Coffee TastingFAQ
Frequently asked questions
About the Coffee Tasting app, and about tasting coffee. Can’t find your answer? See support.
About the app
What is Coffee Tasting?
Coffee Tasting is a cupping app and coffee tasting journal for iPhone, iPad and Android, made by J&H Technology. You set up a tasting, add each coffee and record fragrance, aroma, flavor, aftertaste, acidity, mouthfeel, uniformity, clean cup, balance, sweetness and overall impression, field by field, with more than 250 built-in flavor and character terms.
Is Coffee Tasting free?
Yes, the app is free to download and you can save up to three tastings for free. An optional Premium subscription, bought in the app through the App Store or Google Play, unlocks unlimited tastings and hosting group tastings. Joining someone else's group tasting is always free. The store shows the price in your local currency before you subscribe.
Is it on iPhone and Android?
Coffee Tasting is available on Google Play for Android now. The iPhone and iPad version is coming soon to the App Store.
Do I need an account?
No account is needed for solo tasting. Signing in with Apple or with an email code is optional and is only needed to back up your tastings, use them on another phone, or host a group tasting. Guests can join group tastings without signing in.
Can I back up my tastings or use them on another phone?
Yes. Sign in with Apple or an email code, then turn on backup in Settings. Your tastings, coffees and notes are copied to your account and sync to any phone where you sign in. Backup is off until you turn it on, nobody else can read your backup, and turning it off deletes the copy on our servers while the tastings on your phone stay.
Does it work offline?
Solo tasting works fully offline: every change saves on your device as you go. Group tasting needs an internet connection, though entries you make while briefly offline are kept on your phone and sent when you reconnect.
Where is my tasting data stored?
On your device. Nothing is uploaded unless you sign in and turn on backup, or take part in a group tasting. There are no ads, no tracking and no analytics, and crash reports are off unless you turn them on.
Can I add my own tasting words?
Yes. Every field is a pick from a list, so you never have to type, but if the word you want isn't there you can add your own. Your own words come back as suggestions next time.
Does the app include the SCA flavor wheel?
No. The app does not reproduce the SCA and World Coffee Research Coffee Taster's Flavor Wheel or any other wheel graphic. Its flavor vocabulary is adapted from the Counter Culture Coffee Taster's Flavor Wheel (2013) and its character vocabulary from the AgriFutures Australia Coffee Character Wheel (2023), both shown as lists and credited in the app.
Scoring
Does Coffee Tasting give an SCA score out of 100?
No. Words come first in Coffee Tasting. You can optionally score five fields (uniformity, clean cup, balance, sweetness and overall) from 6.00 to 10.00 in quarter-point steps, and the app shows the total once all five are scored. That is a personal score, not an official SCA cupping score or a Coffee Value Assessment.
What does a cupping score of 80 mean?
On the classic SCA 100-point cupping form, the scoring key labels 80 to 84.99 "Very Good" and groups scores of 80 and above as specialty. The score is the sum of ten attribute scores minus defect deductions, and it is one taster's judgment, only comparable between calibrated cuppers. The SCA itself has written that defining specialty coffee as "above 80 points" is too narrow, and its 2024 Coffee Value Assessment uses a different scale.
Group tasting
How does group tasting work?
A host creates a session, adds up to 12 coffees and shares a six-character code or link. Everyone tastes on their own phone. The host sees who has finished each coffee, then opens the Characteristic Wall one coffee at a time to show what the group tasted, and can reveal each coffee's details when ready.
How many people can join a group tasting?
A session holds up to 20 people, including the host, and up to 12 coffees.
Do people joining a session need Premium?
No. Joining a group tasting is free and needs no account. Only the host needs a Coffee Tasting account and an active Premium subscription.
Tasting coffee
What is coffee cupping?
Cupping is the coffee industry's standard way to taste and compare coffees. Ground coffee is steeped directly in hot water in identical cups, the grounds are pushed aside after a few minutes, and tasters slurp from spoons as the coffee cools, noting fragrance, aroma, flavor, aftertaste, acidity, body and other attributes. Because every cup is brewed the same way, differences come from the coffee itself.
What is the difference between fragrance and aroma?
Fragrance is the smell of the dry ground coffee before water is added. Aroma is the smell of the wet coffee after hot water is poured on, including when the crust is broken.
What does acidity mean in coffee?
In tasting, acidity is the perceived sourness of a coffee, called brightness when it is pleasant. The SCA's classic protocol says that at its best it contributes to a coffee's liveliness, sweetness and fresh-fruit character, and uses a Kenyan coffee as an example of one expected to be high in acidity. It describes taste, not how the coffee affects your stomach.
Why do cuppers slurp?
Slurping sprays the coffee across the tongue and palate so it reaches as much of your mouth as possible, as the SCA protocol asks. As you breathe out, aromas travel from the back of the mouth to the nose. This retronasal smell is how we perceive the aroma side of flavor.
Taste it, name it, keep it.
Free to download. Save up to three tastings free.
- Coming soon to the App Store