I’ve seen them—coffee enthusiasts practically burying their entire face in the cupping bowl, looking like they’re trying to go swimming in a three-inch pool of coffee.
Here’s a secret: getting closer doesn’t help you smell better. All it does is prove you don’t understand how noses work and potentially leave you with an embarrassing dot of coffee on the tip of your nose.
Instead, take some time to find your optimal sniffing position. Tilt your head slightly, move a bit up and down, and find that sweet spot where your particular nose captures the most aromatics. Everyone’s nose is different—respect yours enough to give it some space.
If there’s one thing that makes coffee professionals silently scream, it’s watching someone dip their cupping spoon into the spittoon.
“But I need somewhere to rest my spoon!” No. Just… no.
That spittoon is where everyone’s rejected coffee goes to die. It’s not a spoon spa. It’s not a utensil hotel. It’s a communal bucket of backwash. Would you dip your fork into everyone’s leftover soup at a restaurant? Exactly.
Instead, simply rest your spoon sideways on the table. Beautiful. Hygienic. No one questioning your life choices.
A carefully prepared cupping table with perfect rows of coffee samples, and right there among them—your personal cup of DNA (also known as a spittoon).
Let’s be clear: your spittoon doesn’t need a front-row seat to the coffee action. The cupping table is sacred ground for the coffee itself, not a place to showcase your partially digested coffee collection.
One accidental bump and suddenly your personal biology experiment is all over the carefully prepared cups. Now the cupping is over, friendships are strained, and you’re spending the rest of your day apologizing while someone mops up the evidence of your poor decision-making.
Find a designated corner for your spittoon and other belongings. Use that space for making notes and keeping your DNA samples to yourself. Your fellow cuppers will appreciate your contribution to public health.
Some people can’t resist turning their spoon-rinsing routine into an impromptu concert. Clink! Clink! Clink-clink-clink! The metallic symphony of spoon against rinse cup plays on while everyone else tries to concentrate.
Coffee cupping is not the time to audition for Stomp. Those metallic pings echoing through the room aren’t enhancing anyone’s tasting experience—they’re distracting at best and nerve-shredding at worst.
There’s a simple solution: place a small napkin next to the rinse cup on the table. After rinsing your spoon, give it a gentle tap-tap on the napkin to dry it. Clean, quiet, done. No Grammy-worthy performance necessary, just a soft pat that respects everyone’s eardrums while you move on to the next cup.
It’s the little courtesies that separate the professionals from the percussionists.
And now for my most controversial pet peeve: the whistling slurper. A serene cupping room, professionals thoughtfully evaluating complex flavor profiles, and then—WHEEEEEEEEEP!—someone decides to turn their slurp into a train whistle.
I understand you’re cool. I get that you’ve developed your own tasting technique. But when you take a spoonful of coffee and unleash a sound that makes everyone jump out of their skin, you’re not proving you’re the coolest cupper in the room—you’re just making it impossible for anyone else to focus on their coffee.
Let’s be honest here. If you’re whistling during cupping, we all know why you’re doing it. You want to stand out. You want everyone to think, “Wow, look at that professional coffee person!” But all we’re actually thinking is, “I just want to taste my coffee in peace.”
In my opinion (and I know some might disagree), a good, laborious slurp will cover your mouth and get all those aromatics into your olfactory bulb just fine. No need for sound effects that could summon dolphins from three counties away. But hey, that’s just me.
If you recognize yourself in any of these descriptions, don’t worry—we’ve all committed at least one cupping crime in our journey. The coffee community isn’t about perfection; it’s about appreciation and respect—for the coffee, for the process, and yes, for your fellow cuppers who don’t want to witness your spoon bathing in communal spit.
So next time you’re at a cupping, remember: find your ideal nose position, keep your spoon clean, keep your spittoon in its own corner, use a napkin for quiet spoon-drying, and please, for the love of coffee, consider not whistling. Your reputation (and my sanity) depends on it. 😂
And if you’re one of my former students still whistling at cuppings… yes, I know who you are. And yes, I know where you live. 😎
Author :
TM CoffeeIs.Me
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