Increase your appreciation of coffee with the Angels' Cup coffee tasting app.

I’m a big fan of small business, so when people come up with cool ideas around coffee, I’m happy to support them.

And right now I’m feeling particularly passionate about the Angels' Cup coffee tasting app.

It’s a web-based app you can access either on your computer or mobile device. 

What does it do? It walks you through the process of cupping coffee like a pro.

In other words, it helps you identify all the different tastes and flavor notes in each cup of coffee you drink.

This isn’t something that will interest you if you treat coffee as nothing more than a “cup of Joe”. But if you enjoy drinking coffees from different countries, different regions and from different roasters, you’ll find this app to be totally addictive. And yes, you can share your results with your friends through Facebook etc.

But this isn’t just a game. The app conforms to the cupping protocol of the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA).

If that sounds a little intimidating, don’t worry. The app offers both an advanced tasting pathway and a beginner’s pathway.

Why am I so excited about the Angels' Cup app?

I love it because it will help people really appreciate the coffee they drink.

Listen to a true wine lover in a restaurant. Wine drinkers are way ahead of us when it comes to their tasting skills. One sip and they can tell you the country and region where the wine came from, maybe even which vineyard.

As coffee lovers we can and should do the same. If we want to get the most out of the coffees we buy and drink, we need to learn the language of tasting. And we need to pause as we take that first sip, close our eyes and work to identify every taste and flavor in each coffee we try. 

Once you are done with your tasting, and have input your results into the app, you can check your findings side by side with the opinions of a cupping professional. 

In other words, you can constantly learn and improve your tasting skills until you cup like a pro.

You get the app and a new coffee to try each month.

Angels’ Cup isn’t just an app. The service also includes monthly delivery of sample packs of single-origin coffees for you to try.

These are top-quality coffees from different coffee growing regions, and will help you further develop your palate and skills. (Yes, you’ll soon learn to tell the difference between a coffee from Ethiopia and another coffee from Kenya – without peeking at the label on the bag!)

For me, Angels’ Cup is the best tool I have come across to move you from being just a regular coffee drinker to being a true coffee-tasting pro.

You can learn more about Angels' Cup here.

NOTE: In case you are wondering, this isn't any kind of paid endorsement. I haven’t been asked to write this, nor am I getting anything in return. I’m just a supporter of their project and a fan of what they are trying to achieve.

About the author: Nick Usborne, aka Coffee Detective, is a writer and long-time coffee enthusiast. Read more…