Five apps to take your coffee cupping activities to the digital world

Written by Stephany Davila-Hermeling

Picture credit Stephany Davila-Hermeling

Even though there isn’t a single definition of coffee quality, many professionals and institutions have worked over the past decades to create a common language that people in the coffee industry can share, use and understand.

Coffee tasting started as an activity performed for trading and commercial purposes, but it has become a common practice among coffee enthusiasts as well. In order to provide consistency to the process of cupping, organizations such as the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI), and the Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE) have developed and perfected the industry’s leading protocols that most professionals know and follow nowadays.

Like many other processes in the coffee industry, quality control activities have always been painstakingly recorded using paper assessment forms. However, as online solutions permeate our daily lives in the pursue of efficiency, coffee cupping has also gone digital. Today, cuppers use web applications and mobile apps, allowing them to record more accurate data, collaborate with remote teams, share information with clients, and effectively use data to find insights or identify patterns to improve their operations.

Given the proliferation of digital tools that allow us to record cup scores and sensory profile, this article presents a quick guide to five popular apps that can help you transition your cupping activities to the digital world and take advantage of the possibilities that technology offers.

Ikawa Cup

Ikawa, a company based out of the United Kingdom, is the inventor and seller of the world's first digital micro coffee roasters. Ikawa roasters have gained popularity for their portability and ease of use and are a common tool in quality control laboratories as well as in the homes of coffee enthusiasts who take their coffee seriously.

Ikawa has two different mobile applications: Ikawa Pro and Ikawa Home. While the latter is not related to coffee cupping, Ikawa Pro allows professionals to control the roaster as well as to track their quality assessments, a feature launched earlier this year.

You can create a free account whether you own an Ikawa or not. To start, simply go to the "Cup" feature and create a table where you can add information about the coffees to taste. You can choose from roasts done in your Ikawa or add external roasts. The tool also allows for remote collaboration, as users can join a table created by someone else.

The process starts with a quick-cupping interface where you can rate the coffee with 1 to 5 stars, add notes, mark it defective, or consider it for purchase. You can then choose between a simple rating scale based on personal preference or an expanded assessment that displays the attributes established in the SCA protocol.

Overall, the cupping feature of this app is easy to use and offers a simplified way of applying a professional protocol. The data export capability of Ikawa Pro, however, is limited since cupping reports are exported individually and only as a screenshot in PDF format, making it difficult to compile and use the data.

Type: Mobile
Operating systems: iOS and Android
Cost: Free
Recommended if: You use your cupping notes for a one-time objective, need to collaborate with remote teams, and don't need to use your data outside of the app.

Catador

Catador is a mobile app launched in 2012 by a Guatemalan developer reportedly as a result of a conversation he had with a friend who complained about the lack of a usable electronic version of the SCA cupping form. The app imitates the score sheet for arabica coffees and allows you to track the evaluation of your samples and export it to PDF, HTML, and CSV formats. It can be bought for a one-time fee.

User reviews of the app are a mixed bag. They’re evenly split between users who feel passionate about it or didn’t find it useful at all. Some users find the app limiting due to the fact that it doesn’t offer the option to use different protocols or the flexibility to create your own. However, if you primarily cup arabica coffees and just want to leave paper records behind, this might be a convenient and affordable option.

Type: Mobile
Operating systems: iOS and Android
Cost: US$4.99 to US$5.99, one-time purchase.
Recommended if: You usually cup by yourself, use the SCA protocol for arabica coffees, and want an affordable option to go digital.

Tastify

Geared towards professionals, Tastify is an award-winning coffee cupping and database management application created by coffee importers Sustainable Harvest. While it was originally released in 2015, the company relaunched the tool in 2022 with improved capabilities. It is currently a web-based app that runs directly from any browser on your computer or mobile device and features a fun, user-friendly interface.

You start by creating a cupping session. From there, you can add green bean assessment notes with as much or as little information about the samples as you like. You will have the option to choose from arabica, robusta, or Cup of Excellence protocols before you start cupping.

The cupping interface is prepopulated with average values to make it easier to get started. Some fields allow you to select descriptors or attributes in a very intuitive way. For example, if you describe a coffee sample as having a “fruit” flavor, the tool opens a secondary menu with different types of fruits; if you select “citrus”, it opens a tertiary menu with specific citrus fruits to choose from, or you can keep the general “citrus” descriptor if you prefer. You can also type your own.

Tastify has remote collaboration capabilities; however, every user must have a paid license to join. You can easily share the reports when finished, download the data, and compare up to 4 previously cupped samples side by side. It also generates a graphic showcasing the fragrance/aroma/flavor descriptors that can be an excellent addition to any marketing material.

Type: Web, works from any browser.
Cost: US$9.99 to US$19.99 a month with a free 30-day trial; Individual and enterprise plans are available.
Recommended if: You cup for professional purposes, want to visually compare coffees, and would like to use your cupping results in marketing material.

Cropster Cup

Cropster Cup is a software solution for quality control developed by Cropster, a company based out of Austria that offers a range of digital tools to help coffee roasters, labs, traders, and producers automate their operations.

The app closely resembles a printed cupping form, utilizing different protocol formats. Its straightforward, intuitive interface is intended for professionals that use Cropster software for automating their green or roasting operations. To that end, it integrates with other solutions offered by the company, including green inventory management and roasting software, giving users the visibility needed to control the coffee along the supply chain and allowing for traceability.

The data management and reporting capabilities of Cropster Cup are powerful and allow users to visualize, export and analyze the data in many different ways, which can come in handy when drawing conclusions and trying to make informed decisions about adjusting processes. The one downside of the tool is that it cannot be used as a standalone product.

Type: Mobile
Operating systems: iOS and Android
Cost: tied to having a Cropster Plan subscription
Recommended if: You have an operation large enough to justify the cost of Cropster solutions, you cup coffee for professional purposes, and use traceability and reporting capabilities for controlling and improving your operations.

OpenCup

Quality control app OpenCup was launched in 2016 by U.S.-based Artisan Coffee Group Inc. Although the tool won the 2016 Best New IT & Technology Innovation award during the World of Coffee Expo, it is currently on hold until its re-launch in the first quarter of 2023.

The company promises a powerful tool that will allow users to choose from different cupping protocols or create their own. The new version of the app will include a module for green coffee grading; will record cupping attributes on a time-and-temperature basis, and will be easy to integrate with Roast Master software.

A core strength of OpenCup is that it allows multiple cuppers to collaborate for large cupping events. Users will also be able to visualize and use the data to create a wide variety of reports.

The pricing structure is another innovative factor. The application will not feature a subscription model but will allow users to purchase credits – each cupping will cost one credit – providing greater flexibility.

Type: Mobile
Operating systems: iOS, designed for iPad
Cost: The cost of credits ranges from $1.20 to $4.00, depending on the package purchased.
Recommended if: You want a pay-per-use option that allows you to use different protocols and has efficient team collaboration as well as powerful reporting capabilities.

Digital cupping tools can help make informed decisions

Coffee cupping is a key activity in the coffee supply chain, and it’s performed at many different stages. Producers cup to monitor the quality of their crop; exporters, importers, and traders do it to assess the quality of the product they commercialize; roasters use it to assess the ingredients of their blend offerings and to monitor their production, and consumers and enthusiasts cup to build their knowledge.

When performed for business purposes, cupping provides key insights for process adjustment and product improvement – and making important decisions requires information. Printed assessment sheets have allowed the industry to carry out quality control for years, but they have important shortcomings when it comes to revealing patterns and statistical results on their own. As management guru Peter Drucker once said, “If you can't measure it, you can't manage it.” Consistent evaluation, record keeping, and data analysis are critical actions to perform business successfully, and quality control is a key process that should not be overlooked or left behind when it comes to measuring. In this sense, digital tools offer excellent opportunities.