Preparing for Roasting Competition: Starting with the Cupping Water

A competitor brought us a small sample of the water intended for cupping at the Thailand National Coffee Roasting Championship 2023 Preliminary. There was enough for only a few cups, so our team began by analysing it.

We measured total dissolved solids, total hardness and total alkalinity. Understanding those properties gave the team a way to prepare more water for practice cupping.

The school also shared three water-learning videos that month, introducing research, water properties and preparing water for coffee. The original resource post is linked below for readers who want to explore the teaching material alongside this practical example.

Our October 2022 update connected that work with roast development: competitors could explore how the water affected the cup and use those observations when adjusting their profiles. It was one practical way the Academy supported their preparation.

The original source post is preserved below.