How a New Coffee Earns a Spot in Our Lineup (the Cupping Protocol and Selection Process)

October 13, 2026

How a New Coffee Earns a Spot in Our Lineup (the Cupping Protocol and Selection Process)

People often ask how we decide which coffees to stock. The answer is a process that's more structured than you might expect — and more forgiving than you might hope.

This is the inside view of how we decide which coffees to stock, the cupping protocol we follow, and what makes a coffee earn a spot in our rotation instead of staying as a one-time buy.

Why we have a selection process

We have a selection process for three reasons:

Customer trust. Customers trust us to pick good coffee. The selection process is how we earn that trust.
Inventory efficiency. We don't have unlimited warehouse space. Every coffee we stock takes up space that could be used for another coffee.
Brand consistency. Every coffee in our lineup reflects on the brand. If we stock a coffee that's bad, customers will think we're bad at picking coffee.

The selection process isn't just about picking good coffee. It's about picking coffee that's good enough to be in our lineup, not just good enough to buy once.

How coffees enter our consideration

Coffees enter our consideration through three paths:

Direct from importers. Our green coffee importer sends us samples of lots they're excited about. We get 4-8 samples per month from this path.
Direct from producers. Some producers contact us directly, especially after Cup of Excellence results. We get 1-2 samples per month from this path.
From cuppings and events. We attend cuppings and events where we taste new lots. We get 2-4 samples per month from this path.

In total, we taste around 10-15 new coffees per month. Of those, maybe 1-2 earn a spot in our lineup. The selection rate is around 10-20%.

The cupping protocol

We follow a modified SCA cupping protocol. The protocol is:

Sample roasting. The green coffee is roasted to a standard light roast (just past first crack, dropped 8-12 minutes after first crack). The sample roast is standardized so we can compare coffees apples-to-apples.
Grinding. The roasted sample is ground to a standard grind (medium-coarse, slightly coarser than drip). All samples are ground to the same specification.
Brewing. 12 grams of coffee, 200 grams of filtered water at 93°C (200°F). The coffee is bloomed for 30 seconds, then steeped for 4 minutes total.
Tasting. Multiple tasters taste each sample. Each taster scores the coffee on a 100-point scale across 10 attributes (fragrance, flavor, aftertaste, acidity, body, balance, uniformity, clean cup, sweetness, defects).
Notes. Each taster writes notes. The notes describe what the coffee actually tastes like, not what we'd like it to taste like.

We average the scores across tasters. Coffees that score 85+ are considered. Coffees that score 80-85 are reconsidered. Coffees that score below 80 don't make it.

What we look for

We look for three things in a coffee:

Distinct character. The coffee should taste like something. We don't want coffees that are just "good coffee." We want coffees that have a clear, identifiable flavor profile.
Quality across brew methods. The coffee should taste good across multiple brew methods (drip, pour-over, French press). We don't want coffees that only work in one method.
Versatility for our customers. The coffee should work for our customers, who drink coffee in different ways and have different preferences.

A coffee that scores 87 but tastes like a generic "good coffee" won't make our lineup. A coffee that scores 85 but has a distinctive character might.

How we decide which coffees to stock

Once a coffee passes the cupping protocol, we make a stocking decision. The decision is based on:

Fit with the lineup. Does this coffee complement what we already stock? Does it fill a gap? Does it duplicate another coffee?
Price. Is the price consistent with our pricing? If it's too expensive, we can't stock it. If it's too cheap, we might be skeptical of the quality.
Supply. Is the supply stable? Can we get this coffee regularly? Or is it a one-time lot?
Producer relationship. Is this a producer we'd want to work with long-term? Or is this a one-time transaction?

The stocking decision is made by the team, usually with input from the roaster, the cupper, and whoever's doing customer service that week. We aim for consensus, but the roaster has the final say on green coffee decisions.

What makes a coffee earn a spot in the rotation

A coffee earns a spot in the rotation (meaning we keep stocking it across multiple shipments) if:

It cups well multiple times. A coffee that cups well once might not cup well a second time. We cup each lot 2-3 times before committing to a rotation spot.
It sells well. A coffee that's in our rotation but doesn't sell will get dropped. The rotation has to be commercially viable.
Customers like it. If customers reorder the coffee, that's a strong signal. If customers reorder the coffee AND buy other coffees, that's a stronger signal.
The producer is reliable. A producer who delivers on time, with consistent quality, is a producer we want to keep working with.

A coffee that meets all four criteria stays in the rotation. A coffee that meets three of four gets reconsidered. A coffee that meets two or fewer gets dropped.

How the rotation works

Our rotation has 4-6 coffees at any time. The coffees are:

Two mainstays. These are coffees we always have. They're typically crowd-pleasers — balanced, accessible, good for everyday drinking.
One seasonal. This is a coffee that's available for a limited time, typically tied to harvest season or a specific origin's availability.
One rotating single origin. This is a coffee we're featuring for a few months. It might be a Cup of Excellence winner, a new producer we're excited about, or an origin we want to highlight.
One experimental. This is a coffee we're trying out. It might be a new process, a new varietal, or a new origin. We keep it in the lineup for 2-3 months and decide whether to keep it.

The rotation shifts every 2-3 months. We drop coffees that aren't selling and add new ones. The goal is to keep the lineup fresh while maintaining the mainstays.

How customers can influence the lineup

Customers influence the lineup in three ways:

Reorder data. If customers reorder a coffee, that's a strong signal we keep it. If they don't, that's a strong signal we drop it.
Feedback. When customers tell us what they think of a coffee — through reviews, emails, social media — we listen. A coffee that customers love stays even if it's not a big seller.
Special requests. When customers ask for a coffee we don't have, we consider adding it. If multiple customers ask for the same coffee, we definitely consider it.

The lineup isn't driven by what we want to stock. It's driven by what customers want to buy, tempered by what we think is good coffee.

What we're trying to avoid

A few things we're trying to avoid in the selection process:

Groupthink. We try to make sure the cupping protocol surfaces honest opinions. If two tasters think the coffee is great and one thinks it's mediocre, we want to hear the mediocre opinion.
Origin bias. We try to evaluate each coffee on its merits, not based on the origin's reputation. A Yirgacheffe is great because it's a great coffee, not because it's from Ethiopia.
Producer bias. We try to evaluate each coffee on its merits, not based on the producer's reputation. A Cup of Excellence winner isn't automatically a good coffee; we still need to taste it.
Price bias. We try not to let price influence our evaluation. A cheap coffee can be excellent; an expensive coffee can be mediocre.
Trend bias. We try not to chase trends. A coffee that's popular on social media isn't automatically a good coffee.

The selection process is meant to surface honest opinions, not confirm our existing beliefs.

How often we change the lineup

We change the lineup every 2-3 months. The changes are:

Drop a coffee that isn't selling. If a coffee hasn't reordered well in 3 months, we drop it.
Add a coffee that passed the protocol. If a coffee passed the protocol and fits the lineup, we add it.
Rotate the seasonal. The seasonal coffee changes with harvest cycles. We try to have a fresh seasonal every 2-3 months.
Refresh the experimental. The experimental changes every 2-3 months, depending on what we're trying.

The goal is a lineup that's fresh but familiar. Customers should recognize most of the coffees, but they should also see something new every few months.

What we'd recommend

If you're a coffee drinker trying to figure out what to buy:

Start with the mainstays. The mainstays are the safest bets. They're the coffees we trust to work for most customers.
Try the seasonal. The seasonal is the best opportunity to try something new. It's available for a limited time, so don't wait.
Be adventurous with the experimental. The experimental is where we try things. If you want to try something different, the experimental is the place to look.
Tell us what you think. When you order a coffee, tell us what you think. Your feedback is how we decide what to keep and what to drop.

Final thought

The selection process isn't perfect. We make mistakes. We stock coffees that don't sell. We drop coffees that customers loved. The process is meant to reduce mistakes, not eliminate them.

What the process does is create a structure for making decisions. Instead of stocking whatever feels right, we stock what passes a protocol. Instead of dropping whatever feels tired, we drop what isn't selling.

The structure makes the lineup better than it would be without it. That's why we have it.