their coffee is the tastiest and fragrant of all. Cup of Excellence is a challenge for both farmers and tasters due to the strict quality score established in the industry.

To enter in this competition, farmers, roasters, and producers must choose the best harvest considering all factors that can change the final product like climate, soil conditions, etc. On the other side, tasters have to sniff and drink every sample without knowing which products are from, in a game where they are practically blinded.

When all the ceremony of cupping is complete, the tasters certificate every sample according to the standards in a score between 1 and 100. Only the coffee products that have more than 86 points pass through the second round.

The second part of the competition is worldwide. The Cup of Excellence get together the highest score product for every coffee country and compare them according to a judging panel with the most recognized tasters around the world.

Thus, all the 150 samples of the national jury become 90 and then, in the international competition, these 90 become only 40. On the final day of International jury, the top 10 is scored to determinate the final countdown! The winner has the honor to hold the Cup of Excellence and the chance to introduce itself to the purchase market.

Here at Coffland Corp, we celebrate the integrity and transparency of these types of contests. If you're lucky to attend this event in your country, don't lose the chance to drown yourself into the other side of the coffee world: the one behind the espresso machine and the cute mugs!

An award for the best coffee maker!

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How to Test Your Coffee Cup Properly

Making a perfect cup is possible only with the best coffee products.

Cupping is a delicate technique in the coffee industry. This tough job requires studying the proper coffee profile by training your five senses.

Although this career is reserved only for experts, here at Coffland Corp, we can teach you some methods to test your brewed coffee. That way, you'll know how to choose the best quality option. Surprise your friends with the most delicious coffee mugs!

Cupping: the science behind likeness

While coffee tasters prepare themselves for a cupping session, coffee producers put on a table multiple cups with samples of their product in a triangle shape.  

At the top of the triangle, they put a sample of the green beans. At first sign, coffee tasters evaluate oiliness and aroma. Then, the roasted version of these beans is placed on a side. The roasting process is made 24 hours before cupping. That way, the grain rests just enough to test its properties.

After that, coffee producers grind the same samples to examine its characteristics before putting it in the espresso machine. Producers let two or three empty cups for the next cupping steps.

How do I test my coffee?

At this point, to evaluate the quality of coffee, tasters can score these principal features:

• Aroma: coffee tasters sniff the dry samples to assess its fragrance. Then, they add hot water and check the immediate aroma right from the cup. Depending on the product's properties, coffee tasters smell the fruits, flowers or spices mixed with the coffee beans.
• Flavor: once the drink has a normal temperature, the tasters slurp it strongly, using a spoon. This technique allows them to recognize the coffee flavor. At this point, its aroma and body are heavily evaluated.   
• Acidity: generally, they classify acidity according to coffee's sweetness and its fresh-fruit character. This feature depends on the roasting process and the beans natural properties: The "darkest" the toasting, the less acid the drink will be.
• Sweetness: tasters can search the percentage of some carbohydrates due to the coffee’s sweetness. This property can change the final beverage once is mixed with other ingredients.
• Body: coffee's body can be perceived once is tasted. Its intensity scores the heaviness of a coffee drink: The lightest coffee has less presence for palates than others with highest bodies.
• Balance: the balance of a coffee sample is tested according to the taster's impressions of acidity, aroma, and flavor. These features must complement the final result. If not, coffee will receive fewer points.

As you may see, cupping is an inexact science. Coffee professionals aren't always agreed with their final scores. This office accredits the quality of a product according to the profile that the professional prefers.

Besides well-trained senses, coffee tasters are the specialist of reviewing the beauty of a great coffee cup. Now, here at Coffland Corp, we also appreciate the aesthetic of the coffee world, both from production to consumption. But now that you know a little more about cupping why not teach us your exercises? Remember: practice makes a master!

Coffee tasting allows you to measure some aspects of your brewed coffee.

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